Butkus Award
Awarded forGiven to the best linebackers at the high school, collegiate and professional levels of football
CountryUnited States
Presented byDowntown Athletic Club of Orlando (1985–2007)
Butkus Foundation (2008–present)
History
First award1985
Most recent
Websitehttp://www.thebutkusaward.com/

The Butkus Award, instituted in 1985 by the Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando, is given annually to the top linebackers at the high school, collegiate and professional levels of football. The award, named in honor of College Football Hall of Fame and Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker Dick Butkus, is presented by the Butkus Foundation, a non-profit organization that supports a number of health and wellness activities including the "I Play Clean" anti-steroid program. The award was first established by the Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando, which relinquished control of the award in 2008 following a lawsuit by Butkus.[1]

Traditionally, the award was given only to the top collegiate linebacker. The Butkus Award was expanded in 2008 to include high school and professional winners[2] as part of a makeover by the Butkus family to help end anabolic steroid abuse among young athletes. Three players have won both the high school and collegiate Butkus Awards: Notre Dame linebackers Manti Te'o (2008, 2012) and Jaylon Smith (2012, 2015) and also Georgia linebacker Nakobe Dean (2018, 2021). Five players have won both the collegiate and professional Butkus Awards: San Francisco 49ers linebacker Patrick Willis (2006, 2009), Denver Broncos linebacker Von Miller (2010, 2012), Carolina Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly (2011, 2014, 2015, 2017), Baltimore Ravens linebacker Roquan Smith (2017, 2022, 2023), and Detroit Lions linebacker Jack Campbell (2022, 2025).

Recipients

Collegiate winners

Year Player School Ref.
1985 Brian Bosworth Oklahoma
1986 Brian Bosworth (2) Oklahoma (2)
1987 Paul McGowan Florida State
1988 Derrick Thomas Alabama
1989 Percy Snow Michigan State
1990 Alfred Williams Colorado
1991 Erick Anderson Michigan
1992 Marvin Jones Florida State (2)
1993 Trev Alberts Nebraska
1994 Dana Howard Illinois
1995 Kevin Hardy Illinois (2)
1996 Matt Russell Colorado (2)
1997 Andy Katzenmoyer Ohio State
1998 Chris Claiborne USC
1999 LaVar Arrington Penn State
2000 Dan Morgan Miami (FL)
2001 Rocky Calmus Oklahoma (3)
2002 E. J. Henderson Maryland
2003 Teddy Lehman Oklahoma (4)
2004 Derrick Johnson Texas
2005 Paul Posluszny Penn State (2)
2006 Patrick Willis Ole Miss
2007 James Laurinaitis Ohio State (2)
2008 Aaron Curry Wake Forest
2009 Rolando McClain Alabama (2)
2010 Von Miller Texas A&M [3]
2011 Luke Kuechly Boston College [4]
2012 Manti Teʻo Notre Dame
2013 C. J. Mosley Alabama (3) [5]
2014 Eric Kendricks UCLA [6]
2015 Jaylon Smith Notre Dame (2) [7]
2016 Reuben Foster Alabama (4) [8]
2017 Roquan Smith Georgia [9]
2018 Devin White LSU [10]
2019 Isaiah Simmons Clemson [11][12]
2020 Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah Notre Dame (3) [13]
2021 Nakobe Dean Georgia (2) [14]
2022 Jack Campbell Iowa [15]
2023 Payton Wilson NC State [16]
2024 Jalon Walker Georgia (3) [17]
2025 Jacob Rodriguez Texas Tech [18]

Professional winners

Luke Kuechly holds the record for most wins by a player with four awards (one in college and three in the pros).
Season Player Team Ref.
2008 DeMarcus Ware Dallas Cowboys [2]
2009 Patrick Willis San Francisco 49ers [19]
2010 Clay Matthews III Green Bay Packers [20]
2011 Terrell Suggs Baltimore Ravens [20]
DeMarcus Ware (2) Dallas Cowboys [20]
2012 Von Miller Denver Broncos [20]
2013 NaVorro Bowman San Francisco 49ers [20]
2014 Luke Kuechly Carolina Panthers [21]
2015 Luke Kuechly (2) Carolina Panthers
2016 Khalil Mack Oakland Raiders [22]
2017 Luke Kuechly (3) Carolina Panthers [20]
2018 Khalil Mack (2) Chicago Bears [23]
2019 Chandler Jones Arizona Cardinals [20]
2020 T. J. Watt Pittsburgh Steelers [20]
2021 Micah Parsons Dallas Cowboys [20]
2022 Roquan Smith Baltimore Ravens [20]
2023 Roquan Smith (2) Baltimore Ravens
2024 Zack Baun Philadelphia Eagles [20]
2025 Jack Campbell Detroit Lions [20]

High school winners

Year Player School
2008 Manti Teʻo Punahou
(Honolulu, HI)
2009 Jordan Hicks Lakota West
(West Chester, OH)
2010 Tony Steward Pedro Menendez
(St. Augustine, FL)
2011 Noor Davis Leesburg
(Leesburg, FL)
2012 Jaylon Smith Bishop Luers
(Fort Wayne, IN)
2013 Raekwon McMillan Liberty County
(Hinesville, GA)
2014 Malik Jefferson Ralph H. Poteet
(Mesquite, TX)
2015 Caleb Kelly Clovis West
(Fresno, CA)
2016 Dylan Moses IMG
(Bradenton, FL)
2017 Solomon Tuliaupupu Mater Dei
(Santa Ana, CA)
2018 Nakobe Dean Horn Lake
(Horn Lake, MS)
2019 Justin Flowe Upland
(Upland, CA)
2020 Prince Kollie David Crockett
(Jonesborough, TN)
2021 Shawn Murphy[24] Unity Reed
(Manassas, VA)
2022 Drayk Bowen Andrean
(Merrillville, IN)
2023 Sammy Brown Jefferson
(Jefferson, GA)
2024 Christian Jones Westside
(Omaha, NE)
2025 Tyler Atkinson Grayson
(Loganville, GA)

References

  1. ^ Schmadtke, Alan (April 29, 2008). "Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando relinquishes rights to the Dick Butkus Award". Orlando Sentinel. Archived from the original on January 21, 2017. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  2. ^ a b Archer, Todd (January 9, 2009). "Dallas Cowboys' Ware wins Butkus Award". Dallasnews.com: the Dallas Morning News website. Belo Corporation. Archived from the original on June 29, 2011. Retrieved January 11, 2009.
  3. ^ "Big 12 Sack Leader Miller Receives Butkus Award". 12thman.com. Texas A&M University. December 7, 2010. Retrieved May 26, 2026.
  4. ^ "Kuechly Earns Butkus Award". bceagles.com. Boston College. December 4, 2011. Retrieved May 26, 2026.
  5. ^ Goodbread, Chase (December 8, 2013). "Alabama LB C.J. Mosley wins prestigious Butkus Award". NFL.com. National Football League. Retrieved May 26, 2026.
  6. ^ Goodbread, Chase (December 9, 2014). "UCLA's Eric Kendricks wins Butkus Award". NFL.com. National Football League. Retrieved May 26, 2026.
  7. ^ Skrbina, Paul (December 8, 2015). "Notre Dame's Jaylon Smith named Butkus Award winner". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved August 6, 2017.
  8. ^ Potter, Charlie (December 5, 2016). "Alabama LB Reuben Foster named 2016 Butkus Award winner". CBS Sports. Retrieved August 6, 2017.
  9. ^ "Roquan Smith Wins 2017 Butkus Award". georgiadogs.com. University of Georgia. December 3, 2017. Retrieved May 26, 2026.
  10. ^ Bonnette, Michael (December 4, 2018). "Devin White Named 2018 Butkus Award Winner". lsusports.net. Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College. Retrieved May 26, 2026.
  11. ^ "Simmons Wins 2019 Butkus Award". clemsontigers.com. Clemson University. December 8, 2019. Retrieved May 26, 2026.
  12. ^ Lentz, Zach (December 8, 2019). "Simmons Wins 2019 Butkus Award". si.com. Sports Illustrated. Retrieved December 8, 2019.
  13. ^ "Owusu-Koramoah Wins Butkus Award for Nation's Top Linebacker". fightingirish.com. University of Notre Dame. December 21, 2020. Retrieved May 26, 2026.
  14. ^ "Nakobe Dean Wins Butkus Award As Nation's Top Linebacker". georgiadogs.com. University of Georgia. December 5, 2021. Retrieved May 26, 2026.
  15. ^ "Campbell Earns Butkus Award". hawkeyesports.com. University of Iowa. December 8, 2022. Retrieved May 26, 2026.
  16. ^ "Payton Wilson Wins Butkus Award". gopack.com. North Carolina State University. December 6, 2023. Retrieved May 26, 2026.
  17. ^ Williams, Jonathan (December 11, 2024). "Georgia Linebacker Jalon Walker Wins the Butkus Award". si.com. Sports Illustrated. Retrieved May 26, 2026.
  18. ^ "Rodriguez named 2025 winner of the Butkus Award". texastech.com. Texas Tech University. December 5, 2025. Retrieved May 26, 2026.
  19. ^ OleMissSports.com: Willis Wins Butkus Award As Collegian And Pro Archived January 5, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  20. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Past Winners". www.thebutkusaward.com.
  21. ^ "Former BC great Kuechly wins second Butkus Award". Fox Sports. May 12, 2015. Retrieved August 6, 2017.
  22. ^ "Khalil Mack Receives Pro Butkus Award(R)". Archived from the original on 2017-08-06. Retrieved 2017-06-14.
  23. ^ Finley, Patrick (June 4, 2019). "Bears OLB Khalil Mack wins pro Butkus Award". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved June 4, 2019.
  24. ^ Pascal, Evan (7 December 2021). "Prince William County's Shawn Murphy wins Butkus Award as nation's top prep linebacker". WJLA. Retrieved 4 April 2022.