What he did: When the NFL draft begins on Thursday, the Falcons will be looking for a player with their eighth overall pick who can not only be dominant on the field but one that will be productive for the club for many years to come. Bobby Butler, drafted in 1981, was one of those rare draft choices that not only was a very effective cornerback for the Falcons but did it in Atlanta for 12 years.
His consistency was matched by few around the league over his 169-game career and while he never made it to a Pro Bowl, he was always considered one of the better defensive backs in the NFL.
Butler grew up in Delray Beach, Fla., where he was one of the top athletes at Atlantic High School, also playing basketball and going to the state championship game his senior season in football. They would lose to Panama City Bay High but right after the game, he would make his first trip to Tallahassee and meet Florida State coach Bobby Bowden for the first time.
He would make just one other visit, that one to Michigan State where, he said: “They took us up the press box and all I saw on the field was snow and said, ‘No way I am playing up here.’’ While about every southern powerhouse came after him, including Georgia and Alabama, Butler joined Bowden’s first recruiting class and was part of the transition as FSU became one of the top programs in the country.
Butler started as a freshman and, unlike later seasons when opponents rarely threw to his side of the field, he finished with 11 interceptions and was named third team Associated Press All-American. The Seminoles were 39-8 during his career with two Orange Bowl appearances.
In 1980, the Falcons were coming off a 12-4 season and were looking for help in the secondary. On draft day, Butler received a call from the Dallas Cowboys who told him they were going to take him with the 26th pick. But the Falcons jumped in one spot earlier and chose Butler.
On a Falcons team that went 7-9 in 1981, Butler started his first game and became one of the top performers on some very bad teams. In his 12 seasons, the Falcons would only have two winning seasons and Butler would make the playoffs only twice: in the strike year of 1982, when the Falcons went 5-4 and lost to Minnesota in the wild-card round; and in 1991, when they were 10-6 and fell to Washington in the postseason. Butler played for five Falcons coaches (Leeman Bennett, Dan Henning, Marion Campbell, Jim Hanifan and Jerry Glanville). He retired after the 1992 season, going into the financial industry where he sold insurance and securities before retiring five years ago.
Where he lives: Butler, 55, lives in Norcross and has four sons: Brenton, Brice, Brelan and Brandel. He has been married to Tyrillyn for 33 years. All four boys went to Norcross High School, three of them (Brenton, Brelan and Brandel) playing basketball and collecting two state championship rings while Brice currently is a receiver with the Oakland Raiders.
What he does now: With former Falcons teammate Buddy Curry in 2002, he started Kids & Pros, which teaches football fundamental skills and character lessons to young players. He also is an assistant pastor for New Destiny Christian Ministries.
On his sports-crazy family: "We are really a basketball family and actually all four played but Brice decided after his freshman year to focus on football. He could have been a dynamic basketball player and now he is just waiting for his shot in the NFL. The thing that happened to him was he went to Southern Cal when Pete Carroll was there and then Lane Kiffin came in and everything changed. He will get his shot. Brenton just got back from playing basketball in Sweden.''
On being drafted by the Falcons: "I was told by my agent that I possibly could be a first-round pick. Back then, the draft started early and I almost slept through the first round. My fiancee (Tyrillyn) woke me up and I received a call from (personnel director) Gil Brandt at Dallas who said if I was available, they were going to take me. But I was happy about going to the Falcons. I was just happy to be a first round pick.''
On his first Falcons training camp: "I loved the hot weather coming from Florida. Jerry Glanville was running the defense and if we were not running, we were hitting. Back then we had two-a-day practice for six weeks. Rowland Lawrence was the old pro at cornerback and they put they me behind him. And then he got hurt and I was starter. Back then we didn't see three or four wides (receiver sets) so we only had one substitute cornerback so I would play the whole game. I remember by the fourth game as a rookie, I was ready for the season to be over.''
On his friendship with Buddy Curry: "I didn't know Buddy well in the beginning but he was the captain and one of the only guys that likes to go out and do guys' stuff. We would go down the Chattahoochee and go rafting and dive off that cliff. We did a lot of stuff. He was a great leader.''
On his ability to shutdown receivers and adapt to playing in different systems: "I could really cover one-on-one and learned that at FSU. I remember Marion Campbell coming in and it was all different because we played 10 yards off the ball and I was thinking in my head this can't work. I remember Marion telling me, 'This is the way you are going to play,' and I knew I had to learn it if I was going to survive under him. But he turned our defense from one of the worst in the league into one of the top 10.''
On what he did immediately after retiring: "I went to Africa for 30 days. I didn't want to see a football game so my friend and I went from country to country in West Africa. It was a great experience for me.''
On concussions: "I had a lot of them. But to be honest, if I would have gotten knocked out and they brought me over to the sideline and got me to come around, I would have gone back in the game. We were trained that way.''
On being part of the recently settled NFL class action suit, from which players will receive $900 million: "I don't really know what will happen with that but I have to believe it will be the players with Alzheimer's, dementia, ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) and other things that will get the money. Just because your name is in there doesn't mean you are going to get money.''
On working with youth in the NFL's new "Heads Up'' program: "It has to happen. There is nothing wrong with doing a lot of reps without hitting because it is going to still help with muscle memory. I will say that if coaches don't learn this, they will not be coaching in five years. We are teaching this in our camps and even taking mothers through this on the field.''
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