Deon Butler

Deon Butler

Deon Butler during his tenure at Penn State.
No. 11     Seattle Seahawks
Wide Receiver
Personal information
Date of birth: January 4, 1986 (1986-01-04) (age 25)
Place of birth: Fairfax, Virginia
Height: 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	Weight: 182 lb (83 kg)
Career information
College: Penn State
NFL Draft: 2009 / Round: 3 / Pick: 91
Debuted in 2009 for the Seattle Seahawks
Career history
Seattle Seahawks (2009–present)
Roster status: Injured reserve
Career highlights and awards
Sporting News Freshman All-Big Ten (2005) Sporting News Freshman All-American (2005)
Career NFL statistics as of Week 17, 2010
Receptions	51
Receiving Yards	560
Receiving Average	11.0
Receiving TDs	4
Stats at NFL.com

Vincent Deon Butler (born January 4, 1986) is an American football wide receiver for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Seahawks in the third round of the 2009 NFL Draft. He played college football at Penn State.

College career

Coming out of C. D. Hylton High School in Woodbridge, Virginia, Butler was offered scholarships to several smaller schools, but decided to follow his mother's advice of "shooting for the moon",^{[citation needed]} and enrolled at Penn State without an athletic scholarship as a defensive back.

After redshirting as a freshman, Butler rose to the top of the depth chart alongside Derrick Williams to provide a solid deep threat for quarterbacks Michael Robinson and Anthony Morelli. During his freshmen season, Butler broke four school freshmen records: season receptions (37), receiving yards in a game (125, versus Wisconsin), season yards (691), and touchdown catches (9).^[1] Butler also holds the single game receiving yards record with 216 yards on 11 receptions against Northwestern on September 30, 2006.^[2] He finished 2007 with 47 receptions for 633 yards and 4 touchdowns. He had a season high 7 catches for 93 yards and a touchdown in Penn State's 38-7 blowout win over Wisconsin. In the 2008 season, Butler caught 47 passes for 810 yards and seven touchdowns. He caught eight passes for 105 yards against Michigan.

Butler was a record-setting receiver for Coach Joe Paterno's Nittany Lions. Butler passed Bobby Engram to become Penn State's all-time receptions leader in November of his senior season against the Indiana Hoosiers.^[3]

Professional career

Pre-draft

Butler was invited to the 2009 NFL Combine where he ran 4.38 in the 40-yard dash (fourth among wide receivers at the combine) and 11.32 in the 60-yard shuttle (third among wide receivers at the combine).^[4]

Seattle Seahawks

The Seattle Seahawks traded up to select Butler in the 3rd round (91st overall) of the 2009 NFL Draft. They traded the Philadelphia Eagles a 5th- and 7th-round pick plus a 3rd-round pick in 2010 in order to position themselves to select Butler.^[5] The team's interest in Butler reportedly stemmed, in part, from conversations with Butler's college teammate, Aaron Maybin, during a pre-draft interview in Seattle.^[6] He signed a four-year, $3.2 million contract with the team on July 24, 2009. He received a $680,750 signing bonus.^[7]

2010 Season

He got his first receiving touchdown on September 12, 2010 against the San Francisco 49ers. It was his only catch of the game and it was for 13 yards. His second touchdown came against the Chicago Bears. After Deion Branch was traded to the New England Patriots Butler was named a starter, only to be replaced in the starting line-up several weeks later by fellow teammate Ben Obomanu. He was put on injured reserve after breaking his leg during a touchdown catch against the San Francisco 49ers in week 14.

Personal

Butler earned a Bachelor of Arts in Crime, Law & Justice from Penn State in 2008. He has mentioned being interested in a career in forensic science after football.^[8] Butler spent the summer of 2008 as an intern with the Philadelphia Police Department's Crime Scene Unit, observing several homicide crime scenes, and augmenting his degree with valuable field experience.^[9] He currently resides in Bellevue, WA.

References

1. ^ "# 3 Deon Butler". Penn State. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. http://web.archive.org/web/20070927234853/http://www.gopsusports.com/football/People/Player.cfm?rosterid=2576. Retrieved 2007-07-10. 
2. ^ "'Cats Nipped; Nittany Lions Top Northwestern, 33-7 Deon Butler sets Penn State single-game receiving mark with 11 catches for 216 yards". Penn State. Archived from the original on 2007-02-24. http://web.archive.org/web/20070224204816/http://www.gopsusports.com/Football/schedules/recap.cfm?gid=4409. Retrieved 2007-07-11. 
3. ^ "Penn State holds Indiana to six first downs in rout". ESPN.com. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=283200213. Retrieved 2008-11-16. 
4. ^ "2009 NFL Scouting Combine: Top Performers". National Football League. http://www.nfl.com/combine/top-performers. Retrieved 2009-02-23. 
5. ^ Kelley, Steve (2009-04-27). "Seahawks trade up for Penn State wide receiver Deon Butler". The Seattle Times. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/seahawks/2009126775_hawkside27.html. 
6. ^ Thompson, Ed (2009-05-03). "Rookie Reaction: Deon Butler". Scout.com. http://profootball.scout.com/2/862364.html. 
7. ^ O’Neil, Danny (2009-07-25). "Seahawks sign third-round pick Deon Butler". The Seattle Times. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/seahawks/2009532892_hawk25.html. 
8. ^ "# 3 Deon Butler". Penn State Athletics. http://gopsusports.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/butler_deon00.html. Retrieved 2008-09-11. 
9. ^ Fernandez, Bernard (2008-10-01). "Penn State wide receiver Butler spent summer on crime scenes". Philadelphia Daily News. http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/29989419.html. Retrieved 2008-10-06. ^{[dead link]}

External links

• "Butler Sets New PSU Standard at Wide Receiver", Steve Navarol, York Daily Record, November 16, 2008.
• Deon Butler Talks At Indy, The Morning Call, February 20, 2009
• Radio interview: Deon Butler, Dave Mahler Show, KJR-AM, July 31, 2009.