Butler: ‘I Know I’ll Be a Gold Jacket Winner’
GREEN BAY, Wis. – To say LeRoy Butler lost out on induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday wouldn’t be entirely accurate.
While it’s true the Green Bay Packers legend was not selected – fellow safeties Troy Polamalu and Steve Atwater were joined by receiver Isaac Bruce, guard Steve Hutchinson and running back Edgerrin James as the five modern-era selections – the experience and affirmation that he belonged made it a great experience for the first-time finalist.
“That’s what I heard from some of the Gold Jacket guys,” Butler said via phone from Miami. “I know they tell that to everybody but it’s still refreshing to hear that. I just like to be gracious whenever I win or lose. And I don’t necessarily look at it as losing, though. I know some of my fans might but I think it’s actually winning because there’s a good chance your case will be heard in the future and it will resonate with somebody. Sooner or later, I know I’ll be a Gold Jacket winner.”
Safety long has been a neglected position in the Hall of Fame but the selectors are starting to make headway. Until Saturday, there were just 11 pure safeties enshrined in Canton. However, Ed Reed made it in 2019, Brian Dawkins in 2018 and Kenny Easley in 2017. With Polamalu and Atwater, that’s now five safeties in four years.
Butler was hopeful this would be his year. He and Atwater were the only members of the NFL’s all-1990s team to not be in the Hall of Fame. Butler was the first player in NFL history with 20-plus sacks and 20-plus interceptions, and he was a vital cog on the Packers’ Super Bowl XXXI championship team.
But he did not receive a coveted knock on his hotel door by Hall of Fame president David Baker.
“Every minute that went by that I didn’t get a phone call, I was like, ‘Great,’” Butler said. “I just never really worry about a lot of things that I can’t control. I felt good about my case being heard. That made me feel great. That’s all I really wanted was to have somebody hear it. Hopefully, it sparks some interest and we’ll see what happens.”
Of the 15 finalists, four were safeties. Butler and John Lynch fell short of the necessary votes.
“If a safety gets in other than Troy, they’re going to start a debate. Did you go by stats? Did you go by championships? You just don’t know,” Butler said.
It’s impossible to say, but maybe Super Bowl XXXII is the reason why Atwater is in and Butler is out. The Packers were going for back-to-back championships but were upset by the Broncos. The next year, Denver won back-to-back titles to give Atwater two Super Bowl rings and two All-Pro honors vs. one Super Bowl ring and four All-Pro honors for Butler.
Not that Butler is bitter. Far from it.
“Oh, I’m good. I’m blessed,” he said. “It was fun, man. It was fun being around those guys.”
Someday, maybe Butler will join those guys to write a final chapter to the most remarkable of stories. As a kid growing up in Jacksonville, Fla., Butler was so pigeon-toed that doctors had to break bones in both feet. He spent part of his childhood in a wheelchair. Doctors wondered if he’d ever walk normally.
Instead, Butler starred at Florida State and became a Packers legend.
“That’s a great story to make it from where I came from as a kid to making it as a finalist. It’s just remarkable,” he said. “That’s what I kept telling my wife. We’re just enjoying it because never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d have a chance. And then when I was all-decade, I said, ‘OK, maybe so.’ I knew it was going to take some time. It took a long time just to be a semifinalist. I lost count of all the years but I never gave up. I’m just not a give-up-type person.”
