- #2021 CALENDAR WITH WEEK NUMBER PRINTABLE FREE PRO#
- #2021 CALENDAR WITH WEEK NUMBER PRINTABLE FREE FREE#
“New rep, new number, got to prove myself again. “I feel like it’s starting over,” he said. He plans to approach the preseason like he did when he was an unknown rookie in 2014, not a hardened and respected veteran whose roster spot is probably secure. When the Patriots’ training camp begins Tuesday in Foxborough, Massachusetts, Butler isn’t taking anything for granted. In addition to his earlier departure from the Patriots and last year’s retirement, he was cut by the Titans for salary cap reasons in 2020 following one of his best seasons as a pro. Since then, Butler has seen how fickle and fleeting NFL opportunities can be.
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Eight years ago, when he was an undrafted free agent out of Division II West Alabama, he broke into the NFL with a remarkable performance throughout training camp. The symbolism of returning to New England, where he rose from obscurity the first time, also was not lost on Butler.
I didn’t feel like paying that kind of money. I want to start fresh with a new beginning. “Somebody else has it and he’s a good player. Players often buy jersey numbers from other players when they come to a new team, but Butler joked that Phillips’ price was too high. 21 jersey when he signed with the Patriots in 2020. Veteran safety Adrian Phillips took the No. 4 as a reminder of all the people he’s “doing it for,” he said. It was a decision that was both symbolic and practical. He’s also got a new jersey number, having traded in the No. It’s a little bit different, but it’s the same.” You’re going to come to work and work hard. A number of other veterans have departed as well.Īfter switching teams twice in the past five years, Butler said it’s not so much adjusting to the new faces as it is the younger ones that’s jarring. Belichick is still there, but quarterback and NFL icon Tom Brady left two years ago. The Patriots have changed a bit since he left. Now that he’s back in New England, Butler is starting over in more ways than one. Everybody needs a break from things sometimes - husband, wife, sister, brother, your truck, your car, your job.” “Rejuvenated, fresh, took a break from it so I’m a little bit fresher. But I had to be in mental shape,” he said. Once I did that, I had the urge to come back. “Really resetting and getting things in order. He said the year off recharged his batteries and was a needed mental break, even at an age - he turned 32 in March - where many NFL players are entering the later years of their career.īutler signed a two-year, $5 million contract with the Patriots.
Rather than dwelling on the past, Butler added, he’s focusing on a fresh start in the place where his career began.
“I never said anything, he never said anything. It was an awkward and emotional break up, but five years later Butler said both he and Belichick have put it behind them and it has not come up in their recent conversations. Butler left the Patriots to sign a lucrative free agent contract with the Tennessee Titans a month later, and his Super Bowl benching became one of the NFL’s great unsolved mysteries. Butler has said in multiple interviews since then that he had no idea of the reasons behind it. New England’s defense was torched for 373 passing yards in a 41-33 loss while Butler played only one special teams snap.īelichick made the infamous decision just before kickoff and has never fully explained it. He helped them reach a third Super Bowl in the 2017 season, and then things fell apart literally overnight.Īfter playing nearly every defensive snap all season long, he was benched for Super Bowl LII against the Philadelphia Eagles.
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He finished his rookie season as an NFL legend, when his goal line interception in the final minute of Super Bowl XLIX clinched New England’s 28-24 victory against Seattle and the franchise’s fourth championship.īutler spent three more seasons with the Patriots, becoming a starter and Pro Bowler in 2015 and winning another Super Bowl with the team in 2016. Butler began his NFL career as an undrafted free agent cornerback with the Patriots in 2014.