Drew Butler
No. -- Chicago Bears | |||||||||||||
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| Punter | |||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Date of birth: May 10, 1989 | |||||||||||||
| Place of birth: Duluth, Georgia | |||||||||||||
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Career information | |||||||||||||
| High school: Suwanee (GA) Peachtree Ridge | |||||||||||||
| College: Georgia | |||||||||||||
| Undrafted in 2012 | |||||||||||||
| Debuted in 2012 for the Pittsburgh Steelers | |||||||||||||
Career history
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Career highlights and awards
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Career NFL statistics as of Week 17, 2012 | |||||||||||||
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Drew Butler (born May 10, 1989) is an American football punter who is currently a member of the Chicago Bears. He spent the 2012-2013 season and the 2013-2014 preseason on the Pittsburgh Steelers roster. He played college football for the University of Georgia and was recognized as an All-American. The Pittsburgh Steelers signed him as an undrafted free agent following the 2012 NFL Draft.
Early years
Butler was born in Duluth, Georgia, and is the son of Kevin Butler, a former University of Georgia and NFL placekicker. He attended Peachtree Ridge High School in Suwanee, Georgia, and played high school football for the Peachtree Ridge Lions. As a junior, he averaged 40 yards per punt with a longest kick of 63 yards and 13 punts inside the 20-yard line. Following his senior season in 2006, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Georgia Sports Writers Association named him to their Class 5A all-state first teams. Scout.com rated him as the No. 9 punter recruit in the nation. He also played Peachtree Ridge Lions golf team, while maintaining a 3.9 grade point average.
College career
Butler attended the University of Georgia, where he played for coach Mark Richt's Georgia Bulldogs football team from 2007 to 2011. He led the nation in punting average for the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season.[1] He was selected as the first-team All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) punter,[2][3] and a unanimous first-team All-American, and he was the winner of the Ray Guy Award recognizing him as the best college punter in the nation.[4][5]
In 2010, Butler was selected as the second-team All-SEC punter by the coaches.[6] He was a first-team All-American selection by Pro Football Weekly, a second-team choice by the Associated Press and CBS Sports, as well as an honorable mention selection by Sports Illustrated.[7][8][9][10] He was a 2010 first-team Academic All-America selection.[11]
On December 6, 2011, he was honored as a National Football Foundation (NFF) Scholar-Athlete Award recipient.[12] He was also honored on that same day when he earned honorable mention All-SEC recognition by the Associated Press.[13] On December 8, he repeated in 2011 as a first team Academic All-America selection.[14]
Professional career
On April 28, 2012, following the 2012 NFL Draft, Butler was one of 12 undrafted free agent rookies signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers.[15] He beat out the Steelers' incumbent starter Jeremy Kapinos and made the 53-man roster for the 2012 NFL season.[citation needed] For the 2013 NFL season he beat Brian Moorman in preseason to make the 53-man roster,[citation needed] but he was cut to make room for newly acquired Zoltan Mesko before the first week of play.[16] On December 31, 2013, Butler was signed to a future/reserve contract by the Chicago Bears.[17]
References
- ↑ "Bowl Subdivision (FBS) National Player Report: Punting". National Collegiate Athletic Association. 2010-01-08. Retrieved 2010-01-08.
- ↑ "Seven Bulldogs Named To Coaches? All-SEC Team". GeorgiaDogs.com. CBS Interactive. 2009-12-08. Retrieved 2011-12-02.
- ↑ "Seven Georgia Players Earn AP All-SEC Recognition". GeorgiaDogs.com. CBS Interactive. 2009-12-07. Retrieved 2011-12-08.
- ↑ 2011 NCAA Football Records Book, Award Winners, National Collegiate Athletic Association, Indianapolis, Indiana, p. 12 (2011). Retrieved June 30, 2012.
- ↑ "Georgia's Drew Butler Wins Ray Guy Award As Nation's Top Punter". GeorgiaDogs.com. CBS Interactive. 2009-12-11. Retrieved 2011-12-02.
- ↑ "Six Bulldogs Named To All-SEC Coaches Teams". GeorgiaDogs.com. CBS Interactive. 2010-12-08. Retrieved 2011-12-02.
- ↑ Miller, Ted (2010-12-21). "'All-Americans' in terms of NFL potential". ESPN. Retrieved 2010-12-21.
- ↑ "AP All-America Team, List". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 2010-12-14. Retrieved 2010-12-14.
- ↑ "CBSSports.com 2010 College Football All-America Team". CBS Sports. Retrieved 2010-12-09.
- ↑ "SI.com's 2010 All-Americas". Sports Illustrated. 2010-12-14. Retrieved 2010-12-14.
- ↑ "Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy, Minnesota Duluth running back Isaac Odim lead ESPN Academic All-America Football Teams". College Sports Information Directors of America. 2010-11-23. Retrieved 2010-12-09.
- ↑ "Butler Recognized At NFF Banquet". GeorgiaDogs.com. CBS Interactive. 2011-12-06. Retrieved 2011-12-08.
- ↑ "Bulldogs Spread Throughout AP All-SEC Teams". GeorgiaDogs.com. CBS Interactive. 2011-12-06. Retrieved 2011-12-08.
- ↑ "Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck headlines the 2011 Capital One Academic All-America Division I Football Team". College Sports Information Directors of America. 2010-12-08. Retrieved 2011-12-08.
- ↑ "By the Tribune-Review". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. 2012-04-29. Retrieved 2012-04-29.
- ↑ "Steelers Sign P Zoltan Mesko; Make Roster Moves". Steelers.com. 2013-09-02. Retrieved 2013-09-07.
- ↑ "Bears Sign Kevin Butler’s Son To Reserve/Future Contract". WBBM-TV. 2013-12-31. Retrieved 2013-12-31.
External links
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