Almost quit football
Growing up in sourthwest Mississippi, Butler nearly quit football and was dangerously close to doing so at a critical time. While at North Pike High School is Summit, Miss., Butler quit playing football after his freshman year. Per the Charlottle Observer, his father, Vernon Sr., who played college basketball at Northeastern Louisiana, said he was dealing with tendinitis in his knee that was brought on by a growth spurt so he wanted to stop playing. But Vernon Butler Sr. added his son also was disappointed over his lack of playing time.
After sitting out his sophomore year, his father, convinced him to get back out there. Good thing he did.
“I said, ‘Go back out there and help those boys win a championship,’” his father said. “That was his dream. And everything started clicking from there.”
His team ended up being a title runner up, but as the story goes, Butler was a first-round pick… so still a good time to listen to Dad.
Vernon Butler splitting the double team and attacking the RB for the tackle pic.twitter.com/Q6JBkV2YnZ
— Brandon Thorn (@BrandonThornNFL) September 20, 2016