Butch Woolfolk

Harold E. "Butch" Woolfolk is an American former professional football player who was a running back and kick returner in the National Football League. He played college football for the Michigan Wolverines before playing in the NFL for the New York Giants, Houston Oilers and Detroit Lions. Woolfolk attended Westfield Senior High School in Westfield, New Jersey. Woolfolk led Michigan in rushing three straight years and set the school record with 3,850 rushing yards while playing for the Wolverines from 1978 to 1981. As a sophomore in 1979, he was the Big Ten Conference scoring champion, and he went on to become a three-time first-team All-Big Ten selection. He had his best season as a senior at Michigan, winning the 1981 Big Ten rushing title and falling just 10 yards short of Rob Lytle's single-season rushing yards record. He was also selected in 1981 as the Most Valuable Player of both the Rose Bowl played January 1, 1981, and the Bluebonnet Bowl played December 31, 1981, as well as the Wolverines' team MVP for the season.
Woolfolk also excelled in track. He was named an All-American in 1980 and won nine Big Ten track and field championships both as an individual and relay race team member. He continues to hold the Michigan outdoor 200-meter record. He was also a member of relay teams that hold numerous U-M and Ferry Field all-time records.
Woolfolk played seven seasons in the NFL. As a rookie in 1982, he finished third in the NFL in all-purpose yards. And in 1983, he set an NFL record with 43 rushing attempts in a single game. He was also fifth in the NFL in receptions in 1985. Woolfolk was plagued with injuries during his NFL career and was able to play in 16 games only twice—in 1983 and 1985. In both of those years, he accumulated at least 1,200 yards from scrimmage. He also had seven 100-yard games—five receiving and two rushing.

High school

Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Woolfolk attended Eastridge High School in Kankakee, Illinois in the 1976-1977 school year. He moved with his family to Westfield, New Jersey, where he was a multi-sport star at Westfield High School. In 1977, Woolfolk was first-team All-State in American football and set Westfield High School season records with 1,637 yards rushing, 34 touchdowns and 206 points. He also excelled in track and field, winning the State All-Group and International Prep Invitational 100 meter and 200 meter races. He also ran the fastest boy's high school times in the nation in 1978.

University of Michigan

All-time Michigan rushing record

He played college football at the University of Michigan where he led the Wolverines in rushing three straight years, 1979, 1980, and 1981. He finished his career as the school's all-time leading rusher with 3,861 yards, a record that was eclipsed six years later by Jamie Morris. Woolfolk still holds the U-M record for the longest and third longest runs from scrimmage, a 92-yard run against Wisconsin in 1979, and an 89-yard gain against Wisconsin in 1981.
Woolfolk now ranks fifth in career rushing at U-M, as shown in the following chart:

Rank	Name	Attempts	Net Yds	Yds/Att	Touchdowns	Long	Start	End
1	Mike Hart	983	4911	5.0	39	64	2004	2007
2	Anthony Thomas	924	4472	4.8	55	80	1997	2000
3	Jamie Morris	806	4392	5.5	25	68	1984	1987
4	Tyrone Wheatley	688	4178	6.1	47	88	1991	1994
5	Butch Woolfolk	717	3850	5.4	29	92	1978	1981

253 yards rushing against Michigan State

He began the 1981 season with five consecutive 100-yard games, including a 253-yard effort. Woolfolk's best game as a Wolverine was the October 10, 1981 contest against Michigan State. The Wolverines beat the Spartans, 38–20, and Woolfolk rushed for 253 yards in 39 carries. After the game, Coach Bo Schembechler said: "I wondered what a kid like that would do if he ran as much as the guy on the West Coast. I didn't plan on this, but he proved he can do it. Butch is going to be our all-time leading ground gainer. There isn't any way they're going to stop him now. And so be it." His 1981 rushing performance against the Spartans still stands as the fifth best single-game performance by a Wolverine running back.

MVP of the 1981 Rose and Bluebonnet Bowls

Woolfolk was named the Most Valuable Player in both of Michigan's two bowl game appearances in 1981. During the January 1981 Rose Bowl, he gained 182 yards against Washington, and during the December 1981 Bluebonnet Bowl, in which he gained 186 yards against UCLA. The hotel where the Wolverines team was staying was evacuated the night before the 1981 Rose Bowl game when a fire alarm was triggered at 2:30 a.m., and Woolfolk only had three hours of sleep that night. He won the MVP award despite the lack of sleep, and after the game Woolfolk called the game his "greatest thrill in football." Commenting on the MVP trophy, Woolfolk said: "If I could, I'd break this trophy into 95 pieces and hand it out to all the guys on the squad." After winning his second MVP trophy in 1981's Bluebonnet Bowl, Woolfolk said: "I might look back in later years and notice that, but right now all I can think about is that I've worn a Michigan uniform for the last time."

Woolfolk's top ten games at Michigan

Woolfolk's top ten games in a Michigan uniform are as follows:

Rank	Date	Opponent	Attempts	Net Yards	Yds/Att	TDs	Long	Score
1	Oct 10, 1981	Michigan State	39	253	6.5	0	27	38-20
2	Oct 13, 1979	Minnesota	24	194	8.1	2	58	31-21
3	Nov 3, 1979	Wisconsin	19	190	10.0	3	92	54-0
4	Dec 31, 1981	UCLA	27	186	6.9	1	52	33-14
5	Jan 1, 1981	Washington	26	182	7.0	1	35	23-6
6	Oct 3, 1981	Indiana	26	176	6.8	2	24	38-17
7	Nov 1, 1980	Indiana	16	152	9.5	1	64	35-0
8	Nov 22, 1980	Ohio State	31	141	4.5	0	15	9-3
9	Sep 19, 1981	Notre Dame	23	139	6.0	0	21	25-7
10	Oct 11, 1980	Michigan State	29	136	4.7	0	15	27-23

Relationship with Bo Schembechler

During his four years at Michigan, Woolfolk had what one reporter described as "a strange love-hate relationship" with Coach Bo Schembechler. Woolfolk noted at the time Schembechler is a "tough coach", and it was "not easy at all" playing for him. Schembechler was often angered by Woolfolk's tendency to try to run around defenders rather than banging through them, resulting in Woolfolk being benched more than once. But Schembechler said Woolfolk "came of age" in the November 1980 Ohio State game. After Woolfolk's MVP performance in the 1981 Rose Bowl helped Schembechler to his first bowl game victory, Bo complimented Woolfolk's powerful performance, noting: "Butch can be a real load." By the 1981 season, Schembechler was a true believer in Woolfolk, saying: "Today, I can say without reservation, that I'd rather go into a big game with Woolfolk at tailback than any other back in the country." Woolfolk, too, concluded in the end that Schembechler was "key" to his success: "He kept after me. He kept saying I was getting too fancy. He kept saying, 'You're a big back, a fast back, and you ought to be running over people -- not trying to dance around them.'"

Track and field

While at Michigan, Woolfolk was also the 1980 Big Ten Conference track champion in the outdoor 200 meter and indoor 300 meter events. He also competed in the 200 meter event in the 1980 Olympic Trials. Through the 2007 season his 1980 outdoor 200 meter time of 20.59 seconds remains the all-time University of Michigan record. His 1980 outdoor 100 m time of 10.36, which is now the fourth fastest in Michigan history was once the school record, and his indoor 300 meter time of 30.38, which is now the second fastest in Michigan history was also once a school record. The 100 m record and 300 m record were broken by 4 × 100 m relay race teammate Andrew Bruce in 1981 and 1982 respectively. The men's track and field team won the Big Ten indoor title in 1982, and they won the outdoor titles in 1980, 1981, 1982. The 4 × 100 meter relay team won the Big Ten Conference championships in 1981 and 1982, and their 1980 and 1982 times of 3:06.95 and 3:07.34 with Woolfolk running second and Bruce running anchor are the 2nd and 3rd fastest times in Michigan team history. The 1980 relay time continues to be a Ferry Field stadium record. Bruce and Woolfolk also are members of the Michigan team sprint medley record holding team.

NFL career

Woolfolk played three years in the NFL for the New York Giants, two years with the Houston Oilers, and two years with the Detroit Lions. He was a versatile player who accumulated nearly 5,000 all-purpose yards and had seven 100-yard games, five as a receiver out of the backfield and two as a rusher. Three of his 100-yard games came as a Giant and four as an Oiler.