Malcolm Butler still has "love" for Bill Belichick

Malcolm Butler's Patriots career is over, but he says he will always have love for the coach, and the team that gave him a chance.

In a conversation with Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald, Butler opened up about why he was benched for the Super Bowl.  “I never got a reason,” Butler told the Herald. "I feel like this was the reason: I got kind of sick. I went to the hospital. They probably thought I was kind of late on the game plan; I wasn’t as locked in as I should be and could have been a matchup deal. It could have been anything. But Bill Belichick has been doing this for a very long time. He took a veteran out of Super Bowl XLIX (against the Seahawks) and put in a first-year rookie, and that turned out right, so you could never question his decision. It didn’t work out right (against the Eagles). It didn’t work out the best for me or him or the New England Patriots. But I can say he won more than he lost, so it is what it is. I always have love for New England, Bill Belichick, Mr. Kraft, all those guys. Life just goes on.”

Butler’s five-year, $61 million contract made him one of the highest-paid cornerbacks, quite a payday for a player who four years ago went undrafted.

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