Butler Falls Short of Hall of Fame Induction

GREEN BAY, Wis. – LeRoy Butler's potential leap to the Pro Football Hall of Fame will have to wait another year.

Butler, a first-time member of the group of 15 finalists, announced on Saturday he had fallen short of induction.

Sorry @packers fans!! I missed it this year!! Thank you to all the fans that voted for me!! GOD IS GOOD!!!
— leroy butler (blue check) (@leap36) February 1, 2020

Deliberation started this morning, with presenters stating their cases for the 15 modern-era finalists. That list was winnowed to 10 before selection of the five-man class. The Class of 2020 will be announced this evening at the NFL Honors program, which starts at 7 p.m.

“I would like to thank all the fans who voted for me, who got me in this position to be a finalist,” Butler said in this brief Twitter video from Friday. “I want to thank all my teammates and, of course, Packer Nation. That’s what I’m going to say if get the knock.”

😂 😂 pic.twitter.com/FECASjVr4D
— leroy butler (blue check) (@leap36) February 1, 2020

Butler, a second-round pick in 1990, played 12 seasons for the Packers. With 38 interceptions and 20.5 sacks, he became the first defensive back in NFL history with 20-plus interceptions and 20-plus sacks. Now, seven defensive backs have had 20/20 careers; Butler ranks third in that group in interceptions.

“LeRoy was as important to our Super Bowl win and success as any other player on our team,” Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre said this week.

A member of the NFL’s all-1990s team, he was the only offensive or defensive player to not be a finalist until now. Potentially working in Butler’s favor: Of the 22 first-team all-decade selections on offense and defense, only Butler and Steve Atwater – also a finalist – are not enshrined in the Hall of Fame.

Potentially working against Butler: fellow safeties Atwater, John Lynch and Troy Polamalu also are finalists. Lynch is a seven-time finalist (and, though it shouldn’t matter, the architect of the 49ers team that will play in Sunday’s Super Bowl), Atwater is a second-time finalist and Polamalu is a finalist in his first year of eligibility. There are only 11 pure safeties in the Hall of Fame, though Ed Reed (2019), Brian Dawkins (2018) and Ken Easley (2017) have opened doors at the position.

The Green Bay Press-Gazette’s Pete Dougherty made the case for Butler to Hall of Fame voters in Miami on Saturday morning. As Dougherty wrote: “The Butler presentation will include endorsements from eight to 10 well-known quarterbacks, coaches and scouts the Packers faced regularly in the '90s — that is, from their division and playoff rivals.”

Butler would have bethe 27th member of the Packers in the Hall of Fame. No. 26 is cornerback Bobby Dillon, who was selected on Jan. 15 as part of the Centennial Class.

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