ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - The sports world was mourning Thursday night as word passed around that Pro Football Hall of Famer and Chicago Bears legend Dick Butkus died.
Butkus was one of the most feared defensive players of his generation, making the NFL All-Pro First Team five times, being named Defensive Player of the Year twice and being named on both the NFL All-Decades team in the 1960s and 1970s.
Butkus was one of the greatest Bears players ever, with Butkus's number 51 being retired by the only team he ever played for.
Fellow Pro Football Hall of Famer and former St. Louis Cardinals tight end Jackie Smith remembered Butkus as a kind soul despite his on the field persona when he talked to KMOX Friday.
"He was a gentle guy, a really nice person," said Smith, "He was a great guy, easy to talk too. He sometimes kept to himself."
Smith says as a player, Butkus did everything he could to intimidate you and you felt lucky to be able to successfully block him.
"He was completely into the game," Smith recalls "He did everything he could to intimidate you."
Smith played against Butkus five times during their careers, with the Bears coming out on top against the Cardinals three times.
Butkus would get inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 1979, while Smith would soon join Butkus in Canton, Ohio nearly 20 years later, getting inducted in 1994.