Football, Track
Favorite athlete: Tyrann Mathieu, Jabrill Peppers
Favorite team: Philadelphia Eagles, Michigan Wolverines
Favorite memory competing in sports: It's a tie. I won a track state championship in ninth grade with my high school in North Carolina, or winning the 4A District title last year in football to beat North Penn (only Junior defensive starter).
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: When I was in 7th grade I played AAU basketball and I stole the ball three times in a row, but I missed every single one of those layups. Safe to say I wasn't the best scorer.
Music on iPod: A lot of J. Cole. But besides that Rap, R&B, Pop, a little bit of everything besides country.
Future Plans:I do not know where I want to go yet, but possibly continuing my football career at the next level. I plan on studying Business Management, minor in Marketing, and eventually going to Law school.
Words to live by: "All things are difficult before they are easy. It’s not about falling, it’s about getting back up. Success is not a skill, it is a persistent attitude."
One goal before turning 30: Start my own business, or be a marketing analyst/executive for a Fortune 500 company.
One thing people don't know me: I like to sing. (I'm pretty good.)
By GORDON GLANTZ
It was like a scene straight out of an inspirational sports movie.
A high school football team about to play a big game. Not in uniform, due to injury, the most vocal of the team’s captains makes an emotional speech.
The rest of the script falls into place from there.
In the case of Phil Butler, his speech to the rest of the Upper Dublin Cardinals was not of the “win one for the Gipper” variety.
It was more about his teammates winning one for themselves.
Butler, who played football in ninth grade at Marvin Ridge High School in North Carolina, joined Coach Bret Stover’s Cardinals in 10th grade and earned some significant playing time as a sophomore. He became a starter as a junior on a senior-heavy team that won the program’s first ever District One 4A title. He was being counted on heavily in 2016 as the lone returning starter in the secondary.
The Univest Featured Male Athlete of the Week, and oldest of Phil Sr. and Melonie Butler’s three sons, went into the 2016 campaign as a preseason all-state choice.
He had worked hard for his final scholastic season, readying himself both mentally and physically, only to have those best-laid plans derailed by a herniated disc.
His message to the team, before it took the field on Senior Night against Upper Moreland, was clear-cut: Play in, and for, the moment.
A generally vocal leader, pre-game speeches were still not his style.
But he felt compelled on this night and hoped it made the difference in a 41-21 win.
“I was not usually vocal before games after I got hurt, but I felt the need to say something that time,” said Butler. “Once I got to the school for pregame, I was already in an off-mood because I hate not playing on Friday nights. It being Senior Night just heightened my emotions a lot I guess. In the locker room before pregame, I was trying my best to keep myself together. Coach asked if anyone had anything to say before we left the locker room, and I told them, ‘It is the last time (you’ll) play in this stadium during the regular season.’ There was no worse feeling than not being able to play on Senior Night. That killed me inside.”
Butler, who was able to return for the postseason, added that he told his teammates that they needed to go out there and play like it was their last game, because you truly never know when it will be.
“I was emotional when we went through all the Senior Night stuff,” he said.
He wasn’t the only one.
“It was emotional for me,” said Stover. “There wasn’t a dry eye. I usually give the pre-game talk, but I didn’t have to say anything.
“He’s not a run-your-mouth kind of kid. I have had a couple of quiet captains, but that’s not him, either. He knows where to go with it. He knows that if you talk too much, it can fall on deaf ears. When Phil has something to say, they listen.”
Cultural Change
Ever since he can remember – “ever since I could walk” -- Butler was playing football. Because Upper Dublin did not have a youth program, he suited up for the Abington Raiders before the family moved to Marvin, N.C. – in the Charlotte suburbs – where he remained from sixth through ninth grade.
“I lived up here until sixth grade,” he said, explaining the family moved because the work-related travel for his father, Phil Sr., was getting to be too much. “I was in North Carolina for three years, and that’s where my football game really elevated. It’s really different in the south.
“For one, it’s the whole culture – the whole idea of football – is different. It’s more of a community thing. It was a real football town that I was in. Everyone’s at all the games, especially for the high school team. With that comes better coaches. The coaches up here are the best, but I’m talking about at all levels. The environment is just a lot different, and makes you more motivated when you go out there.”
Butler worked out alongside the likes of Elijah Hood, now a standout running back and pro prospect entering his senior year at North Carolina.
He said he had more of a sense of adventure about moving down south as a sixth-grader than he did about moving back up north as an incoming sophomore.
“I moved up here, came into camp and, as it turned out, I was able to get into the games a lot as a sophomore,” he said. “Technically, I was second-string at cornerback but I got in a good amount of varsity experience.”
For Stover, having a football-ready player show up on his doorstep – especially with plenty of time running on his meter – was akin to finding money under his pillow.
“Those kinds of things don’t usually happen at Upper Dublin,” said Stover. “More than just being an outstanding player, Phil is an outstanding person. He is a true student of the game. He studies the game.”
After his injury, Butler remained close to the team, still coming to practice and acting as extra coach on the sidelines during games.
“Because of the injury, I spent four or five weeks trying to recover,” said Butler, who intends to run spring track and build upon his second-team all-league season as a junior, when he reached the District One meet. “I still wanted to be there for moral support, and try to be a leader without being on the field.”
As it turned out, the Cardinals shared the league title with Plymouth Whitemarsh by virtue of a 24-21 loss to the Colonials, who had a Hail Mary prayer answered the end of the first half that may not have happened with Butler on the field.
“That was very tough,” he said. “It was our first loss of the season. That hit hard for me. I felt I could have changed the outcome.”
Although he came back for the two-game run in the playoffs, Butler says he is “still dealing” with the injury and is skipping the winter track season as he is “going through the rehab process.”
He admits to “going off adrenaline” while playing during the postseason and that he was still “fighting through the pain” on the field.
But it didn’t match the pain of being sidelined.
“I got cleared, medically, to give it a shot,” he said. “Just getting back out there on the field, it felt great.
The Next Level
Pending professional approval, Butler takes pride in mapping out his own programs for nutrition and in the weight room, where he says he is “deceptively strong” and can often match many of the linemen who carry much more girth.
It is all part of a larger plan. He knows what he wants – to play in college – and knows what it takes to get there.
“I definitely hope to play in college,” he said, full realizing that his injury and his size – 5-7, 160 pounds – are drawbacks, while his speed and skill and smarts are plusses.
He has offers from Division II schools, mainly from the PSAC, and also from Division III programs. According to Stover, there were some Division I-AA sniffs that went away after the injury.
“Some people backed off,” said Stover. “But whoever does get him is going to get a steal.
“During the recruiting process, coaches come in and he has questions already prepared for the coaches. He has his agenda. He knows what he wants to do in football. He’s not afraid to work and compete. He wants to be a college football player.
“That said, he always knows that there is life after football, too. He comes from an outstanding family. His parents are big supporters of the program. He’s going to be successful. His parents raised him well.”
A standout student with 1220 on his two-part SAT and a 3.3 GPA, despite a heavy dose of AP and honors classes, Butler carries his leadership skills off the field as the vice president of Upper Dublin’s Black Student Union and also did what equates to a telecommute internship with Marriott’s main headquarters in Maryland.
Because of all this, he has created collegiate opportunities, in spite of the injury, that would not otherwise be there.
“I’ve narrowed it down to three or four schools,” said Butler, while remaining guarded about naming names. “I hope to make my decision in the next few weeks.”
And wherever he goes next, he is well aware he did not get there alone. There is Dan Bailey, a coach in North Carolina, who has remained in contact. There are his teammates.
Butler feels fortunate to have had such a far-reaching support system.
“Where do I start? My family, in general,” said Butler, who considers his cousin, Alan Butler, a wide receiver at Bucknell, a role model. “I have to say my aunts and uncles. They have all been supportive, showing up to all my games.
“And definitely my coaches, particularly Coach Stover and Dave Sowers. They have both supported me and given me guidance for the next level by always pushing me – pushing me to be the best I could be. They taught me how to see the whole game better.
“And my parents have helped keep me on the right path, guiding me to take the best steps.”
Butler also gave a nod to his NFL role model, Tyriann “Honey Badger” Mathieu, who not only overcame questions about his size (5-9, 174) but his character (dismissed from team at LSU) to achieve stardom with Arizona Cardinals as a defensive back.
“He was a great role model of how I wanted to play DB,” said Butler. “You always have to play with that chip on your shoulder and be physical. Even though the receivers are bigger, they can’t be bullying you. I’m not going to let that happen.”
Just like he wasn’t going to let his teammates go into battle without him without pleading with them to appreciate the chance to play – and to play their best.
“As a leader, you have to take different approaches with different teammates,” he said. “Even if they make a good play, you have to let them know that there is always room for improvement. All of us, we can always get better.
“And you have to play every game like it is your last, because you never know.”
