league who admired Nitschke's professional skills might pick this up as a reminder of the man beneath the armor." In the late 1980s, Nitschke owned an automobile dealership in Green Bay. He performed several of his own TV commercials in which he brought out his dog, "Butkus", named in honor of his Chicago Bears nemesis, Dick Butkus (who like Nitschke, grew up in the Chicago area and played for the Illinois Fighting Illini). He appeared in the comic film Head, starring The Monkees, as a footballer who repeatedly tackles Peter Tork in a mock war movie sequence. His character is listed in the credits as "Private One" because his jersey is emblazoned with the number "1". Nitschke also appeared in the 1974 football comedy The Longest Yard as Guard Bogdanski. Nitschke died of a heart attack in Venice, Florida at the age of 61 in 1998. He had been driving to the home of a family friend, according to his daughter, Amy Klaas, who was with him when he was stricken. He was pronounced dead at Venice Hospital. Honors His No. 66 was retired in 1983, the fourth of six numbers retired by the Packers. The only other Lombardi-era player to have his number retired is quarterback Bart Starr, whose number 15 was retired in 1973. Also, the team has named one of its two outdoor practice fields "Ray Nitschke Field". Prior to its retirement, number 66 had remained in circulation and was last worn in 1983 by offensive lineman Lawrence Pfohl, who would go on to fame as a professional wrestler under the ring name Lex Luger. In 1969, he was named the NFL's all-time top Linebacker by the NFL in honor of the NFL's 50th Anniversary. Thus he is the only linebacker to have made both the NFL's 50th and 75th Anniversary Teams. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1978. Every year, the Pro Football Hall of Fame has a luncheon the day before its induction ceremony, attended by most of the living members and honoring the new inductees. Nitschke always spoke at this luncheon, telling the new inductees what a great honor they were receiving, and that they were now members of the greatest team of them all. Following his death, the Hall named the luncheon after him. He was elected to the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 1981. Upon the