Kelly Don Butler (born July 24, 1982) is a former professional

gridiron football Gridiron football,"Gridiron football"
''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Ret ...

offensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

. He was drafted by the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

in the sixth round of the

2004 NFL Draft The 2004 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 24–25, 2004 at the Theater at ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

. Butler was a member of the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz The Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz were an arena football team. The team began play as a 2004 expansion team of the Arena Football League's minor league af2 before becoming a member of the AFL in 2010. Formerly a tenant of the Ford Center from 2004 ...

and

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West division. They play their home games at IG Fiel ...

. Outside of his involvement with the Blue Bombers, Butler often appears on Winnipeg based radio station ''

CITI-FM CITI-FM (92.1 MHz) is a commercial Canadian FM radio station broadcasting in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Owned by Rogers Sports & Media, the station broadcasts a mainstream rock format branded as ''92.1 CITI''. Its studios are located on Osborne Street ...

'', as a guest co-host of Wheeler in the Morning.

High school career

Butler attended Union High School, where he played

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

as well as basketball. He was a two-time All-City and All-Arena selection as a member of the school's football team. He was named an All-American, All-State and All-Regional selection as a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

, as well as a member of the city championship winning team. He was ranked as the #24 offensive lineman and #209 player overall in the nation by ''Prep Football Report''.

College career

Butler then attended

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

, where he majored in Law and Society. As a true freshman in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

, he received medical

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Entertainment * ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi * Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after b ...

after suffering from shoulder

tendinitis Tendinopathy, a type of tendon disorder that results in pain, swelling, and impaired function. The pain is typically worse with movement. It most commonly occurs around the shoulder (rotator cuff tendinitis, biceps tendinitis), elbow (tennis elbo ...

. In

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

, he received the team's Newcomer Award for Offense for the spring season. He was named to The ''

Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

All-Freshman team. He started all 12 games at Right Tackle. As a sophomore in

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

, he started all 13 games at Right Tackle. He graded out at 80% or better in five games, 81% against

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

and on the road against

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

. He had a season-high grade of 83% against

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

. He also helped Purdue lead Big Ten in total offense with 452.2 yards per game. In

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

he started every game at Right Tackle and graded at least 80% or better for blocking consistency in every game. He recorded 78 knockdowns, with nine of those blocks resulting in touchdowns. He helped the offense average 372.9 yards per game. He ended his career with 10 knockdowns against

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

in the

Capital One Capital One Financial Corporation is an American bank holding company specializing in credit cards, auto loans, banking, and savings accounts, headquartered in McLean, Virginia with operations primarily in the United States. It is on the list o ...

Citrus Bowl as he did not allow

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

Robert Geathers Robert Lee Geathers, Jr. (born August 11, 1983) is a former American football defensive end. He played college football at the University of Georgia. He was selected by the Bengals in the fourth round of the 2004 NFL Draft. Geathers played his e ...

to record any tackles.

Professional career

Pre-draft

Butler was invited, and attended the 2004

NFL Scouting Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Footb ...

Detroit Lions

Butler was selected in the

sixth round Sixth is the ordinal form of the number six. * The Sixth Amendment, to the U.S. Constitution * A keg of beer, equal to 5 U.S. gallons or barrel * The fraction Music * Sixth interval (music)s: ** major sixth, a musical interval ** minor si ...

(172nd overall) of the

by the

Butler played two seasons for the Lions, playing in just 16 regular season games during those two seasons. As a

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

he was inactive for all but one game of the season. He was active for the Lions' season finale game against the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

, however he did not play in the game. The following year, he earned the starting role at Right Tackle, and made his NFL debut against the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

, he then started every game of the regular season, recording a recovered fumble to help continue a third quarter scoring drive against the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

. However, his career in Detroit ended when he was waived by the Lions at the end of training camp the next season.

Cleveland Browns

Butler was claimed off of waivers by the

on September 3, 2006. He began the season as the backup to starter

Ryan Tucker Ryan Tucker (born June 12, 1975) is a former American football offensive tackle who played for the St. Louis Rams and Cleveland Browns in the National Football League. He was drafted by the St. Louis Rams in the fourth round of the 1997 NFL Dr ...

. Butler appeared in seven games, including five starts at Right Tackle. He made his Browns debut, a start in place of an ill Tucker, against the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

on October 29. He started his second game the next week against the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

. He then replaced Tucker (illness) as the starting Right Tackle between November 26 through December 17, he was however played on

Injured Reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

on December 20 with an injured foot. However, on October 6, 2007, he was waived by the Browns, after Tucker returned from a league suspension.

First stint with Yard Dawgz

In 2008, Butler joined

af2 The AF2 (often styled as af2, and short for arenafootball2) was the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like its parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football ru ...

, and on May 16, he was assigned to the

. As a rookie in af2, he played in just seven games, with one start. For the season, he recorded one

reception Reception is a noun form of ''receiving'', or ''to receive'' something, such as art, experience, information, people, products, or vehicles. It may refer to: Astrology * Reception (astrology), when a planet is located in a sign ruled by another ...

for four yards, against the

Iowa Barnstormers The Iowa Barnstormers are a professional indoor American football, indoor football team based in Des Moines, Iowa. They are currently members of the Indoor Football League (IFL). They play their home games at Wells Fargo Arena (Des Moines, Iowa) ...

. His lone start of the season came against the

Boise Burn The Boise Burn was an arena football team based in Boise, Idaho. The Burn began play in the af2 league in March 2007. Burn home games were played at the Qwest Arena in downtown Boise. Team history *June 6, 2006: af2 officials announced a Boise ...

. On August 2, he was placed on the Other league exempt list by the Yard Dawgz, after he was invited to training camp with the Arizona Cardinals.

Arizona Cardinals

On July 24, 2008, Butler signed with the

. However, on August 30, he, along with 21 others were released by the Cardinals final cuts of training camp.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers

On March 19, 2010, it was announced that Butler had signed with the

. After two seasons with the Blue Bombers, he announced his retirement on March 12, 2012.

Personal life

Butler and his wife have one daughter. They reside in Winnipeg.

References

External links

Winnipeg Blue Bombers bio

Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz bio

Arizona Cardinals bio

Cleveland Browns bio

Detroit Lions bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Kelly 1982 births Living people American football offensive tackles American players of Canadian football Arizona Cardinals players Canadian football offensive linemen Cleveland Browns players Detroit Lions players Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz players Players of American football from Grand Rapids, Michigan Purdue Boilermakers football players Sportspeople from Grand Rapids, Michigan Winnipeg Blue Bombers players