Patriots Rumor Malcolm Butler Mega Thread

[SHOWTIME15]

How do we know he couldn't go? BB never gave him a shot.

If you bench butler for the first half and the defense gets DESTROYED. You owe it to the team to see if butler Can spark the defense into getting a stop or two in the second half. Even if you put him in and he fails, you can take him out again and no damage was done. However if you put him in and he shuts down half the field BB looks like an idiot for not starting him.

BB would rather go down with the ship then look foolish for benching a guy for a missed flight.

Old school pride i guess.

I’m not disagreeing with you that Bill should have put him in at halftime. However, Butler is being made to look like the innocent victim here when it was Butler’s behavior that forced his own benching.

 

[RobertWeathers]

My responses in bold.

I think you might be overlooking the possibility of causing a bigger pre-game circus if he sent Malcolm home.

I dismiss the STs question. Malcolm was in for one play not 15.

 

[Boomer B]

I’m not disagreeing with you that Bill should have put him in at halftime. However, Butler is being made to look like the innocent victim here when it was Butler’s behavior that forced his own benching.

I think just about everyone on the Butler side has said they understand him on the bench to start. It's being on the bench the 2nd half when Chung was man on man with Agholor, Bademosi was giving up key 3rd downs, and Richards was getting torched that we don't understand.

 

[Kontradiction]

I think just about everyone on the Butler side has said they understand him on the bench to start. It's being on the bench the 2nd half when Chung was man on man with Agholor, Bademosi was giving up key 3rd downs, and Richards was getting torched that we don't understand.

They don't understand it either. Trust me. All of these guys that are defending Bill, with the slight exception of maybe Andy, are bright enough to apply logic to the situation.

 

[chasa]

I’m not disagreeing with you that Bill should have put him in at halftime. However, Butler is being made to look like the innocent victim here when it was Butler’s behavior that forced his own benching.

And BB is being defended like an infallible leader.

I think you might be overlooking the possibility of causing a bigger pre-game circus if he sent Malcolm home.

I dismiss the STs question. Malcolm was in for one play not 15.

Why play him at all?

 

[QuantumMechanic]

Name one with a valid source.
Name one that is worth benching someone in the Superbowl, but not worth telling Vrable about before he commits almost 60 million to Butler.
Name one that isn't listed in the things Butler says never happened, and which nobody said "he just lied"

I didn't say there was one and there may well never be.

I'm just pointing out the blazing, obvious truth that "for football reasons" is not nearly as restrictive as some seem to need to tell themselves and that saying "Well, Belichick said it was 'for football reasons', therefore the various rumored things could not possibly have happened, because 'for football reasons' means they couldn't have" is being hopelessly naive.

(Personally, I think the Butler benching was a combination of something happening and Belichick being too hardline. I would understand it more if Butler hadn't been allowed to dress at all -- that would at least make more sense.)

 

[Sciz]

They didn't need inside info. They knew how good the replacements were because they had CUT those replacements, and then those replacements couldn't get on the field without the starters being injured.

The Eagles coaching staff out coached the patriots

Who are you talking about? The guy cut by the Eagles was Chung, who was going to play every defensive snap regardless of Butler’s role. Rowe was traded by the Eagles, and he would’ve been easy to get on the field regardless of Butler’s role because it only would have required using three wide receivers instead of two. He played 78% and 62% of the defensive snaps in the other two playoff games. There are no former Eagles that only played because Butler didn’t. Even then, I’m not sure why you’re so worried about a coach’s two year old evaluation of Rowe, considering his substantial playing time since then.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

Look folks, there is nothing from the Jacksonville game that gave Bill confidence that Butler was going to make a difference in the Super Bowl. Blake Bortles exposed him, so what do you think Nick Foles would have done? I think Jonathan Jones would have stepped in for Butler had not he not got hurt. Not only was Butler’s head not in the Super Bowl, his head wasn’t in the 2017 season. This all goes back to him pouting about not getting his contract and it showed all season.

A Closer Look At One Football Reason Why Malcolm Butler Didn't Play For Patriots In Super Bowl

 

[RobertWeathers]

And BB is being defended like an infallible leader.

This perception needs to stop. BB screws up often. Everyone knows this. Because of talent on the roster, his experience in these situations and his ability to not be locked into a bad decision is why he is able to manage his screw -ups.

The fundamental issue with this situation is a normally very dependable, reliable player assumingly put BB and the team in a very difficult spot and left him short-handed. Because of this situation BB could not/did not play Malcolm on defense.

The questions neither side has an answer to:

-What Malcolm did (or not do)
-Why was he benched
-Why did BB not put him back in.

Why play him at all?

It was due to an injury and clearly BB was ok with one snap.

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

I think just about everyone on the Butler side has said they understand him on the bench to start. It's being on the bench the 2nd half when Chung was man on man with Agholor, Bademosi was giving up key 3rd downs, and Richards was getting torched that we don't understand.

I think there were plans to use him as needed, at some point, since he was active. It seems reasonable that the magnitude of Butler's emotional breakdown upon being put on the bench to start might have affected the willingness to use him later.

 

[IllegalContact]

This perception needs to stop. BB screws up often. Everyone knows this. Because of talent on the roster, his experience in these situations and his ability to not be locked into a bad decision is why he is able to manage his screw -ups.

The fundamental issue with this situation is a normally very dependable, reliable player assumingly put BB and the team in a very difficult spot and left him short-handed. Because of this situation BB could not/did not play Malcolm on defense.

The questions neither side has an answer to:

-What Malcolm did (or not do)
-Why was he benched
-Why did BB not put him back in.


It was due to an injury and clearly BB was ok with one snap.

so you're saying that winning is no longer everything

 

[lancerman]

Whose fault is that Butler wasn’t ready to go? Some blame goes to Bill for not trying Butler for a series or two, but 80% of the blame goes to Butler for missing the team flight, etc.

No. At the end of the day Belichick made the decision that Butler wasn’t ready to go and Belichick made the decision to not play him.

If the decision was up to Butler, he’d be out there.

The buck stops with the person making the decision, whatever his reasons are. If Brady missed a flight he’s playing. If Brady smoked weed or whatever else was rumored he’s playing. If Brady wasn’t ready to go, he’s still playing. It’s laughable to suggest Belichick didn’t have total power here. It was his decision, it’s on him.

 

[lancerman]

I think you might be overlooking the possibility of causing a bigger pre-game circus if he sent Malcolm home.

I dismiss the STs question. Malcolm was in for one play not 15.

That’s irrelevant. If it was so bad that you were dead set against him playing, you are a coward and an idiot for having him out there and are showing no conviction in it.

 

[PatriotsNumero1Fan]

Look folks, there is nothing from the Jacksonville game that gave Bill confidence that Butler was going to make a difference in the Super Bowl. Blake Bortles exposed him, so what do you think Nick Foles would have done? I think Jonathan Jones would have stepped in for Butler had not he not got hurt. Not only was Butler’s head not in the Super Bowl, his head wasn’t in the 2017 season. This all goes back to him pouting about not getting his contract and it showed all season.

A Closer Look At One Football Reason Why Malcolm Butler Didn't Play For Patriots In Super Bowl

Did you watch the second half? We don't win that Jacksonville game without butler. Our secondary's just better with butler as our second corner. That move by belichick caused a domino effect everywhere. They got stops.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

No. At the end of the day Belichick made the decision that Butler wasn’t ready to go and Belichick made the decision to not play him.

If the decision was up to Butler, he’d be out there.

The buck stops with the person making the decision, whatever his reasons are. If Brady missed a flight he’s playing. If Brady smoked weed or whatever else was rumored he’s playing. If Brady wasn’t ready to go, he’s still playing. It’s laughable to suggest Belichick didn’t have total power here. It was his decision, it’s on him.

So butler’s performance vs Jacksonville and poor practices were Bill’s fault?

 

[Deus Irae]

I’m not disagreeing with you that Bill should have put him in at halftime. However, Butler is being made to look like the innocent victim here when it was Butler’s behavior that forced his own benching.

Again, do please explain. What Butler behavior "forced his own benching"?

 

[lancerman]

I’m not disagreeing with you that Bill should have put him in at halftime. However, Butler is being made to look like the innocent victim here when it was Butler’s behavior that forced his own benching.

Because people want to religiously defend Belichick by absolving him of the responsible of his own decisions by claiming that whatever Butler did (which nobody knows) forced poor Bill to do what he did and he simply had no other choice. Someone compared him to a ****ing judge being forced to sentence a convicted criminal.

 

[PatriotsNumero1Fan]

So butler’s performance vs Jacksonville and poor practices were Bill’s fault?

Did you see the poor performance in the second half. Guy played 98 percent of the damn snaps. For one bad play he makes another great play.

 

[lancerman]

So butler’s performance vs Jacksonville and poor practices were Bill’s fault?

No the decision is on Bill regardless of how he came to it. If Brady had a poor practice he would be out there. It’s his decision, he’s responsible for the results of it. He’s a grown man, not a maybe who has no other options. Bill is the head of the team. He makes the evaluations. He makes the decisions. The results go on his resume.

It’s honestly pathetic how some people are so fragile at the idea of him being criticized that they want to remove his agency from his decisions and believe pie in the sky rumors and made up stories about Butler to cope with it.

 

[Deus Irae]

Consider me Al Groh with his shovel. I'll never stop until everyone starts pointing the finger at the right person.

So long as we agree the colossal blunder was Butlers.

Butler did not play so BB felt there was a reason worthy of doing so.

It's easy to say he was wrong but without knowing the reason how can one really say either way?