Old National Presents: Big Time Butz

Dave Butz is a Boilermaker giant both literally and figuratively.

Not only is he arguably the greatest defensive tackle in Purdue football history, but his size (6-foot-7, 279 pounds) was considered mammoth for the time he played at Purdue (1970-72).

Don't get me wrong, he's not small even today, but there are guys who are taller and weigh much more than Butz, nearly there decades after the Park Ridge, Ill., native hung his cleats up for go0d.

Butz, 68 years old on June 23, will always be remembered for his toughness. He only missed four games in his 16-year NFL career, 14 spent with the Washington Redskins.

"I just loved to play," the matter-of-fact Butz said on June 11, during a visit to campus for the annual National Football Foundation (NFF) Honors Dinner. "I didn't think much about (getting injured), I just played."

Play he did. He earned a spot in the College Football Hall of Fame in 2014, and was named on the NFL's 1980s All-Decade team. He was instrumental in leading the Redskins to two Super Bowl titles.

But the Butz legend was built as a Boilermaker. He was part of the greatest recruiting class in Purdue football history (or at least, it is on a very short list) in 1969, coming to West Lafayette with the likes of fellow Chicago area natives Otis Armstrong and Darryl Stingley. But there was depth to class as well, as future NFL standouts Gregg Bingham, Gary Danielson, Gary Hrivnak and Steve Baumgartner all were in the class of '69.

But Butz's reasons for wanting to play at Purdue were, in part, due to family ties.

"My dad had three brothers and two sisters that all went to Purdue," Butz said. "Actually, a man drove a Model-T Ford from Chicago on gravel roads to my grandfather’s place to convince him that it would be a sin for Earl Butz (future US Secretary of Agriculture under President Richard Nixon) to not go to school because he has such a brilliant mind.

"He finally convinced my grandfather to send Earl. Earl is my dad’s older brother. So, that’s why I came here."

But when Butz got to Purdue, Uncle Earl was still on the University's faculty. And he would play a role in keeping Butz and teammates well fed after games.

"Darryl and Otis would come over over to eat chicken and beef and everything," Butz said with a laugh. "We'd all go home full."

Truth be told, it was between Purdue and Michigan for Butz's services. Legendary Wolverine coach Bo Schembechler coveted Butz as well, but the family ties were too much to break.

"I was just glad that Otis and Darryl and all those guys decided to come too, that was wonderful." Butz said.

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Coach Jack Mollenkopf and assistant Ron Meyer put the full-court press on for Butz. Meyer, who later coached with the Colts and Patriots, just might be the greatest assistant coach recruiter in Purdue history.

When asked if Meyer was a good sales guy back then, Butz, never verbose, responded, "He still is."

Butz's Purdue teams never quite achieved the heights they wanted. They had only one winning season, 6-5 in his senior year. Yet, that '72 season saw Purdue finish 6-2 in the Big Ten, and come within an eyelash of beating Schembechler's Wolverines to earn a trip to the Rose Bowl.

"It taught me that my team might lose, but I never lost," Butz said."If you have that attitude going in, you can survive a lot of things and you can overcome a lot of adversity."

Butz gets philosophical when looking at how he played the game.

"I took it personally that someone would waste a last few minutes of a game and run towards me," Butz said. "I hit them harder than I ever could. I would know when their running back was going to run towards me because he would roll his eyes when he got down in the stance. I took it very personally. You have to find a way to win all the time. There are so many things that you could have done throughout the game to help win. If everybody had that type of attitude, you would be a hell of a team to play."

Mason credits his Purdue position coach and defensive coordinator Tony Mason for making him the player he was.

"Tony Mason was a premier, outstanding coach. He taught me how to triangular-read the people in front of you. He taught me a lot of things, but just how to survive in the game. He really helped me when I got to play the 4-3 when I got to the pros. (Pittsburgh Steelers Hall of Fame defensive lineman) Joe Greene said to me one time, 'My hat goes off to you. Nobody plays the 4-3 better than you did.'

"I attribute that to Tony Mason. I can remember the last home game (a 42-7 win over Indiana), walking off the field. Tony Mason was on my left, and I actually started crying. I said, 'Coach, you’re not going to be my coach anymore.' It actually made my cry."

Somehow it is hard to see Butz reduced to tears. Yet after his pro career completed, Butz put his Purdue degree to use with several different companies and business opportunities.

But his passion is his work as a certified instructor with pistol and jackgun, and his role as a board member for the National Rifle Association. He is philosophical about his role with the NRA as well.

"My job is to teach a woman shoot so well that no man will give her advice," Butz said. "That’s my goal.

"One year I traveled 31 times working with the NRA. I had to buy extra underwear so that I could stay gone longer."

Butz, a father of four who has been married 40 years, is proud of the "very sound" education he received at Purdue. It has helped him leave a happy life with the following mantra.

"I think you have to have a belief in self, a belief that you can win and that you can overcome adversity," Butz said. "Intelligence is not beating your head against the wall. It’s about finding a way to over it, around it, or under it."

In terms of football, he stays in touch with the game in part because his son David is a sports agent with nearly 40 clients. Yet Butz, forever the iconoclast, watching the ame different from most of the rest of us.

"I watch football now with the sound off," Butz said. "That allows you to see what’s going on: The foot placement, the hand placement, the lean. You get a much better appreciation of the game."

And if you ever had the pleasure of watching Butz play, you would have appreciated him for being one of the toughest to ever play the game.

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