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First off, what’s life like for Keith Butler now? Completely done with coaching?
Yes and no! I’m traveling quite a bit – seeing my grandkids, brothers and sisters. And playing a lot of golf and doing men’s Bible studies here and there.
My wife is eager to get me out the door! When you work 80-hour weeks then stop – well, she was used to having the house to herself. So it’s a tough adjustment for me, but for her too!
First, can you tell us what you’ve been doing since you retired from the NFL?
Basically, I’m retired now. After I retired I got married and have been able to watch my kids grow up and to be a part of their lives. I coached some of their football and hockey teams and have been happy just to be a dad.
How hard was that post-NFL adjustment for you?
It was a hard adjustment. A lot didn’t go my way. People try to take advantage of you – my ex-teammates and I talked about that – about there always being a target on our backs with the NFL logo. I had some businesses that didn’t work out, so I decided after a while to just hang out with my football friends and be with my family.
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First off, what are you up to now?
Right now I’m just here taking care of my family and doing a lot of traveling. I’m open to getting back to the NFL or another sport if a spot opens up and working with good people.
You played first – at James Madison University – how important was that playing experience to your roles in the NFL?
It helped a lot. Playing and being in that team environment – you learn that you have to rely on your teammates no matter how good you are. That was instilled in me early on. At JMU I became very interested in scouting and evaluation. We had a few players scouts were coming in to see and I talked to them about what it took to be a scout. One suggested I write detailed scouting reports of teammates that had been drafted already and send them to coaches along with my resume. That helped me to plug in to future coaches and relate to them, having played.
Cameron Irvine:
First off, how did the SFL get started?
I played a lot of video games and I always wanted to create a game that was as real as possible. To emulate what it was like to coach, catch a pass, score… When I played video games people just wanted to win and would take advantage of coding and game errors. It wasn’t life-like. Hail Mary’s on first downs, blitzing every down because it works every play….it wasn’t the experience I wanted.
First off, can you let us know what you’ve been up to since your playing days?
After I was released by Pittsburgh I played in the Arena Football League for several years with Philly and L.A. After that I was the head of PeeWee Football in Riser, West Virginia – sixth to eighth graders – for a long time. Then five years ago I moved to Fairmont, West Virginia and helped coach at the high school there. My youngest son was playing there at the time. He’s now playing at California University in PA, and I’m still here helping coach at the high school.
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First off, can you let us know why you transitioned to being a copyright lawyer after your music career?
Well, Donnie and I wrote and produced A!Leah! – I had records before that that did ok but this was the first one that made a big impact. But one day I had a knock on my door and a man handed me an envelope telling me I had been served. It was a copyright infringement complaint for the song – they said that Donnie and I stole the song. It was some guy from Detroit – I never heard of him or his song.
The suit went for three or four years and a lot of things happened. We wouldn’t settle – Donnie and I won the trial. They couldn’t prove we even had access to the song – it was alleged that some guy in L.A. sent it to us but that never happened. When they played the song at the trial it even sounded different from our song.
Continue reading “Exclusive with Musician and Copyright Lawyer Mark Avsec/Ah! Leah! Co-Writer”
First off, what have you been up to – still working to get back in the NFL?
I’m still planning to play in the UFL next season for Houston. Outside of that I’m working with my college roommate Shaun Crawford on a sports media production company – creating content with that. My mission is still getting back to the NFL and I’m staying in shape right now here in Dallas.
Continue reading “Exclusive with Former Steelers Linebacker Jamir Jones, 2021-2022”
First off, how did you get your start in media operations- what interested you?
I started off in regional sports TV. I went to UCLA and Jerry Buss and Bill Daniels had just launched the Prime Ticket Regional Network in California. They covered the Lakers, Kings, Angels, USC and UCLA…. My uncle worked for them and he got me a job there as a runner. It wasn’t what I ever intended on doing. I was a business major and had no idea what I wanted to do then. I was there for 10 years – I was blessed with the opportunity – it spawned a 40-year career.
What did you learn over that time?
We only had six people in the office then. I was pulling cable during games and worked on graphics and audio too. I did a little producing – the growth was really in remote production.
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First off, can you let us know about the work you’ve been doing to support families with children suffering from pediatric cancer?
After I retired from football we started a foundation – Still Strong – to help families with kids who have pediatric cancer. We help pay for the bills outside of the treatment itself – food, rent, gas… anything outside of the treatment.
Going through what we did with our daughter Leah – we knew what it was like to go through this and wanted to help others.
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First off, let’s ease into this with some football talk- do you follow the Browns – any thoughts on the team now?
I definitely follow the game – I will always love the game. I like the players – I don’t root for teams. I just follow the players I like and stay up-to-date on what’s going on.
I have followed Shedeur Sanders’s story there. Ken Dorsey is the Offensive Coordinator in Cleveland and he was my quarterback at Miami. I respect him a lot. I think Stefanski is a good head coach. But the whole Sanders thing…. I think Gabriel was just more ready. You could see when he was at Oregon that he would be able to make a quick adjustment to the NFL. He was more ready than Sanders. I think Flacco wasn’t working and Stefanski needed to make a decision to win now to maybe save his job. So that’s why Gabriel is there with Flacco as the backup.
Continue reading “Exclusive with Former Browns Tight End Kellen Winslow II”