MONROE - LeRoy Butler was a second-round draft pick out of Florida State in 1990 by the Green Bay Packers. Butler played the next 11 seasons with Green Bay before retiring with a broken shoulder blade shortly before the start of the 2002 season.
In his time in Green Bay, Butler played in 181 games, won the Super Bowl in 1997, was selected to five All-Pro teams and another four Pro Bowl teams. Currently in the Packers Hall of Fame, Butler was named to the NFL's All-Decade team for the 1990s by the Pro Football Hall of Fame and is credited for inventing the Lambeau Leap.
Since retiring, Butler has chosen to give back to the fans, offering meet-and-greets and other appearances throughout the state. He owns his own car dealership in Waupaca and has his own foundation set up to help women with breast cancer. Butler has also written a book, The LeRoy Butler Story...From Wheelchair to the Lambeau Leap.
On Thursday afternoon at the Ludlow Mansion in Monroe, I had a chance to catch up with LeRoy at the Monroe Chamber of Commerce meet-and-greet. We talked about life after football and Green Bay's big game this weekend against rival Chicago.
Adam: How's life been after football?
LeRoy: I'll tell you what, I really enjoy it when I get the chance to do things like we're doing today with the Chamber, speaking engagements, going to places that I've never gone to before like Monroe. There's a lot of kids and families in this area that have probably never seen many Packers. Stuff like that you can't really do until you retire, because it's hard to do while you're playing. And I recognize that.
A: So it's a really nice way to reconnect with some of those fans?
L: Absolutely. That's the reason why I played 12 years here was because of the fans. There's no better fans in the world. They understand that it is a game, but they also grew up with it. Everywhere I go people tell me, "I was cheering for you when I was, like, 9!" It feels good to know that you've had their support for so long.
A: What have you been doing to keep yourself busy?
L: I have a Ford dealership in Waupaca and that keeps me really busy. Probably keeps me more busy than anything. We're the No. 1 brand right now, overtaking over Toyota. Plus it keeps me in touch with the business world to kind of repay some of the fans for what they did for me as so I can do that far as giving them discounts on cars.
A: What did you learn throughout your career as far as dealing with the media and everything else to help you in the business world?
L: Just be upfront and be honest and people will understand and respect that. I think moreso than anything - be available, be touchable. I think a lot of athletes are untouchable. You see them on television and sometimes they're not the same. It can kind of turn you off a little bit. Sometimes I get accused of being too accessible. But I don't really think people look at me as being a celebrity as treating me like a family member. I know that's kind of hard to do when people start talking about the Lambeau Leap and how it changed their life and stuff like that. It makes me feel good.
A: The Lambeau Leap is one of your many accomplishments, you won a Super Bowl and made a few All-Pro teams as well, but what do you think is your greatest accomplishment?
L: Obviously it's got to be winning the Super Bowl. When we won it, the Packers hadn't been there in 30 years. That's a long time to wait for a championship. So that's probably my biggest accomplishment.
But also where I came from - coming from the inner-city, single parent family in the projects, African-American, spent time in a wheel chair. To go on and win a Super Bowl is pretty historic. That allowed me to write my book, The Leroy Butler Story. That makes me feel good that I could put something that kids can learn from - parents are the real role models. I think that gets twisted sometimes. That's what Charles Barkley was trying to say and people took it the wrong way. He didn't want some kid to be looking at his poster and saying, 'Oh, I'm not worthy.' No. You look at your parents and do that. You can still do that to me, but we learn from our parents. All athletes learn from our parents. So that's what I try to tell kids.
We're not saying that we're not role models - of course we're role models - but we just don't want to be No. 1. We have flaws too. You break up, or you hear players are drunk driving or domestic violence when a lot of that is going on in society. We're real people. We're not super heroes. You get the same problems everybody else has. Sometimes it's shocking for some people to hear that. That's why it's good to actually come and talk to fans.
- Adam Krebs is The Monroe Times sports editor and can be reached at sportseditor@themonroetimes.com or at 328-4202 ext. 33.
In his time in Green Bay, Butler played in 181 games, won the Super Bowl in 1997, was selected to five All-Pro teams and another four Pro Bowl teams. Currently in the Packers Hall of Fame, Butler was named to the NFL's All-Decade team for the 1990s by the Pro Football Hall of Fame and is credited for inventing the Lambeau Leap.
Since retiring, Butler has chosen to give back to the fans, offering meet-and-greets and other appearances throughout the state. He owns his own car dealership in Waupaca and has his own foundation set up to help women with breast cancer. Butler has also written a book, The LeRoy Butler Story...From Wheelchair to the Lambeau Leap.
On Thursday afternoon at the Ludlow Mansion in Monroe, I had a chance to catch up with LeRoy at the Monroe Chamber of Commerce meet-and-greet. We talked about life after football and Green Bay's big game this weekend against rival Chicago.
Adam: How's life been after football?
LeRoy: I'll tell you what, I really enjoy it when I get the chance to do things like we're doing today with the Chamber, speaking engagements, going to places that I've never gone to before like Monroe. There's a lot of kids and families in this area that have probably never seen many Packers. Stuff like that you can't really do until you retire, because it's hard to do while you're playing. And I recognize that.
A: So it's a really nice way to reconnect with some of those fans?
L: Absolutely. That's the reason why I played 12 years here was because of the fans. There's no better fans in the world. They understand that it is a game, but they also grew up with it. Everywhere I go people tell me, "I was cheering for you when I was, like, 9!" It feels good to know that you've had their support for so long.
A: What have you been doing to keep yourself busy?
L: I have a Ford dealership in Waupaca and that keeps me really busy. Probably keeps me more busy than anything. We're the No. 1 brand right now, overtaking over Toyota. Plus it keeps me in touch with the business world to kind of repay some of the fans for what they did for me as so I can do that far as giving them discounts on cars.
A: What did you learn throughout your career as far as dealing with the media and everything else to help you in the business world?
L: Just be upfront and be honest and people will understand and respect that. I think moreso than anything - be available, be touchable. I think a lot of athletes are untouchable. You see them on television and sometimes they're not the same. It can kind of turn you off a little bit. Sometimes I get accused of being too accessible. But I don't really think people look at me as being a celebrity as treating me like a family member. I know that's kind of hard to do when people start talking about the Lambeau Leap and how it changed their life and stuff like that. It makes me feel good.
A: The Lambeau Leap is one of your many accomplishments, you won a Super Bowl and made a few All-Pro teams as well, but what do you think is your greatest accomplishment?
L: Obviously it's got to be winning the Super Bowl. When we won it, the Packers hadn't been there in 30 years. That's a long time to wait for a championship. So that's probably my biggest accomplishment.
But also where I came from - coming from the inner-city, single parent family in the projects, African-American, spent time in a wheel chair. To go on and win a Super Bowl is pretty historic. That allowed me to write my book, The Leroy Butler Story. That makes me feel good that I could put something that kids can learn from - parents are the real role models. I think that gets twisted sometimes. That's what Charles Barkley was trying to say and people took it the wrong way. He didn't want some kid to be looking at his poster and saying, 'Oh, I'm not worthy.' No. You look at your parents and do that. You can still do that to me, but we learn from our parents. All athletes learn from our parents. So that's what I try to tell kids.
We're not saying that we're not role models - of course we're role models - but we just don't want to be No. 1. We have flaws too. You break up, or you hear players are drunk driving or domestic violence when a lot of that is going on in society. We're real people. We're not super heroes. You get the same problems everybody else has. Sometimes it's shocking for some people to hear that. That's why it's good to actually come and talk to fans.
- Adam Krebs is The Monroe Times sports editor and can be reached at sportseditor@themonroetimes.com or at 328-4202 ext. 33.