LeRoy Butler
LeRoy Butler III is an American former professional football player who spent his entire 12-year career from 1990 to 2001 as a safety for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2022.
Butler was born in Jacksonville, Florida, where he was challenged by physical problems which forced him to wear leg braces and use a wheelchair at times during his childhood. However, he overcame his disability and was able to excel at high school football; Butler was named one of the 33 best Florida High School football players of all time in 2007. He went on to be a three-year starter playing college football for the Florida State Seminoles, and after a successful college career, he was selected in the second round of the 1990 NFL draft by the Packers.
In his 12 seasons with the Packers, Butler was a four-time first-team All-Pro. Butler recorded a sack in the Packers' Super Bowl XXXI win over the New England Patriots, and he is recognized as the creator of the Lambeau Leap touchdown celebration. Butler was named a member of the NFL 1990s All-Decade Team and was enshrined in the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame.
Early life
Butler attended Robert E. Lee High School in Jacksonville, Florida, and played under the direction of the all-time wins leader for a high school football coach in the state of Florida's history, Corky Rogers. Rogers coached at Robert E. Lee High School from 1972 to 1988, where he coached Butler and fellow NFL star Edgar Bennett, and from 1989 to 2016 at The Bolles School in Jacksonville, having won a total of 8 football State Championships. Before moving onto Florida State, Butler was an astounding player for the Robert E. Lee High School Generals football program.College career
Butler played under head coach Bobby Bowden at Florida State University from 1986–1989. He was ineligible to participate during his freshman year due to his academics failing to meet standards, disqualifying him due to Prop–48. He played safety during his first two seasons at FSU and was only moved to cornerback in for his third season in order to replace Deion Sanders. His transition from safety to cornerback caused issues for him during the draft process, as teams were conflicted on which position he would play in the NFL. On September 2, 1989, the No. 6 FSU lost 30–26 in a huge upset in their season-opener to Southern Miss, led by Brett Favre.He was a three-year starter, collecting 194 tackles and 9 interceptions, but he's most remembered by FSU fans for his role in the "puntrooskie." In 1988, against rival Clemson, FSU was backed up to its own 21-yard line, on fourth down, with a minute and 30 seconds left to play and the score tied at 21. Bowden called the famous trick play, a fake punt. The snap went to upback Dayne Williams and he slipped the ball to Butler, who ran 78 yards to set up the game-winning field goal.
Professional career
Pre-draft
On January 22, 1990, Butler participated in the 1990 Senior Bowl as part of the South team, who was led by Philadelphia Eagles' head coach Buddy Ryan, as they lost 41–0 to the North team led by Kansas City Chiefs' head coach Marty Schottenheimer. He performed well, earning Top Player honors, along with Richmond Webb, Bryce Paup, and Terrance Mathis. He attended the NFL Scouting Combine and performed all of the positional and combined drills. The majority of NFL draft analysts projected Butler to be a late first to second round pick. Due to Butler playing free safety for his first two seasons and switching to cornerback in his third season in order to replace Deion Sanders, many teams were conflicted on which position Butler would play professionally. This had a possible effect on his draft stock due to teams preferring to draft players with a set position.1990
The Green Bay Packers selected Butler in the second round of the 1990 NFL draft. He was the fourth cornerback drafted in 1990. While following the 1997 NFL Draft amongst family, friends, and coaches at his mother's apartment in Jacksonville, Butler became visibly discouraged after hearing the 44th overall selection by the New Orleans Saints was for cornerback Vince Buck from unknown Central State, a small HBCU NAIA Division I located in Wilberforce, Ohio. Central State is virtually unknown in reference to the NFL draft, as Vince Buck was only the fourth player ever selected and the first since 1979.On July 26, 1990, the Green Bay Packers signed Butler to a three–year, $970,000 rookie contract that included a signing bonus of $270,000.
He entered training camp his rookie season as a cornerback and, at the time, there had been no plans for him to play safety. He provided depth following the departure of Van Jakes. On July 26, 1990, the Packers placed No. 1 starting cornerback Dave Brown on the physically unable-to-perform list due tendinitis in his Achilles tendon. Defensive coordinator Hank Bullough was tasked to name replacements for both starting roles, with candidates including Butler, Jerry Holmes, and Mark Lee. He considers Dave Brown and Mark Lee as his mentors. Head coach Lindy Infante named Butler a backup and listed him as the third cornerback on the depth chart to begin the season, behind starting cornerbacks Jerry Holmes and Mark Lee.
On September 9, 1990, Butler made his professional regular season debut in the Packers' home-opener against the Los Angeles Rams and had three solo tackles and one pass deflection during a 36–24 victory. On October 28, 1990, Butler made one solo tackle, two pass deflections, and set a season-high with two interceptions on passes thrown by Rich Gannon during a 10–24 win against the Minnesota Vikings. In Week 16, he set a season-high with six solo tackles, had one pass break-up, and intercepted a pass by Rodney Peete as the Packers lost 24–17 to the Detroit Lions. He finished his rookie season with, six pass deflections, and three interceptions in 16 games with zero starts.
1991
The Green Bay Packers selected cornerback Vinnie Clark in the first round of the 1991 NFL draft, after they traded their original 1991 first round pick to the Philadelphia Eagles for their 1991 first round pick and 1992 first round pick. This decision, to draft Vinnie Clark, became one of the main catalysts to set in motion events that would result in their upcoming success. With two cornerbacks selected in the first round of back-to-back drafts, would result in Butler moving to strong safety. The 1992 first round pick would be traded to the Atlanta Falcons in exchange for Brett Favre.Throughout training camp, Butler competed against rookie Vinnie Clark, Jerry Holmes, and Roland Mitchell to be the No. 1 starting cornerback following the departure of Mark Lee. Head coach Lindy Infante named Butler and Jerry Holmes the starting cornerbacks to begin the season.
On September 1, 1991, Butler earned his first career start in the Green Bay Packers' home-opener against the Philadelphia Eagles and intercepted a pass by Jim McMahon during their 3–20 loss. In Week 13, Butler had his third interception of the season on a pass attempt thrown by Jeff George during a 10–14 victory against the Indianapolis Colts. He started all 16 games throughout the season and recorded a total of 63 combined tackles, had three interceptions, and made one fumble recovery. On December 22, 1991, the Green Bay Packers' new General Manager Ron Wolf announced his decision to fire head coach Lindy Infante after the 1991 NFL season concluded with a 4–12 record after a 27–7 win at the Miami Dolphins the previous day. This also included Infante's entire coaching staff. Wolf has officially taken over as General Manager the previous month, replacing Tom Braatz.
1992
On January 11, 1992 the Green Bay Packers hired San Francisco 49ers' offensive coordinator Mike Holmgren to be their new head coach. Holmgren hired 49ers' defensive backs coach Ray Rhodes as defensive coordinator. The Packers selected cornerback Terrell Buckley in the first round of the 1992 NFL draft and planned for him to start alongside 1991 first round pick Vinnie Clark.With both starting cornerback roles already planned for, defensive coordinator, Ray Rhodes, presented Butler with the idea of moving him to free safety. He was open to it, but amended the change to switch to strong safety instead. On May 8, 1992, the Packers released long-time starting strong safety Mark Murphy after he requested it after he was informed of Butler's transition to strong safety and expected to probably lost his starting role. Head coach Mike Holmgren named Butler the starting strong safety to begin the season alongside free safety Chuck Cecil.
On October 13, 1992, the Green Bay Packers signed Butler to a two–year, $1.36 million contract extension that kept him under contract throughout the 1995 NFL season. On November 15, 1992, Butler helped lead the Packers to a 24–27 comeback victory against the Philadelphia Eagles by recovering a fumble with around five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter after running back Heath Sherman carried the ball to the 12–yard line before linebacker Ron Noble tackled forced a fumble by Sherman as he attempted to tackle him, causing them to collide with Chuck Cecil and Roland Miller. Butler returned it 17–yards and a field goal on the ensuing drive would tie the game 24–24. In Week 12, Butler had his lone interception of the season on a pass by backup quarterback Peter Tom Willis in the second half of a 17–3 victory at the Chicago Bears. On December 10, 1992, the NFL issued a one–game suspension to Butler for delivering a leaping forearm blow to the helmet of Lions' quarterback Andre Ware after he had already passed the ball in Week 14. He ended the season with 71 combined tackles, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, and one interception in 15 games and 15 starts.
1993
Following the departure of 1993 Pro Bowl starting free safety Chuck Cecil to the Phoenix Cardinals, the Packers acquired Mike Prior as a free agent and selected George Teague in the first round of the 1993 NFL draft. Butler returned as the de facto starting strong safety under defensive backs coach Dick Jauron and began the season alongside Mike Prior.On September 5, 1993, Butler started in the Green Bay Packers' home-opener against the Los Angeles Rams and made five combined tackles, set a season-high with four pass deflections, and had his first interception of the season on a pass by Jim Everett during a 6–36 victory. In Week 5, he set a season-high with nine solo tackles during a 14–36 loss at the Dallas Cowboys. On October 31, 1993, Butler made nine combined tackles, one pass deflection, an interception, and sealed a 3–17 victory against the Chicago Bears by making his first career sack on John Harbaugh in the fourth quarter and forcing a fumble that he recovered as they led the Bears 10–3. In Week 11, he had six combined tackles, two pass deflections, and intercepted a pass by Wade Wilson during a 17–19 last second fourth quarter comeback at the New Orleans Saints. In Week 15, he made three solo tackles, two pass deflections, and set a career-high with his sixth interception of the season on a pass attempt thrown by Stan Humphries during a 20–13 win at the San Diego Chargers. He started all 16 games for the first time in his career and finished with 90 combined tackles, 23 pass deflections, six interceptions, one sack, and scored one touchdown. He was selected to the 1994 Pro Bowl, marking the first of four Pro Bowl selections of his career.
The Green Bay Packers finished the 1993 NFL season in third place in the NFC Central division with a 9–7 record to clinch a Wild-Card position. On January 8, 1994, Butler started in the first postseason appearance of his career and recorded nine combined tackles during a 28–24 victory at the Detroit Lions in the NFC Wild-Card Game. On January 16, 1994, Butler started in the NFC Divisional Round at Texas Stadium and recorded seven solo tackles, made two pass deflections, recovered a fumble by Emmitt Smith, and intercepted a pass thrown by Troy Aikman as the Packers lost 17–27 to the Dallas Cowboys. The Dallas Cowboys would win Super Bowl XXVIII to mark back-to-back Super Bowl championships as they were in the midst of their dynasty.