Malcolm Butler, what happened? From Super Bowl hero to mysterious benching

Malcolm Butler was the hero of Super Bowl XLIX. The Patriots cornerback intercepted Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson’s pass from the one-yard line with less a minute left to seal a 28-24 victory for New England and forever seal his place in team history. With the Patriots facing the Seahawks in the Super Bowl again, the iconic interception is being revisited often.

The play was so crucial that Tom Brady felt compelled to give his MVP truck to Butler as a thank you for helping them win their fourth Super Bowl.

That was 2014. In 2016, the Patriots were back in the Super Bowl and while Butler wasn’t the hero in a win over the Falcons, he played. And then things got weird. In 2017, just three years after he became a New England legend, Butler was mysteriously benched by coach and usual defensive mastermind Bill Belichick in the biggest game of the year, a Patriots loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LII. The decision to not have Butler play a single defensive snap, instead giving the job to Eric Rowe, still does not make sense. 

Butler had played in all 16 regular season games, starting 15, with 60 combined tackles, including 55 solo, 12 passes defended (a team high), three forced fumbles (a team high) and two interceptions, totaling about 97% of the defensive snaps with 1,038. In the playoffs, he played in all three games, starting two. The team was clearly finding use for him consistently, so it was the expectation that he would be on the field for the final game of the year.

Here’s what we know about Butler’s benching in Super Bowl LII

The decision caused a frenzy, spawned a few conspiracy theories and still has New Englanders still scratching their heads. Even the opposing team was confused. The Patriots ended up losing 44-31 and their defense struggled to stop backup QB Nick Foles and company. Rowe was not responsible for any single infamous implosions, but Foles went to work against New England’s secondary with receiver Alshon Jeffery and tight end Zach Ertz, who won early and often on timing routes. The Patriots surrendered 538 total yards and Philly never punted. 

Even as the game slipped away, New England never adjusted by putting Butler back in. And postgame, he was just as surprised as the rest of us. 

“They gave up on me,” Butler said that night. “F—. It is what it is. 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.”

Butler was on radio row ahead of Super Bowl LX this week and of course was asked about the benching. Butler doesn’t think Belichick made the right call, saying the Patriots would have another ring if he played.

When asked this week about what went on in meeting about the benching, Butler wouldn’t say what Belichick told him, instructing them to “call the Tar Heels” to find out. 

The leading initial theory was disciplinary reasons, but after the game Belichick emphasized that it was a coach’s decision and didn’t have to do with disciplinary action. Belichick is not known for letting the media get an inside look into his locker room, so it’s not a reach to say he’s not telling the whole story.

“I made the decisions that give us the best chance to win,” he said after the loss, but a day later made people more confused when he said you could have a “much longer discussion” about why No. 21 didn’t play.

In classic Belichick fashion, he didn’t expand. 

Even if he first believed Butler wasn’t the best choice, after watching the defense struggle, you wonder why Belichick didn’t just try to put him out there, even for a snap. The situation clearly had many layers. 

Reports in the week following the game had an overarching theme of believing the benching was in part for disciplinary reasons, with NFL Network calling it a “perfect storm of issues.” It was labeled a “complicated matter,” dealing with sickness, a bad week of practice and a rule violation believed to be curfew related.

If it was a rule violation, coaches would overlook it for game as big as the Super Bowl, but Belichick isn’t that kind of coach. The stubborn future Hall of Famer chose a decision that sent a message to his players about taking rules seriously over putting the better player on the field, if that was the situation. 

Some reports said that Butler had a heated exchange with then-defensive coordinator Matt Patricia, while other reports say he was demoted in practice during Wild Card week, which the Patriots had off.

With rumors swirling, Butler released a lengthy statement addressing the situation.

In the statement, he says he would never do anything to hurt his team’s chances of winning. He said he visited family every night and denied any reports saying he attended a concert, misseda  curfew “or participated in any of the ridiculous activities being reported.”

He added, “Not only are they false, but hurtful …”

His teammate Devin McCourty said it was known all week by the team that Butler wasn’t started and backe Butler’s denial of any violations. 

“It sucked for him,” McCourty said. “He put a lot of time and effort in. However it falls, the last thing you want to do is not play a snap. To me, the worst part was to see all that [anonymous] stuff come out after.”

Brady also showed his support, commenting on the post, “Love you Malcolm. You are an incredible player and teammate and friend. Always!!!!!!”

So if it wasn’t disciplinary, was it?

Butler is asked about the game a lot, saying that no matter where he does someone brings it up and wants insight as to why.

“Everywhere I go, people ask me why I didn’t play in the Super Bowl and stuff like that,” Butler said. “Bar, restaurant, bathroom — it doesn’t even matter. They ask me why I didn’t play and say, ‘I’m sorry …’ I don’t want to hear that s—!”

During the offseason that followed the loss, Butler was asked numerous times if he could provide any clarity. He believed it could’ve been due to the illness that landed him on the injury report that week and caused him to miss the opening night of Super Bowl week.

“I never got a reason,” Butler said in March of 2018. “I feel like this was the reason. I got kind of sick. I went to the hospital. They probably thought I was kind of late on the game plan; I wasn’t as locked in as I should be and could have been a matchup deal. It could have been anything.”

While Butler had some choice words immediately following after the loss, his comments have softened significantly over time, even saying that he would never question a Belichick decision.

“… Belichick has been doing this for a very long time,” he said. “He took a veteran out of Super Bowl XLIX [against the Seahawks] and put in a first-year rookie [referring to himself], and that turned out right, so you could never question his decision. It didn’t work out right. It didn’t work out the best for me or him or the New England Patriots. But I can say he won more than he lost, so it is what it is. I always have love for New England, Bill Belichick, Mr. Kraft … Life just goes on.”

How Robert Kraft, Patriots players reacted to the benching

Like football fans everywhere, Brady didn’t have any definitive answer and wishes Butler would’ve played, but also said he leaves the decision-making up to Belichick.

There were reports that owner Robert Kraft was not made aware of the situation before the game and when discussing it, he chalked it up to a risk that didn’t pay off. Like Butler and Brady, Kraft was complimentary to their head coach, citing his resume as a reason to never question him and pointing out that other risks he took paid off.

Some weren’t as easy on The Hoodie. Former Patriots cornerback Brandon Browner wrote a post on social media criticizing Belichick, calling it “foolish pride.”

The post was liked by former Patriots Dont’a Hightower, Jamie Collins, and Alfonzo Dennard.

Belichick isn’t one to sit down and tell the media every detail of his team dynamics, or give into the pressure of criticism, so there was never a confirmation on what happened. The world, and Butler, may never know for sure.

The 2017 season was the last one in New England for Butler and Super Bowl LII is the last game he ever played, or sat in, a Patriots uniform. He joined the Tennessee Titans in 2018 and played for none other than coach Mike Vrabel (oh, how full circle the NFL can often be). Butler’s last NFL game was with the Titans in 2021; he actually signed a deal to return to the Patriots in March of 2022 but was released that August. 

Butler is still widely adored across New England and he still is seen interacting with Patriots fans often, so he doesn’t seem to be holding a grudge. 

He is rooting for New England on Sunday and said he is a Patriot “forever.”