SAN FRANCISCO — Malcolm Butler is a walking Super Bowl legend.
Sure, Tom Brady has seven Super Bowl rings. Bill Belichick is headed to the Hall of Fame … eventually. There’s Joe Montana, Lynn Swann, Emmitt Smith.
Big-time ballers. Super legends.
With another Super Bowl matchup pitting the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks, though, Butler’s status among the greats has a special significance this week.
Cheers, Malcolm Butler. Everybody knows your name. Still.
The last time these franchises met with the Lombardi Trophy at stake, 11 years ago, Butler sealed Super Bowl 49 with a goal-line interception in the final seconds – literally snatching victory from the jaws of defeat – as he stepped in front of a Russell Wilson pass to give the Patriots the crown.
No hyperbole here: What a life-changing moment.
‘It changed my life a lot,’ Butler, 35, told USA TODAY Sports. ‘More money. More recognition. More expectations.’
And more replays. The moment is forever immortalized in Super Bowl history. I’m not sure how many times it will be shown between now and the kickoff of Super Bowl 60 at Levi’s Stadium on Sunday, but if I’m betting, I’ll take the over.
“It probably runs across my mind at least once a week,” he said. “I sit around the house, and I’m so grateful for all the things I’ve got. Even if I didn’t make that play, my life was going to be good, because I was always a hustler, a grinder, who is going to make things happen, no matter what. But that really changed my life.
‘When I see people I get, ‘Hey, Malcolm Butler, the pick,’ and all that. But in my mind, I feel like I made other beautiful plays. It just wasn’t in that moment.”
That moment. Butler was such an unexpected hero in a game with household names including Brady and Wilson, Beast Mode and Gronk. He was a rookie from a small school who beat long odds to make an NFL roster after not getting drafted. He played about a third of the defensive snaps that day (18 of 53), getting on the field in packages with extra defensive backs.
On the defining play – when Pete Carroll’s offensive coordinator, Darrell Bevell, inexplicably called for a pass from the 1-yard line rather than pound a run with bruising running back Marshawn Lynch – Butler cut off intended receiver Ricardo Lockette’s slant pattern and intercepted Wilson’s throw just inside the end zone.
‘Man, you’ve got to be ready when the opportunity presents itself,’ he said.
Butler flashed back to a message from his position coach: ‘Josh Boyer told me before the game, ‘Malcolm, you’d better stay ready. You could put your little school, West Alabama, on the map.”
Turns out, Butler managed to not only add fuel for a seven-year NFL career. He also piled on layers of street credibility that he shares with the kids he now coaches. Butler has been a volunteer defensive coach at St. Thomas High School in Houston for three years, helping the team advance to the state finals in 2023.
“Just having that experience helps,’ he said. ‘But I’ll tell you what: Bill Belichick ain’t never played football in his life, and he’s a hell of a coach.’
Pondering his coaching flow, Butler sounds a bit like Belichick when he contends, ‘You’ve got to do your job, or somebody is going to get fired. Or somebody is going to get benched.’
Beyond coaching, Butler has been intent on using his platform and resources to serve a greater purpose. He still conducts the free football camp in his hometown, Vicksburg, Mississippi., that he began the summer after his big Super Bowl moment. According to his marketing rep, Butler has been a repeat donor to the United Way of Central Mississippi, providing free coats and Thanksgiving meals. And he is an Ambassador for the American Diabetes Association, helping to increase awareness and raise funds toward finding a cure.
No, he hasn’t forgotten where he came from – or the winding path of his NFL journey.
Butler won two Super Bowl rings with the Patriots but despite having game-saving pick on his résumé was benched during Super Bowl 52, a shootout New England lost against the Philadelphia Eagles. Butler still won’t speak publicly about the benching, yet ESPN’s Seth Wickersham maintained in his book about the Patriots dynasty, ‘It’s Better to Be Feared,’ that it stemmed from a heated exchange during practice between Butler and coordinator Matt Patricia.
Belichick, naturally, hasn’t elaborated on it over the years, either.
‘We’ve had that discussion a few times,’ Butler said. ‘Whenever he talks (about the benching), I’ll talk.’
Looking back on that chapter, he gets philosophical. ‘You’ve got to have thick skin, man, and just move on,” he said. ‘Live life forward. Understand it backwards.’
What a weird turn of events for a Super Bowl legend, who reconciled with Belichick and came out of retirement for a short-lived return to the Patriots in 2022. After suffering an injury, he was released in training camp and never played again.
After the Super Bowl benching, though, Butler signed a five-year, $61 million free agent contract in 2018 with the Tennessee Titans ($30 million guaranteed), where he joined forces with Mike Vrabel. Now Vrabel, in his first season as Patriots coach, can become the first person to win a Super Bowl as a player and a head coach with the same franchise.
‘When he got there and we went 4-13 two years in a row, I said, ‘Something’s about to change,” Butler said. ‘He’s a player’s coach. He’s going to tell you straightforward. He’s not going to be too mean. He’s not going to be too nice. He’ll tell you how it is. If you’ve got some problems, you can stop in his office. He’ll go out and run routes, too. He still feels like he can play. That’s the point of being a player’s ‘coach. And a good coach. Plus, he’s a good person.’
Butler calls himself, ‘a Patriot for life,’ he says. Super Bowl legend and all, he gets the royal treatment from fans when going back to New England.
He said, ‘That’s why I say I’m from ‘Massassippi.”
Of course, he’s fired up about the big rematch.
‘It’s the Super Bowl again,’ Butler said. ‘You know it’s going to be special. But it ain’t about me. It’s about those players getting the job done. I feel like I’m playing, but I’m not. I’m going to be here supporting my team.’
Butler will get so many reminders this week about his historical footprint. Then there’s always the reminder in his garage. Brady gave Butler the red 2015 Chevrolet Colorado that the quarterback won for being named Super Bowl MVP. He assures that it still has low mileage on the odometer.
‘That’s not a truck,’ Butler says. ‘It’s a trophy.’
Which is so fitting for a Super Bowl legend.
Contact Jarrett Bell at jbell@usatoday.com or follow on X: @JarrettBell