Butkus Award

Template:Short description Template:Infobox sports award 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

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<ref name="ware2008">Template:Cite web</ref> 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). Four 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), and Baltimore Ravens linebacker Roquan Smith (2017, 2022, 2023).

Recipients

Collegiate winners

Year	Player	School
1985	Brian Bosworth	Oklahoma
1986	Brian Bosworth	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
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
2011	Luke Kuechly	Boston College
2012	Manti Te'o	Notre Dame
2013	C. J. Mosley	Alabama (3)
2014	Eric Kendricks	UCLA
2015	Jaylon Smith<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>	Notre Dame (2)
2016	Reuben Foster<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>	Alabama (4)
2017	Roquan Smith	Georgia
2018	Devin White	LSU
2019	Isaiah Simmons<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Clemson
2020	Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah	Notre Dame (3)
2021	Nakobe Dean	Georgia (2)
2022	Jack Campbell	Iowa
2023	Payton Wilson	NC State
2024	Jalon Walker	Georgia (3)

Professional winners

Luke Kuechly holds the record for most wins by a player with four awards (one in college and three in the pros).

Year	Player	Team
2008	DeMarcus Ware<ref name="ware2008"/>	Dallas Cowboys
2009	Patrick Willis<ref name="willis2009">OleMissSports.com: Willis Wins Butkus Award As Collegian And Pro Template:Webarchive</ref>	San Francisco 49ers
2010	Clay Matthews III<ref name="butkuspastwinners">Template:Cite web</ref>	Green Bay Packers
2011	Terrell Suggs<ref name="butkuspastwinners" />	Baltimore Ravens
	DeMarcus Ware<ref name="butkuspastwinners" />	Dallas Cowboys
2012	Von Miller<ref name="butkuspastwinners" />	Denver Broncos
2013	NaVorro Bowman<ref name="butkuspastwinners" />	San Francisco 49ers
2014	Luke Kuechly<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>	Carolina Panthers
2015	Luke Kuechly<ref name="butkuspastwinners" />	Carolina Panthers
2016	Khalil Mack<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Oakland Raiders
2017	Luke Kuechly<ref name="butkuspastwinners" />	Carolina Panthers
2018	Khalil Mack<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>	Chicago Bears
2019	Chandler Jones<ref name="butkuspastwinners" />	Arizona Cardinals
2020	T. J. Watt<ref name="butkuspastwinners" />	Pittsburgh Steelers
2021	Micah Parsons<ref name="butkuspastwinners" />	Dallas Cowboys
2022	Roquan Smith<ref name="butkuspastwinners" />	Baltimore Ravens
2023	Roquan Smith<ref name="butkuspastwinners" />	Baltimore Ravens

High school winners

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

External links

• Template:Official website