Butler ‘Over the Universe’ to Be Hall of Fame Finalist

Note: This interview with Pro Football Hall of Fame finalist by The Talk of Fame Network’s Clark Judge can be read in its entitrety here.

When former Green Bay Packers safety LeRoy Butler was named as a finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2020, he was more than surprised.

“I was too shocked to know what do to,” he said.

Understandable.

Because until this year, Butler had never been a Hall of Fame finalist. And while that’s not unusual, this is: It’s his 14th year of eligibility, yet he was a first-team all-decade choice for a Super Bowl champion.

Moreover, until 2018, Butler had never been a semifinalist for the Hall. That means that voters didn’t view him as a serious candidate for election until two years ago. But those voters comprise the same group that made him a starter on the 1990s’ all-decade team.

“When I was a semifinalist,” he told me this week, “I was over the moon. Now, I’m over the universe.”

So what happened? Good question.

For some reason, voters finally woke up to LeRoy Butler – just as they woke up to Joe Jacoby in 2016. The former Washington offensive tackle hadn’t been a finalist until his 18th year of eligibility. Then he was one the next three years, failing to reach Canton in his 20th … and last … year as a modern-era candidate.

“I’m surprised it took 14 years,” Butler said, “because I thought people would recognize that I was one of the best safeties of the '90s, especially when I made the all-decade team. I thought when you made the all-decade team you at least should be in the finals.

“So to finally make it is just amazing in itself because I thought this would happen maybe 10 years ago. At the same time, I’m a patient person. And knowing that it will happen one day gives me a lot of calm.”

TO READ THE REST OF THE INTERVIEW, CLICK HERE.

Video: LaFleur on drafting a quarterback