San Jose Bills Fan Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 (edited) Butler was apparently Director of Player Development. Said one player, cornerback Eric Wright, "the Browns just fired one of the best guys in that building in Jerry Butler." http://profootballta...t-jerry-butler/ Edited May 17, 2011 by San Jose Bills Fan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billsfreak Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 What is a former Bil? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Jose Bills Fan Posted May 17, 2011 Author Share Posted May 17, 2011 What is a former Bil? Take as many guesses as you'd like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD in CA Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 What is a former Bil? Brother-in-law? Maybe Jerry used to be married to SJBF's sister. Actually, that's a shame. Jerry Butler was one of my favorites as a kid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Jose Bills Fan Posted May 17, 2011 Author Share Posted May 17, 2011 Super class act, too. I used to work in the restaurants and he came in for dinner one night with his wife. Gave me his biz card "Butler Mechanical" a mechanical contractor based in Springville…and said to call him anytime. I was an aspiring sports journalist at the time. When I covered the Bills in the mid 80s for WBNY, the Bills would practice on the grass field at ECC quite a bit. Many of the players would drive their own cars over there however Butler was one of the players who took the team bus, which was just a school bus. He told me he felt it was more professional to take the team bus and that he took that time to mentally prepare himself for practice. Jerry was personable and smart. Great guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Jose Bills Fan Posted May 17, 2011 Author Share Posted May 17, 2011 Brother-in-law? Maybe Jerry used to be married to SJBF's sister. Actually, that's a shame. Jerry Butler was one of my favorites as a kid. I'd be fine with him marrying my sister. Butler is a cool cat and my sister ended up marrying a real ass hat. Butler was definitely a big fan favorite and we all lament what a great career he would have had if he'd been more durable. No one who ever saw him play could forget how awesome he was (remember that catch over Mel Blount?) Butler was another of the many great, underappreciated receivers in Bills history (JD Hill, Haven Moses, Marlin Briscoe). While Butler ended up putting up good career numbers, they weren't what they could have been had he stayed healthy and played on better teams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTO Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 The Bills should bring him in. As per Nix, he recently stated that he would probably bring in one more assistant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John from Riverside Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 Super class act, too. I used to work in the restaurants and he came in for dinner one night with his wife. Gave me his biz card "Butler Mechanical" a mechanical contractor based in Springville…and said to call him anytime. I was an aspiring sports journalist at the time. When I covered the Bills in the mid 80s for WBNY, the Bills would practice on the grass field at ECC quite a bit. Many of the players would drive their own cars over there however Butler was one of the players who took the team bus, which was just a school bus. He told me he felt it was more professional to take the team bus and that he took that time to mentally prepare himself for practice. Jerry was personable and smart. Great guy. San Jose.... I never knew that about you...that is totally cool Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buftex Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 (edited) The Bills should bring him in. As per Nix, he recently stated that he would probably bring in one more assistant. Jerry Butler previously held the position of head of the Buffalo Bills Alumni organization. He was terrific, and well liked by Ralph Wilson. I must say, Jerry Butler is my all-time favorite Buffalo Bill. And very classy, indeed. I had some personal dealings with him over the years, and the guy was just a genuinely good person. I know he has been an assitant, positon coac, in the NFL as well, so hopefully, he lands somewhere. Love to see him back involved with the Bills...might have to wait for Pegula! Edited May 17, 2011 by Buftex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K-9 Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 Thanks for the reminders SJBF. Butler was one of the best players the Bills have ever had, both on and off the field. I'll never forget the game against the Jets his rookie year. Amazing. The TD catch against the Dolphins on the play that ultimately ended his career in 1985 was truly a microcosm of his career. I wish him luck in whatever he decides to pursue next. GO BILLS!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Jose Bills Fan Posted May 17, 2011 Author Share Posted May 17, 2011 Thanks for the reminders SJBF. Butler was one of the best players the Bills have ever had, both on and off the field. I'll never forget the game against the Jets his rookie year. Amazing. The TD catch against the Dolphins on the play that ultimately ended his career in 1985 was truly a microcosm of his career. I wish him luck in whatever he decides to pursue next. GO BILLS!!! That Jets game was unreal. At the time I was working at Santora's on Main Street in Williamsville and we listened to the call on the radio… 10 receptions for 255 yards and 4 TDs? Two of them 70+ yard bombs and he also ran a reverse for 12 yards. Everyone thought Butler was gonna be a Hall of Famer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homey D. Clown Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 His(Jerry Butler's) was my first official autograph I ever received, he was at a signing at Bells SuperMarket. My mother had gotten OJ Simpson's autograph in the Buffalo Airport Terminal when I was very little, and I do remember it, but that wasn't MY first one... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Squirrel Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 I'd be fine with him marrying my sister. Butler is a cool cat and my sister ended up marrying a real ass hat. Butler was definitely a big fan favorite and we all lament what a great career he would have had if he'd been more durable. No one who ever saw him play could forget how awesome he was (remember that catch over Mel Blount?) Butler was another of the many great, underappreciated receivers in Bills history (JD Hill, Haven Moses, Marlin Briscoe). While Butler ended up putting up good career numbers, they weren't what they could have been had he stayed healthy and played on better teams. The catch over Blount was the play I was going to mention; just an awesome grab. He had good speed and a flair for the dramatic...all he lacked was the solid physique that guys like Reed and Moulds had. I also remember he liked to spin the ball like a top when he scored. And the other WR on those '80-'81 playoff teams, Frank Lewis, wasn't half bad, either...a lot of his career was wasted sitting behind Swann and Stallworth in Pittsburgh. He didn't even get to Buffalo until he was past 30, but he had probably the 4 or 5 best years of his career with the Bills. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astrobot Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 He'd know Tom Gibbons... http://www.buffalobills.com/about-us/front-office.html Git 'r Done Buddy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewildrabbit Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 I'd be fine with him marrying my sister. Butler is a cool cat and my sister ended up marrying a real ass hat. Butler was definitely a big fan favorite and we all lament what a great career he would have had if he'd been more durable. No one who ever saw him play could forget how awesome he was (remember that catch over Mel Blount?) Butler was another of the many great, under-appreciated receivers in Bills history (JD Hill, Haven Moses, Marlin Briscoe). While Butler ended up putting up good career numbers, they weren't what they could have been had he stayed healthy and played on better teams. I used to love watching him play, one of my favorite Buffalo Bills players ever. Class act and a good guy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaryPinC Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 Butler was apparently Director of Player Development. Said one player, cornerback Eric Wright, "the Browns just fired one of the best guys in that building in Jerry Butler." http://profootballta...t-jerry-butler/ What a true shame they fired him. Probably saw too much behind the scenes of the FO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayne Fontes Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tcali Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 Butler was apparently Director of Player Development. Said one player, cornerback Eric Wright, "the Browns just fired one of the best guys in that building in Jerry Butler." http://profootballta...t-jerry-butler/ JB was one of the top 3-4 receivers in the game in the early 80s. His only--and slight flaw as a receiver was his tendency to jump AND to catch the ball into his body on over the middle patterns.-A remarkable talent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helpmenow Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 His(Jerry Butler's) was my first official autograph I ever received, he was at a signing at Bells SuperMarket. My mother had gotten OJ Simpson's autograph in the Buffalo Airport Terminal when I was very little, and I do remember it, but that wasn't MY first one... I met him on Transit Road at a local bank. I asked for his autograph, he said cool and I looked down and he spelled my first name wrong. Nice try jerry. The catch over Blount was the play I was going to mention; just an awesome grab. He had good speed and a flair for the dramatic...all he lacked was the solid physique that guys like Reed and Moulds had. I also remember he liked to spin the ball like a top when he scored. And the other WR on those '80-'81 playoff teams, Frank Lewis, wasn't half bad, either...a lot of his career was wasted sitting behind Swann and Stallworth in Pittsburgh. He didn't even get to Buffalo until he was past 30, but he had probably the 4 or 5 best years of his career with the Bills. I have that photo. My brother was a photographer for United Press. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewEra Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 When I was about 10, I went to BJs, as wing spot/bar in Fredonia during training camp. I was playing centipede and Jerry came over and asked if he could play too. I was super pumped! We played about 4 games, I whooped his butt everygame (kids are amazing at video games!) and he bought be a coke afterward. A moment I'll never forget. Truly a class act. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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