One of the great mysteries in Boston championship sports lore is why star cornerback Malcolm Butler didn’t really get onto the field for Super Bowl II five years ago for the New England Patriots.
In that contest, they lost to the Philadelphia Eagles 41-33 despite leading by one point for a good chunk of the fourth quarter.
Butler said recently that he still doesn’t know why head coach Bill Belichick held him out of that game.
“I think [Bill Belichick] only knows why because I don’t know why.”
Malcolm Butler discusses why he didn’t play in Super Bowl LII pic.twitter.com/cxqIwSwqdj
— NBC Sports Boston’s Patriots Coverage (@NBCSPatriots) February 9, 2023
Butler only came in for one snap on special teams, and no real explanation has ever been given for why he played no defensive snaps.
But many in the Boston area feel that if he had played, the Patriots would have seven world championships instead of six.
In his four seasons with the Patriots, Butler emerged as a solid corner, and he made the Pro Bowl in 2015, which was only his second year in the NFL.
He did manage to win two Super Bowls while in New England: one in his rookie year against the Seattle Seahawks and another two years later over the Atlanta Falcons.
In fact, when Tom Brady won a 2015 Chevrolet Colorado for being named the MVP of Super Bowl XLIX, he gave the truck to Butler, who had the game-winning interception with 20 seconds left when Seattle elected to throw the ball instead of handing it off to star running back Marshawn Lynch.
After Super Bowl LII, Butler joined the Tennessee Titans, where he spent three seasons before deciding to retire prior to the 2021 campaign.
