For the third time in three years, long-time Green Bay Packers safety LeRoy Butler is one of the 25 semi-finalists for enshrinement into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Butler is one of six defensive backs among the semi-finalists, joining Steve Atwater, John Lynch, Darren Woodson, Troy Polamalu and Ronde Barber.
The next step for Butler is becoming one of the 15 finalists for the first time. Those 15 players will be announced by the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Jan. 2, 2020. From there, five modern era players will be picked for the 2020 Pro Football Hall of Fame class.
Butler is a four-time All-Pro, four-time Pro Bowler and a member of the 1990s All-Decade Team. He helped the Packers win Super Bowl XXXI and was the first defensive back in history to produce 20 career interceptions and 20 career sacks.
The Packers selected Butler out of Florida State with a second-round pick in 1990. He played in 181 regular-season games with 165 starts over 12 seasons and produced 38 interceptions, 13 forced fumbles, 10 fumble recoveries, 20.5 sacks and three touchdowns.
In terms of “Approximate Value,” a player value statistic developed by pro-football-reference.com, Butler ranked 29th among all NFL players and third among defensive backs between 1990-99.
He was also one of only 14 players to be named a first-team All-Pro four times during the decade. The 13 others are all Hall of Famers.
Butler and Atwater are currently the only first-team players from the 1990’s All-Decade team that haven’t been inducted into the Hall of Fame. Thirty-two other players from that team are already Hall of Famers.
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