Patriots Rumor Once and for all... [Malcolm Butler benching revisited]

[Ring 6]

Or its option 3. Dumb pettiness from both of them and neither one wants to admit it because it makes them both look bad to everyone on the team.

Example. Butler mouthed off learning he would be CB3 privately to Fat Matt and refused to apologize. That would be incredibly lame but its not impossible.

If you were on that team, would you want to hear that you potentially lost the superbowl because Butler refused to apologize or that your coach demanded an apology and put his personal pride above the team?

Come on. You just made something up and are arguing “how would you feel”. There is absolutely no claim that butler didn’t play because he wouldn’t apologize. Dude, it’s the SB, it is ludicrous to think professionals would act like you and your wife and not talk to each other until you apologize.
It’s the NFL player talk **** to coaches when they are upset. Coaches don’t say go to your room until you apologize. Come on man.

 

[Ring 6]

The most damning thing about this from Butler's side, is to this day he hasn't talked about why he was benched, only why he was not. And the answers for not would have been petty reasons you'd expect from BB in certain cases, but we know it is not those.

Seeing how the league and fanbase have turned on BB at least to some degree, and he STILL is telling us why he was benched means 1 of 2 things.

1 Either Bill didn't give him a reason. or 2 He knows the reason and doesn't want to admit it cause while it may make Bill look bad it would also make him look bad.

Also we know Bill loves to talk about football decisions, but he has been more and more throwing people under the bus these days in retrospect, particularly when it comes to history to protect his narrative. He did so with Kraft (and yes, Kraft also talked crap about Bill) but he has done it with a few other things too. The fact he to this day hasn't really talked about why he sat Butler is probably because somehow it will make him look bad too.

This leaves us 2 options.

Option 1 - Bill just hated the match up and out thought himself in this one. Yes play match ups, but to suggest their 4th CB was better than Butler is kind of crazy. And he never really explained himself, just told him 'I'm doing what I think is best for the team'.

Option 2 - Something happened neither Butler or Bill want publicly known.

Belichick has absolutely not thrown anyone under the bus publicly. You are wrong there.

As far as your 2 options. 1 is wrong because if it were true Butler would have gone in at some point while they were allowing 40 points

It’s obvious that the something is damaging to Butler. That’s why he won’t say it and BB has never, ever shared damaging info about his players.
Butler would not call bb the goat coach and say he thinks he should have played and not say what happened if it “would make bb look bad” he would be happy to say so if he did nothing wrong.

 

[gobesmug]

Come on. You just made something up and are arguing “how would you feel”. There is absolutely no claim that butler didn’t play because he wouldn’t apologize. Dude, it’s the SB, it is ludicrous to think professionals would act like you and your wife and not talk to each other until you apologize.
It’s the NFL player talk **** to coaches when they are upset. Coaches don’t say go to your room until you apologize. Come on man.

First you gave 2 made options, I offered a 3rd.

Its an option and it would be incredibly lame but people act that way. When you work with someone for years you can get that same comfort level you get with your spouse. And Butler had been there for years.

I gave a scenario for another option. Option 3, pettiness that both Butler and Bill are embarrassed about.

Your 2 options dont make sense.

Option 1, Bill would have just straight up said Butler was a poor match up against the Eagles. He never did. Butler also would have simply confirmed it as well.

Option 2. If Butler did something that bad no way Vrable signs him for a big contract in the offseason.

Lame pettiness is the only thing that makes sense.

 

[Ring 6]

First you gave 2 made options, I offered a 3rd.

Its an option and it would be incredibly lame but people act that way. When you work with someone for years you can get that same comfort level you get with your spouse. And Butler had been there for years.

I gave a scenario for another option. Option 3, pettiness that both Butler and Bill are embarrassed about.

Your 2 options dont make sense.

Option 1, Bill would have just straight up said Butler was a poor match up against the Eagles. He never did. Butler also would have simply confirmed it as well.

Option 2. If Butler did something that bad no way Vrable signs him for a big contract in the offseason.

Lame pettiness is the only thing that makes sense.

Huh?
I didn’t give you any options another poster did.
I disagreed with those options.
So arguing if your dismiss the incorrect options it proves the one you made up must be true is silly.

The options you responded to which were not mine:
1) Neither have talked at all.
2) it wouldn’t need to be a career ending thing.

Lame pettiness is just not reasonable. It just doesn’t happen.

 

[Wozzy]

The most damning thing about this from Butler's side, is to this day he hasn't talked about why he was benched, only why he was not. And the answers for not would have been petty reasons you'd expect from BB in certain cases, but we know it is not those.

Seeing how the league and fanbase have turned on BB at least to some degree, and he STILL is telling us why he was benched means 1 of 2 things.

1 Either Bill didn't give him a reason. or 2 He knows the reason and doesn't want to admit it cause while it may make Bill look bad it would also make him look bad.

BB gave him the reason, but he already knew the reason. He was disgruntled all season because he felt he deserved the contract they gave to Stephon Gilmore… he didn’t. He wasn’t half the player Gilmore was.

Butler was on the sideline crying before the game. He knew he screwed his teammates over, that’s the only thing that would make him cry. If he thought he wasn’t wrong he would have just been pissed and made the angry face…. but he cried. He knew he fcked up.

BB was the bigger person because Butler was in a contract year and Bill could have thrown him under the bus and cost him a lot more money. That would have been a bad look for Bill, other players would have resented it, but it would have been disastrous for Butler.

Butler blamed his defensive coaches in the press in week 14 after Jay Cutler and the Dolphins ate his lunch. Instead of taking blame for getting smoked, he blamed his team. He was disgruntled, acting like a clown… and frankly, he was not good enough a player to act that way. He was an UDFA who looked good in the Patriots system, just like JC Jackson and others. He looked terrible that season, he looked terrible afterwards. His career peaked in 2016.

 

[gobesmug]

Huh?
I didn’t give you any options another poster did.
I disagreed with those options.
So arguing if your dismiss the incorrect options it proves the one you made up must be true is silly.

The options you responded to which were not mine:
1) Neither have talked at all.
2) it wouldn’t need to be a career ending thing.

Lame pettiness is just not reasonable. It just doesn’t happen.

Sorry I just assumed it was you who presented the first 2 options, my bad.

Unfortunately pettiness happens in real life and is lame.

Thats why there is the expression cutting you nose off to spite your face. That very well might be the reason Butler was benched and we will never know.

The only thing we know is both Bill and Butler still dont want to talk about it even though neither one is the NFL anymore.

Neither one would hurt financially from the truth being revealed, but some form of respect being lost is a possibility otherwise, why keep it secret?

 

[Huckleberry1]

Malcolm was CB2 that year. Gilly was CB1.

Wasn't Gilmore DPOY that season?

 

[Ring 6]

Sorry I just assumed it was you who presented the first 2 options, my bad.

Unfortunately pettiness happens in real life and is lame.

Thats why there is the expression cutting you nose off to spite your face. That very well might be the reason Butler was benched and we will never know.

The only thing we know is both Bill and Butler still dont want to talk about it even though neither one is the NFL anymore.

Neither one would hurt financially from the truth being revealed, but some form of respect being lost is a possibility otherwise, why keep it secret?

Professional athletes and coaches in the most competitive sport, and at its most competitive time will not risk a season over “you hurt my feelings, apologize or you are benched”. It is the most ridiculous argument I have e ever heard.
Now you support your argument with a euphemism?
We don’t know what happened but we can be absolutely 100% positive that it wasn’t because someone said something that hurt someone’s feelings and an entire organization put the teams chances to win at risk in a SB because they wanted an apology and the guy who cried in the sidelines would rather not play than give one. The sane guy who resigned with the team years later.
This is flat earth level critical thinking.

Clearly it is being kept secret because there was something about butler that caused the decision and the team and cus h us doing what they always said they would do from day 1 and not airing team things publicly
There is zero chance that Belichick will ever publicly discuss what butler did. It was his most basic principle. He isn’t gong to violate it.

Arguing it must be bad fir BB because he hasn’t told the world to keep from being criticized is to have no clue about how he operates.

 

[gobesmug]

Professional athletes and coaches in the most competitive sport, and at its most competitive time will not risk a season over “you hurt my feelings, apologize or you are benched”. It is the most ridiculous argument I have e ever heard.
Now you support your argument with a euphemism?
We don’t know what happened but we can be absolutely 100% positive that it wasn’t because someone said something that hurt someone’s feelings and an entire organization put the teams chances to win at risk in a SB because they wanted an apology and the guy who cried in the sidelines would rather not play than give one. The sane guy who resigned with the team years later.
This is flat earth level critical thinking.

Clearly it is being kept secret because there was something about butler that caused the decision and the team and cus h us doing what they always said they would do from day 1 and not airing team things publicly
There is zero chance that Belichick will ever publicly discuss what butler did. It was his most basic principle. He isn’t gong to violate it.

Arguing it must be bad fir BB because he hasn’t told the world to keep from being criticized is to have no clue about how he operates.

You dont know what the word euphemism means apparently.

That was an idiom not a euphemism.

 

[Ring 6]

You dont know what the word euphemism means apparently.

That was an idiom not a euphemism

You understood what I meant Officer Grammar Police

 

[NovaScotiaPatsFan]

There is no guarantee that Malcolm being on the field that day would have led to a Win. That's what people don't want to accept. And neither does Butler.

Yup. Now what WOULD have is the ****ing refs and replay officials actually doing their job properly. Just like the other 2 Super Bowls we lost during the Dynasty.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Wasn't Gilmore DPOY that season?

No that was 2019.

 

[Koma]

Yup. Now what WOULD have is the ****ing refs and replay officials actually doing their job properly. Just like the other 2 Super Bowls we lost during the Dynasty.

It was difficult for the replay official to be impartial with Troy Vincent (member of the Eagles HOF) sitting with him in the booth.

 

[Tunescribe]

I’m glad to see this brought back up, I’m confident this time there will be a fair and reasoned conversation about it here.

My take hasn't wavered: considering the incredibly loose zone Patricia ran that game, Butler would not have been a difference-maker. Lending to this is the fact his overall quality of play ebbed toward season's end.

Glad to have helped put this "controversy" to rest.

 

[NovaScotiaPatsFan]

It was difficult for the replay official to be impartial with Troy Vincent (member of the Eagles HOF) sitting with him in the booth.

Wow, I didn't even know that but it doesn't surprise me at all.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

I said before the only legit reason Bill might have had to keep Malcolm out was if Bill found out he was placing bets on that game. Or he had any reason to suspect he might be.

And if that was the case he would have never been allowed by the team or the league anywhere near the building never mind told shortly before opening kickoff that he wasn't playing.

Whatever it was, it wasn't bad enough for Butler to be unwilling to play for Belichick again (he tried to return in 2022).

 

[upstater1]

Watching Patriots Eagles on NFLN.

Corey Clement so-called TD, Collinsworth's response after Clement is given the TD after video review.

"I'm stunned. I give up. If that ball isn't lose, I don't know."

Crazy that instant replay gave the guy a TD for something that was definitely not a TD. AND the refs didn't even catch the fact that Clement moved before the ball was hiked. He jumped.

There was so much wrong on that play.

Should've never been a TD.

 

[Hyped]

Losing last week sucked, but you could feel that coming after the first half.

Passing for a Super Bowl record 505 yards and losing the game… I was reduced to a zombie uttering over and over, “Five oh five yards and lost the Super Bowl”…..

That was the beginning of the end of dynasty 2.0….