Even a former Patriots player is in the dark when it comes to one of the franchise’s greatest mysteries.
The true reason for Malcolm Butler’s benching in New England’s Super Bowl LII loss remains unknown. Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has brushed off questions about the matter by merely chalking it up as a football decision, while the veteran cornerback himself has wondered whether a minor illness leading up to the game might have been a factor.
Shane Vereen was not a member of the 2017 Patriots, though he’s sought out information on the Butler benching from multiple players on that squad. Unfortunately for New England fans looking for any sort of clarity, the former running back doesn’t have anything to report.
“No, I have actually asked quite a few guys who were on the team at the time and I have not got the same answer twice,” Vereen said Wednesday on “Ordway, Merloni and Fauria,” as transcribed by WEEI.com. “The grassy knoll still exists.”
Vereen’s mixed bag of answers might be a product of players purely speculating on why Belichick kept Butler on the sideline against the Philadelphia Eagles. Former New England linebacker Marquis Flowers, a member of that 2017 team, recently acknowledged he still doesn’t know why it went down.
