Nearly every New England Patriots fan remembers the time Malcolm Butler came up big with a goal line interception to lift the Pats over the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX. Similarly, New England fans also recall when head coach Bill Belichick benched Butler three years later in the team’s loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LII.
But, no one really knows why Belichick decided to sideline Butler – who clearly had proven his ability to come up big in the Super Bowl before.
With Super Bowl LIV set to kick off Sunday between the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs, many can’t help but think back to the infamous Belichick-Butler mystery. Veteran safety Devin McCourty wasn’t quite able to explain why Butler was benched, but he did help clear up some of the rumors during an interview with 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Toucher & Rich” on Friday.
“I hated when all of this came out,” McCourty said in Miami. “Because everybody was like, ‘They found out a day before or in the locker room.’ Nah everyone knew that (Butler wasn’t going to play) going into the game. That wasn’t the way we practiced…
“For anybody that’s been in the New England area, do they really think we took the field and didn’t prepare like that wasn’t already the plan?”
So exactly when did the team find out Butler wouldn’t play? McCourty knew “the whole Bowl prep.”
But the reason why he was benched still remains a mystery. And given how talkative Belichick is with the media, that’s unlikely to change.
