Awesome Butler article

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Great article BT, thanks for posting.

Just want to root for him even more now, if that's possible. :)
 
BostonTim said:
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...ney-from-reject-prospect-to-revis-replacement

If this already has a thread, please merge.


Cheers, BostonTim
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Good find, BT.

It didn't matter who he was assigned to cover in OTAs. From LaFell to Julian Edelman, Butler would be strapped onto them. Hence, his teammates stopped calling him Malcolm. His new name was "Strap."
The day before final cuts, Belichick approached Strap.
"You have a place to stay?" Belichick said.
"No sir; I don't," Strap said. "I'm in the team hotel, and I don't know if I'm going to be around."
The coach's response: "Oh, you are going to be around."
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Strap's swag is off the charts just like Ty Law's was. Logan Ryan, too. Vast improvement in both CBs this year. I hope they both stay around for a long time.
 
chevss454 said:
Good find, BT.



Strap's swag is off the charts just like Ty Law's was. Logan Ryan, too. Vast improvement in both CBs this year. I hope they both stay around for a long time.
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I don't know who is responsible for supercharging that secondary with swag this year, but it's just awesome to see.

Is Butler that big an influence in his second year?
 
chevss454 said:
Good find, BT.



Strap's swag is off the charts just like Ty Law's was. Logan Ryan, too. Vast improvement in both CBs this year. I hope they both stay around for a long time.
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Malcolm was never questioned to me. I seen signs since preseason of last year. Ryan has me stunned. I call that great coaching. He finally doesn't go for the Interception but for the swat. I think he was there all along but kept trying to do too much. BB HAS BETTER EYES THAN US BECAUSE I WANTED HIM GONE
 
TommyD420 said:
I don't know who is responsible for supercharging that secondary with swag this year, but it's just awesome to see.

Is Butler that big an influence in his second year?
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Mike Reiss told me after watching his first practice that Butler had a lot of something special. There wasn't a practice that went by that Mike didn't have a Butler story to tell. Butler has that fully expressed compete gene for sure. It drives him. I do think Pompei could have developed Revis' contributions to Butler's improvement a lot more. Butler was strapped to Revis last season.
 
I agree with everybody. This is a great article and well worth the click.

What stood out to me is how everybody looked at the 4.6 40 and his size and didn't bother to look any closer. Bill watched the tape and his eyes saw that Malcolm had "football speed" and that judgement -- with no empirical proof to back it up -- changed a guy's life and Super Bowl history.

How many times has a lifetime in the game allowed Bill to spot something that nobody else can see?

The part about how Butler gets faster when he turns to find the ball was fascinating. Watching him play, you can see that.

It's a phenomenal story and we get to watch a new chapter every week. We kept a guy that is making 1/32nd what Revis does and his stats are actually better.
 
Here's a link to another by Jackie MacMullen (I know, ESPN, but it's worth it).

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/14385592/new-england-patriots-malcolm-butler-here-stay

It reads very similar to the Bleacher Report article (Hmmm.....), but with much more detail.

A few highlights

"He knocked down five fade routes in a row," Patriots defensive back Logan Ryan recalls. "He's this small guy jumping up and smacking all these balls down. We were saying, 'Who the hell is this guy?'"

Butler, relegated to the scout team, announced his arrival in training camp by intercepting a crisp Tom Brady sideline pass to Julian Edelman. The coaching staff might have been tempted to chock it up to adrenaline -- the sheer desperation of a young player thirsting to be noticed -- except it kept happening, again and again and again.
:
:
It didn't take long for Revis and Browner to home in on Butler's keen instincts and unusual skills. Browner was struck, in particular, by his new teammate's "ridiculous" makeup speed.

Throughout the season, Revis, the four-time All-Pro, stressed to Butler the importance of breaking down film, of refining his technique, of continuing to jam receivers at the line of scrimmage. Revis imparted this advice knowing he could well be grooming his potential replacement.

He'd seen the potential early: Before Butler had even taken a snap in uniform, or, for that matter, before he even made the 53-man roster, Revis tracked him in training camp, turning to a team member and remarking, "That kid is the best defensive back out here."
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It's a truly stunning rise. Even more than Tom's in many ways because Tom at least played for a top class college team and led them to some famous victories.

This kid came from nothing, literally. Where he is now, it's astonishing.

It may well be Belichick's finest player development accomplishment.
 
Two very underrated things about MB that were discussed in these articles:
his amnesia and his tackling.

I never knew that he actually called the Pats scout himself. Wonder if that is the biggest thing that led him to the Pats? Gotta love his guts.
 
HSanders said:
I never knew that he actually called the Pats scout himself. Wonder if that is the biggest thing that led him to the Pats?
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Certainly would suggest that he "cares about football".

Cheers, BostonTim
 
His keeping his mouth shut when BB was schooling him on not arriving to OTAs on time helps too. As does his not making the same error twice, coaches love those guys.
 
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