Former Bona Great Jack Butler Named to Pro Football Hall of Fame
Jack Butler
Hall of Fame Bio (pdf)
Photo Gallery
INDIANAPOLIS — St. Bonaventure football legend Jack Butler,
class of 1951, was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame during
Super Bowl Saturday festivities in Indianapolis.
“I dreamed about being a big, strong football player
… but deep down, I don’t really think I believed what
I was dreaming,” Butler said in his press conference after
being elected. “I knew I was pretty good, but I never thought
I was that good.
“Jack Butler from Pittsburgh, Pa., by way of St. Bonaventure
University, and here I am. … It’s really an honor and
a privilege.”
Butler is the fourth St. Bonaventure alum in one of the prominent
professional halls of fame. Baseball legends Hughie Jennings and
John McGraw, for whom the university’s athletic fields are
named after, are in the Baseball Hall of Fame; and Bob Lanier,
’70, is in the Basketball Hall of Fame.
He is joined in the 2012 induction calss by Curtis Martin, Chris
Doleman, Cortez Kennedy, Willie Roaf and Dermontti Dawson, which
will be introduced at the Super Bowl Sunday and inducted in early
August.
In August, Butler was named one of two Seniors Committee finalists
for the Hall of Fame, along with Dick Stanfel, but only Butler was
honored.
Butler was named to the NFL’s all-decade team of the 1950s
after a stellar career with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Butler, 83, who was given an honorary degree by his alma mater in
2009, was elected to St. Bonaventure’s Athletics Hall of Fame
in 1970. He was a star on the St. Bonaventure football team,
playing alongside future NFL coach Ted Marchibroda. Among his NFL
accomplishments:
• Butler appeared in four straight Pro Bowls (1956-1959).
• When a devastating knee injury forced him to retire in
1959, his 52 interceptions ranked second in NFL history.• He
was named one of the top 300 players in NFL history.
• In 2007, he was one of 33 players named to the Pittsburgh
Steelers’ Legends team, marking the team’s 75th
anniversary.
In the News
“How the Scouts Changed Football,” by
John Clayton, Football Digest, Feb, 1976
“A Conversation with Jack Butler,” by
Vito Stellino, PRO! Magazine, Sept. 9, 1980
“Pros of the Past,” by Pat Livingston,
Pro Football Digest, Oct. 1968
“Butler's retirement marks the end of a BLEST
career,” by Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July,
10, 2007
“Butler Serves Them Well,” by Murray
Olderman, Sports All-Stars 1958 Pro Football, 1958
“Why Everyone Wants Butler,” by Murray Olderman,
Sports All-Stars 1959 Pro Football, 1959
