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View Full Version : Let's Learn About: Jack Butler



LLT
08-02-2012, 05:13 AM
August 2, 2012 12:06 am
By Courtney Nickle
post-gazette.com

Jack Butler, who starred at defensive back with the Steelers during the 1950s and later became a pioneer of professional football scouting, will be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame this weekend with five other NFL legends.

Butler played sandlot football in his Oakland neighborhood but didn't participate in an organized league until college. For high school, he chose to follow in the footsteps of his older brother, a priest, and entered a seminary prep school in Niagara Falls.

After graduation, Butler had a change of heart and decided to enroll at St. Bonaventure University at the recommendation of Steelers owner Art Rooney Sr., a friend of Butler's father.

Rooney's brother, Father Silas Rooney, was the athletic director at the small school in upstate New York and remembered Butler from his sandlot days in Pittsburgh. Father Silas persuaded Butler to join the football team. Butler made the St. Bonaventure squad as a walk-on and started at wide receiver by his senior year.

With Pittsburgh connections, Butler signed as a free agent with the Steelers in 1951. He tried to make the roster as a receiver but was rarely used in the team's run-oriented offense and eventually became a defensive end.



Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/life/lifestyle/lets-learn-about-jack-butler-647157/#ixzz22NljkY8a

steelerdude15
08-02-2012, 07:18 AM
That was a good article. There weren't many bright spots on the Steelers in the late fifties/ early sixties, but Jack was one of them and he rightfully deserves to be in the HOF for his contributions.