Remember Chris Matthews?
No, not the spaz from Hardball. I’m talking about the Seattle Seahawks wide receiver who came out of nowhere in last year’s Super Bowl. You know, the guy who showed up with zero career receptions — only a year removed from working at Foot Locker — and morphed into the second coming of Megatron?
His first career catch was an acrobatic 44-yarder over Kyle Arrington that helped set up the Seahawks' first touchdown. His second catch was an 11-yard touchdown (with six seconds left in the half) that tied the game at 14-14. Matthews hauled in yet another bomb — once again over Arrington, this time for 45 yards — on the first drive of the third quarter and at that point Bill Belichick had seen enough. He couldn’t let the Matthews/Arrington matchup beat them any longer. So, the Pats shuffled their nickel package, replaced Arrington with undrafted rookie Malcolm Butler, and set the wheels in motion for arguably the biggest play in Boston sports history.
Here it is one more time. Ahhh.
Six months later and it’s still impossible to logically process all the what-ifs surrounding the Malcolm Butler story. I mean, forget that he was undrafted out of Division II West Alabama. Forget the stint at Popeye’s. Forget that he wasn’t even part of the original Super Bowl game plan. Forget that he needed an equally unlikely story (Matthews) to emerge before he could do the same. Forget that he wasn’t even on the field for that life-altering interception until moments before the snap. Forget all that and ask yourself: What if Pete Carroll had just run the ball?
Would anyone around here still be talking about Malcolm Butler?
— SPOILER ALERT —
New England Patriots
Find the latest New England Patriots news, highlights, analysis and more with NBC Sports Boston.
The answer is yes.
I think.
You can never be sure. Would we still remember the name Dave Roberts if he’d been thrown out at second base? Maybe not, but here’s the thing: Malcom Butler isn’t Dave Roberts. Hell, Dave Roberts was traded two months after the World Series for David Pauley, Jay Payton, Ramon Vazquez and cash.
Malcolm Butler is now New England’s No. 1 cornerback.
Of course that might be premature. Thanks to zone sets and other strategies, the whole concept of a “No. 1 corner” might be overstated. But after an offseason that watched three of New England’s top four cornerbacks walk in free agency, and despite every inclination to write Butler off as a fortunate but marginal talent, it’s clear the Patriots believe that Malcolm Butler is the real deal. They’re counting on him to be the real deal. It’s like if the Sox had traded Johnny Damon right after the 2004 World Series and then announced: “Dave Roberts is our new starting center fielder and leadoff man!”
Actually it’s even crazier than that. Dave Roberts had a track record. Dave Roberts was an established pro. Malcolm Butler played less than 200 snaps last season (fewer than Alfonso Dennard, who I forgot was even on the team). He only played 14 defensive snaps in the AFC Championship Game and didn’t play at all the week before against the pass-happy Ravens.
But look at him now.
As ESPN’s Mike Reiss wrote earlier this week, Butler played a team-high 65 defensive snaps in last year’s preseason opener. Last week against the Packers, he played only 15 snaps and then sat out the rest of the game alongside Devin McCourty, Chandler Jones and Rob Ninkovich. He’s gone from a most unlikely hero to a projected cornerstone of the Patriots defense, and that’s crazy and exciting and terrifying. That’s a lot of pressure. That’s a lot of trust. It makes you wonder just how much Butler must have impressed the coaches behind the scenes last season (and this offseason) and whether his unlikely Super Bowl heroics were even that unlikely. Maybe he had it in him all along. Maybe that interception wasn’t a burst of lightning, but instead a super-sized light bulb that finally switched on and will shine bright for years to come.
Only time will tell, but it won’t be long. Three weeks from Thursday, Chris Matthews and Ricardo Lockette become Antonio Brown and Martavis Bryant. The week after that it’s Sammy Watkins and Percy Harvin. Then it’s Dez Bryant and Terrence Williams. Then it's Andre Johnson and T.Y. Hilton. Then it's Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker.
It’s the life of a starting NFL cornerback.
It’s the next chapter in the Malcolm Butler story — and it’s finally ready to unfold.
Follow me on Twitter: @rich_levine
