Kevin Butler (American football)

Kevin Butler

Kevin Butler in 2007
No. 6
Position:	Placekicker
Personal information
Date of birth:	(1962-07-24) July 24, 1962
Place of birth:	Savannah, Georgia
Height:
Weight:
Career information
High school:	Stone Mountain (GA) Redan
College:	Georgia
NFL draft:	1985 / Round: 4 / Pick: 105
Career history
Chicago Bears (1985–1995) Arizona Cardinals (1996–1997)
Career highlights and awards
Super Bowl XX Champion Florida–Georgia Hall of Fame
Career NFL statistics
Field goals made: 265 Field goals attempted: 361 Field goal %: 73.4 Long field goal: 55 Player stats at NFL.com
College Football Hall of Fame

Kevin Gregory Butler (born July 24, 1962) is a former professional American football placekicker. He played college football for the University of Georgia Bulldogs, and then played professionally for the Chicago Bears (1985–1995) and the Arizona Cardinals (1996–1997) of the National Football League (NFL). Since retiring, he has continued his affiliation with the University of Georgia as the cohost of the Budweiser Fifth Quarter Show on 106.1 WNGC and 960 WRFC in Athens.

Early life

Butler was born in Savannah, Georgia. He attended Redan High School in Stone Mountain, Georgia, outside Atlanta where he played football and soccer. He loved to play sports and play guitar. During Butler's senior year, Redan played Marist High School for the state championship. In the closing moments of a very close game, Butler kicked a 44-yard field goal that gave the winning margin to the Redan Raiders. Attending the game was Georgia Bulldog Head Coach Vince Dooley. In a brief, impromptu exchange outside the door to the visiting locker room, Dooley congratulated Butler and pointed out that Bulldog kicker Rex Robinson would be graduating at the end of the school year. Georgia, Dooley said, would be needing a new kicker. The next year, Butler began his illustrious career as the Bulldog's kicker.

Professional career

In his 11 seasons with the Bears, Butler became the team's all-time leading scorer with 1,116 points, easily surpassing the old record of 750 points held by Walter Payton. Butler held that record until October 11, 2015, when kicker Robbie Gould collected his 1,118th point. Butler was also part of the 1985 Chicago Bears team who won Super Bowl XX, setting a rookie scoring record with 144 points during the season and kicking three field goals in the Super Bowl.

It was said that Butler called his fiancée from training camp in Platteville, Wisconsin, and explained that "we're going to have to change the date of our wedding, because we're going to the Super Bowl and it's on January 26th."

When he was released by the Bears after the 1995 season, he was the last remaining holdover from the Super Bowl XX team. Butler finished his 13 NFL seasons with 265 of 361 field goals (73%) and 413 of 426 extra point attempts, giving him 1,208 total points.

While playing for the Chicago Bears in 1985, Butler set a record for the most points scored by a player during his rookie season. His record of 144 points stood until 2014, when it was broken by place kicker Cody Parkey of the Philadelphia Eagles. Butler set his 1985 record by making 31 field goals and all of his 51 extra point attempts.

Career regular season statistics

Career high/best bolded

Regular season statistics
Season	Team (record)	G	FGM	FGA	%	<20	20-29	30-39	40-49	50+	LNG	BLK	XPM	XPA	%	PTS
1985	Chicago Bears (15–1)	16	31	37	83.8	2–2	13–13	13–14	3–6	0–2	46	0	51	51	100.0	144
1986	Chicago Bears (14–2)	16	28	41	68.3	1–1	11–14	9–12	6–8	1–6	52	0	36	37	97.3	120
1987	Chicago Bears (11–4)	12	19	28	67.9	0–0	11–11	5–5	1–6	2–6	52	0	28	30	93.3	85
1988	Chicago Bears (12–4)	16	15	19	78.9	1–1	4–4	7–8	3–6	0–0	45	0	37	38	97.4	82
1989	Chicago Bears (6–10)	16	15	19	78.9	0–0	6–6	6–7	3–5	0–1	46	0	43	45	95.6	88
1990	Chicago Bears (11–5)	16	26	37	70.3	1–1	8–8	5–8	8–13	4–7	52	0	36	37	97.3	114
1991	Chicago Bears (11–5)	16	19	29	65.5	1–1	9–11	3–5	5–9	1–3	50	0	32	34	94.1	89
1992	Chicago Bears (5–11)	16	19	26	73.1	1–1	8–8	9–10	0–4	1–3	50	0	34	34	100.0	91
1993	Chicago Bears (7–9)	16	27	36	75.0	0–0	7–8	12–13	3–7	5–8	55	1	21	22	95.5	102
1994	Chicago Bears (9–7)	15	21	29	72.4	1–1	7–7	6–9	5–8	2–4	52	1	24	24	100.0	87
1995	Chicago Bears (8–8)	16	23	31	74.2	0–0	16–19	5–6	2–4	0–2	47	1	45	45	100.0	114
1996	Arizona Cardinals (7–9)	7	14	17	82.4	1–1	6–6	5–8	2–2	0–0	41	1	17	19	89.5	59
1997	Arizona Cardinals (4–12)	6	8	12	66.7	0–0	4–4	2–4	2–4	0–0	49	0	9	10	90.0	33
Career (13 seasons)		184	265	361	73.4	9–9	110–119	87–109	43–82	16–42	55	4	413	426	96.9	1208

Personal

Kevin is married to Cathy Butler. They have three children together: Katie Scarlett (goes by Scarlett), Drew and Savannah Butler. Scarlett and Drew attend the University of Georgia; Savannah was a student at Marymount Manhattan and is a ballet dancer. Drew was the starting punter for the Bulldogs and lead the nation in punting with an average of 49.7 yards per punt and a net average of 44.5 yards per punt. In 2012 the Pittsburgh Steelers signed Drew as an undrafted free agent and he currently plays for the Arizona Cardinals.

External links

• Georgia Sports Hall of Fame
• Bears record holders
• career stats