Malcolm Butler
Malcolm Terel Butler is an American former professional football player who was a cornerback for seven seasons in the National Football League. A two-time Super Bowl champion and 2015 Pro Bowl selection during his tenure with the New England Patriots, Butler is best known for his goal-line interception in the final seconds of Super Bowl XLIX, which prevented a go-ahead touchdown by the Seattle Seahawks and effectively ensured the Patriots' victory. It is regarded as one of the greatest plays in NFL history.
Butler played college football for the West Alabama Tigers. He spent his first four NFL seasons with the Patriots, who signed him as an undrafted free agent in 2014. Butler was a member of the Tennessee Titans during his final three seasons.
Early life
Butler was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, and has four siblings. He graduated from Vicksburg High School in 2009. As a senior, Butler averaged five tackles per game. Despite only playing football in his freshman and senior years at Vicksburg, he earned a scholarship to Hinds Community College in Raymond, Mississippi. Butler also participated in track and field at Vicksburg, competing in sprints and jumps. He had personal bests of 12.07 seconds in the 100-meter dash, 1.83 meters in the high jump, and 6.92 meters in the long jump.College career
As a freshman at Hinds Community College in 2009, Butler recorded 22 tackles and an interception, but was kicked off the team after the fifth game of the season. He transferred to Alcorn State University before being invited back to Hinds Community College in 2011, and as a sophomore, Butler had 43 tackles, three interceptions, and 12 pass deflections.In 2012, Butler enrolled at the University of West Alabama, majoring in physical education. He started all 12 games that fall for the Division II Tigers. Butler finished the season with 49 tackles, 43 solo, five interceptions, and averaged a team-leading 29.8 yards per kickoff return.
In 2013, Butler was named a Beyond Sports Network All-American after recording 45 tackles, two interceptions, and a blocked field goal, and averaging 27.9 yards on kickoff returns during the season. He played in the 2014 Medal of Honor Bowl, a postseason all-star game, registering a solo tackle and an interception.
Professional career
New England Patriots (first stint)
2014 season
Butler received an invitation to attend the New England Patriots' rookie minicamp, and after impressing coaches with his performance, Butler was signed to a three-year, $1.53 million contract on May 19, 2014. During training camp, he competed for a roster spot against Dax Swanson, Justin Green, and Jemea Thomas. Butler had an impressive preseason and earned a roster spot as the sixth cornerback on the Patriots’ depth chart. Head coach Bill Belichick named Butler the sixth cornerback, behind Darrelle Revis, Alfonzo Dennard, Logan Ryan, Kyle Arrington, and Brandon Browner.Butler made his NFL debut in the season opener against the Miami Dolphins and made two solo tackles during the 33–20 road loss. He was inactive for three games as a healthy scratch after Alfonzo Dennard returned from injury. During Week 9 against the Denver Broncos, Butler collected a season-high four solo tackles and deflected a pass in the 43–21 victory. He was inactive for another two games as a healthy scratch. During Week 15, Butler earned his first NFL start and recorded two combined tackles in a 41–13 victory over the Dolphins. In the regular-season finale against the Buffalo Bills, Butler collected a season-high five combined tackles during the 17–9 loss.
Butler finished his rookie season in 2014 with 15 combined tackles and three pass deflections in 11 games and one start. The Patriots finished atop the AFC East with a 12–4 record and received a first-round bye. On January 10, 2015, Butler appeared in his first NFL playoff game as the Patriots defeated the Baltimore Ravens 35–31 during the AFC Divisional Round. The following week, he made one tackle as the Patriots defeated the Indianapolis Colts 45–7 in the AFC Championship Game.
Super Bowl XLIX
On February 1, 2015, Butler and the Patriots appeared in Super Bowl XLIX against the defending champion Seattle Seahawks. Butler began the game as the fifth cornerback on the Patriots’ depth chart. Butler entered the game in the third quarter at nickelback after Kyle Arrington struggled to cover Chris Matthews. When Butler was inserted in the line-up, Seattle had scored on four straight offensive possessions. Butler was assigned to cover Jermaine Kearse with Brandon Browner covering Chris Matthews. On a first down, Seattle handed off to Marshawn Lynch; Butler made the initial tackle, and Lynch was held to two yards. On the next play, Russell Wilson completed a pass to Kearse, and Butler made the tackle, holding the Seahawks to a five-yard gain. On 3rd-and-3, Wilson threw deep to Kearse and Butler broke up the pass, forcing Seattle to punt. Seattle did not score again.With under a minute left in the fourth quarter, Butler continued to cover wide receiver Jermaine Kearse and deflected a 33-yard pass by Russell Wilson. The deflected ball landed on Kearse as he fell to the ground and allowed him to juggle the ball and to complete the reception in what was described as one of the greatest catches in Super Bowl history. After recognizing that Kearse had made the catch and was not down by contact, Butler pushed Kearse out of bounds at the five-yard line.
Two plays later, with 20 seconds remaining and the Seahawks in position to score on the Patriots' one-yard line, Butler intercepted a pass intended for wide receiver Ricardo Lockette at the goal line, returning possession to the Patriots and maintaining the Patriots' 28–24 lead. Butler said that he had guessed correctly that Wilson would throw to Lockette, having read the Seahawks two-receiver stack formation. Butler stated, "From preparation, I remembered the formation they were in... I just beat him to the route and made the play." He gave credit to Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia for preparing players well for the game. The interception was the first of Butler's NFL career. It was the only interception of a pass attempt from the one-yard line during the 2014 NFL season, out of 109 such attempts. New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, who received a 2015 Chevrolet Colorado as part of his Super Bowl XLIX MVP Award, said that he planned to give the truck to Butler. At the request of Brady, Chevrolet awarded the truck directly to Butler.
2015 season
Following the departures of Darrelle Revis, Brandon Browner, and Kyle Arrington, Butler was promoted to a starting cornerback position at the start of the 2015 season. During Week 2 against the Buffalo Bills, Butler recorded his first regular-season interception and returned it to the Bills 30-yard line. On November 15, Butler was matched up against New York Giants' Odell Beckham Jr., who made four catches for 104 yards and a touchdown on twelve targets. Butler made a strip of Beckham in the end zone when it looked like Beckham had secured possession of the football for a touchdown. The touchdown, which would have given the Giants the lead with 1:45 to play, was nullified by the officials and helped the Patriots hold the Giants to a field goal, after which Stephen Gostkowski kicked a 54-yard field goal for the Patriots to win with one second remaining. In the next game, Butler held Buffalo Bills wide receiver Sammy Watkins to 39 yards on three catches. Overall, Butler led all Patriots in total snaps, and was the only Patriot defensive player to play more than 90 percent of defensive snaps in 2015. As a result of his high snap count and low salary, Butler received a performance-based pay bonus of $319,282.65, the highest of any Patriot in 2015 and the fifth-highest in the league.On December 22, 2015, Butler was named to the 2016 Pro Bowl.
2016 season
In the season opener against the Arizona Cardinals on September 11, Butler broke up a potential touchdown pass to Michael Floyd in the fourth quarter. During Week 7 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, he notched his first interception of the season, picking off a pass from backup quarterback Landry Jones intended for wide receiver Antonio Brown. During Week 11 against the San Francisco 49ers, Butler recorded his first NFL sack on Colin Kaepernick. Two weeks later against the Los Angeles Rams, Butler intercepted rookie quarterback Jared Goff for his second interception of the season. Against the New York Jets in Week 16 on Christmas Eve, Butler had the first multi-interception game of his career after picking off both Bryce Petty and Ryan Fitzpatrick and also recovering a fumble. Butler was named second-team All-Pro by Pro Football Focus and the Associated Press. On February 5, 2017, Butler won his second Super Bowl championship as the Patriots defeated the Atlanta Falcons in overtime by a score of 34–28 in Super Bowl LI. In the game, Butler had two total tackles.Butler was ranked 99th by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2017.
2017 season
Set to be a restricted free agent, the Patriots gave Butler a first-round tender worth $3.91 million on March 7, 2017. On April 18, Butler officially signed his tender with the Patriots.After the Patriots signed former Bills' cornerback Stephon Gilmore to a five-year $65 million contract, Butler was demoted to the No. 2 starting cornerback after sitting atop the depth chart the previous two seasons. He started 15 games, recording 60 tackles, 12 passes deflected, two interceptions, and three forced fumbles.
On January 21, 2018, the Patriots won the AFC Championship to advance to the Super Bowl for the third time in Butler's career. Butler and the Patriots lost Super Bowl LII to the Philadelphia Eagles 41–33. Butler did not play any defensive snaps in the game, only coming in for a single play on special teams.
After the game, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said his lack of playing time was a "coach's decision," not due to disciplinary issues. When asked about the benching, Butler stated "I don't know what it was. I guess I wasn't playing good or they didn't feel comfortable. I don't know. But I could have changed that game." By the next morning, reports claimed that Belichick acknowledged a "much longer discussion" could occur regarding Butler's absence on defense from the game. Patriots beat writer Kevin Duffy revealed that Butler was demoted in practice during the Wild Card round of the playoffs, during which the Patriots had a bye week. Later in the week, Butler released a statement regarding his benching for the game. It was also revealed that owner Robert Kraft was not informed ahead of time regarding Butler being benched.