Dear Dick Butkus,
If this letter is being published, it means your time on this planet has come to pass.
It means that the Illini fan base is mourning the loss of the person most synonymous with Illini football this side of Red Grange.
This week’s game, whatever it may be, doesn’t mean as much.
Wins and losses are the currency of this game we love, but some things are priceless.
If “Illini” took an idealized form…an avatar, it would be you, Mr. Butkus.
As a Chicagoan and an Illini, nobody screams out “one of us” to me like you always have.