Jan. 23, 2026, 8:35 p.m. ET<\/p>\n
After becoming a critical cog in the Detroit Lions<\/a>‘ defense in just his third season, linebacker Jack Campbell was presented the 2025 Pro Butkus Award on Thursday in his hometown of Cedar Falls, Iowa<\/a>.<\/p>\n The award is given annually to the NFL\u2019s top linebacker and bestows the namesake of the late, great Chicago Bears<\/a> and Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker Dick Butkus. On Thursday, Campbell was presented the award by Dick Butkus’ son, Matt Butkus, in recognition of his breakout 2025 season with Detroit.<\/p>\n Campbell secured the award over San Francisco 49ers<\/a> linebacker Fred Warner, Baltimore Ravens<\/a> linebacker Roquan Smith and Philadelphia Eagles<\/a> linebacker Zack Baun, who was last season’s winner.<\/p>\n In all 17 games played, the 6-foot-5, 246-pound linebacker showcased the very definitive qualities that comprise an elite NFL linebacker through his contributions to Detroit\u2019s defense against the run and in coverage.<\/p>\n Campbell finished with 176 total tackles (89 solo), nine tackles for loss, five sacks, three forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries. Campbell’s 176 tackles ranked second in the NFL.<\/p>\n Expert NFL picks: Exclusive betting insights only at USA TODAY.<\/a><\/p>\n Jack Campbell embodies everything the Butkus Award represents. His size, instincts and disciplined approach to the position allow him to control the middle of the field. He plays with authority, communicates at a high level, and consistently puts himself in position to make impactful plays. His rise this season reflects not just talent, but leadership and football character. – Butkus Award Selection Committee<\/p>\n Campbell’s breakout 2025 campaign also landed him a spot on the 2026 NFL Pro Bowl, alongside four other Lions teammates<\/a>. Campbell was also named a first-team All-Pro<\/a>, becoming the first Lions<\/a> linebacker with that distinction since Chris Spielman in 1991.<\/p>\n Campbell notched nine games with 10-plus tackles and produced a season with at least 165 tackles and 10 special teams tackles, which made him the first NFL player to accomplish that feat since 1994.<\/p>\n Campbell also won the Butkus Award in college as a senior at Iowa in 2022, where he was the first Hawkeye to ever win the award.<\/p>\n With Campbell entering the final year of his rookie contract in 2026, winning the Butkus Award will certainly help his case for a potential lucrative contract extension this summer from Lions general manager Brad Holmes.<\/p>\n For more\u00a0Lions<\/a>\u00a0coverage, follow us on X,\u00a0@TheLionsWire<\/a>, and give our\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0page a like.\u00a0Follow Scout on X:\u00a0@SpringgateNews<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jan. 23, 2026, 8:35 p.m. ET After becoming a critical cog in the Detroit Lions‘ defense in just…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":700623,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2071],"tags":[95878,146,113,2506,7,147,6,52959,96502,95882,95898,96027,96242,102102,95893,96126,98203,97404,97401,96693,95896,95888,95895,95906,101164,96071,95883,95894,102101,95881],"class_list":["post-700622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-detroit-lions","tag-accessfree","tag-detroit","tag-detroit-lions","tag-detroitlions","tag-football","tag-lions","tag-nfl","tag-sstssportsnfllions","tag-sstsnlions","tag-tagamerican-football","tag-tagbaltimore-ravens","tag-tagcollege-sports","tag-tagdetroit-lions","tag-tagdick-butkus","tag-tagfacebook","tag-tagfred-warner","tag-tagiowa","tag-tagiowa-hawkeyes","tag-tagiowa-hawkeyes-football","tag-tagjack-campbell","tag-tagnational-sports","tag-tagnfl","tag-tagnfl-hub","tag-tagoverall-positive","tag-tagroquan-smith","tag-tagsmg-timely","tag-tagsports-news","tag-tagtwitter","tag-tagzack-baun","tag-typestory"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/700622","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=700622"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/700622\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/700623"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=700622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=700622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=700622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}