Take a trip down Lawrenceville Highway and turn into Fitzgerald Park, where for more than 60 years some of the best youth football in the state of Georgia has been played. It is the home of the Tucker Lions and is where Kevin Butler got his start on a football field.
While Butler is known for being a Georgia Bulldog and one of the greatest field-goal kickers in NFL history, he began to make headlines at Redan High in the late 1970s at DeKalb County’s newest high school. Playing quarterback, defensive back and kicker, Butler led the Raiders to a 14-1 record and Class AAA state championship in 1979, in the school’s fourth year of existence, and received a scholarship offer from Georgia, among other schools.
But unfortunately for Butler, the team was left decimated his senior season, as 16 starters were gone as well as coach Steve Shankweiler and most of his staff. Also, Butler damaged ligaments in his knee in the first game that season, and his high school career was over. Many schools that had been interested were no longer calling.
The only school that stood with him was UGA, but the offer that had come from Georgia was now conditional. He had to graduate early, pay his own way for the spring semester at UGA, participate in spring practice and prove to coach Vince Dooley and his staff that he was healthy.
He did, replacing the talented senior Rex Robinson, who had helped lead the Bulldogs to a national championship in the 1980 season, and thus began a four-year career for the Dogs that included making 77 of 98 field goals and 122 of 125 extra points for a total of 353 points.
He has the longest field goal in school history, a 60-yarder in a last-second win over Clemson in 1984 at Sanford Stadium.
In the 1985 NFL Draft, he was a fourth-round pick of the Bears, going 105th overall, and immediately took over the kickoff and field-goal duties in Chicago. He played 11 seasons in the Windy City, during which the Bears went to the playoffs seven times. After the 1995 season, Butler was released and was the last remaining holdover from the Super Bowl team. He finished his career with two years in Arizona. Butler is in the College Football Hall of Fame and Chicago Bears Ring of Honor.
Where he lives: Butler lives in Duluth and has been married to his wife, Cathy, for 29 years. They have three children: Scarlett, Drew and Savannah. Drew followed in his dad's footsteps to Georgia as a punter and currently kicks for the Arizona Cardinals. Cathy owns the wedding shop "Formally Yours'' in Lilburn.
What he does now: Butler is involved in two businesses, the first being UgMO Technologies, which has developed a wireless soil sensor system for watering systems. Said Butler, "We have them in the Roswell Park system, and we have reduced their use of water by 60 percent.'' He is also involved with National Collegiate Sports Archives, which operates Georgia, Auburn and Florida Vaults. The Vaults are digitalized highlights capturing everything from the most ordinary to the most extraordinary football highlights. He also is on the Georgia Bulldogs Network on game days.
On his state championship at Redan his junior year: "We won the title the fourth year in existence. I don't think that had been done since the 1950s. We had kids from Clarkston, Lithonia, Towers and Stone Mountain and many of the kids I had played with in youth ball. We had a great coach in Steve Shankweiler and our defensive coordinator was Tommy Marshall, who is now the AD at Marist. Funny, but my son went to Peachtree Ridge and they ended up winning the title in their fourth year."
On getting hurt his senior season: "I had been offered by Georgia, Auburn and Penn State my junior year. But the next year I got hurt the last play of my first game. I didn't have surgery and went into a hip cast for six weeks because it wasn't a clear tear. During that time, I doubled up on my studies and graduated early and enrolled at Georgia. I paid for my school that semester, and they were looking for someone to replace Rex Robinson. I was healthy in the spring and probably stronger than I ever had been. It all worked out and I proved that I could do the job and they gave me a scholarship.''
On his biggest game at UGA: "It is hard to say biggest. My freshman year we played for the SEC championship, and there were so many big kicks. But the Clemson one my senior year was huge. We had beaten them, lost to them and tied them over the last three years, and they were ranked No. 2. It was the rubber game, and we were getting our butt handed to us at halftime. Coach Dooley came in at half and was very animated. We responded, and when we took over at the end we were not going to be denied. The distance never came into question. I could kick a ball right-footed 60 yards and left-footed I could kick it 50 yards. When I hit it I knew it was right down the middle. Funny, but the year before I tried a 67-yarder and in the Citrus Bowl my senior year I tried a 70-yarder and just missed, but I think it was the best kick of my career. It fell about a foot short and the game ended up tied.''
On going to the NFL: "The biggest challenge for me was I was invited to the Senior Bowl after my senior season and that was like the combine is today. But we had to kick the ball off the ground and I had been using a tee in college. The good thing is that in college my position coach Bill Hartman made us end practice by kicking off the ground. We did it in case we couldn't find the tee or something. I went to the Senior Bowl and make all three field goals and was named MVP. But I had never heard from the Bears. I thought I was going to go to Miami or Buffalo, but they took other kickers. The Bears picked me and I was surprised because they had Bob Thomas and he was coming off a great season. But the Bears liked my background coming from Georgia, and they liked all the big kicks I had made.''
On playing for Ditka: "Playing for him was like playing for Vince Dooley on steroids. Vince had this stare that would say a 1,000 words and Mike had a stare and then would add all the adjectives to it. I remember the first day I got to Chicago they handed me a book called "Halas by Halas.'' It was all about instilling the pride of the Bears and being one of the NFL founding teams. It is one rich with history and great players.''
On playing with Walter Payton, who died in 1999: "It was a dream come true. I was a rookie kicker, but he was always very supportive of me. He led by example and was a true leader and great teammate. I really got to know him as after I was done we went into business together and at the NFL Pro Shop we had all the licenses for golf accessories. We traveled a lot together and I talked to him near the very end. I was then involved in the memorial for him at Soldier Field, and I talked about it on NBC. It was very emotional. He was the icon of the city, but the family had done a great job of carrying his legacy forward.''
About the Author
