On January 8th, the Houston Roughnecks announced the addition of running back James Butler to their roster.
A native of Wheaton, Illinois, and a graduate of the St. Francis High School football program, Butler started his college career playing for the University of Nevada Wolfpack. In Nevada, he was named All-Mountain West honorable mention in 2015 and 2016 and earned his team’s Outstanding Offensive Player Award in 2016. In his time at Nevada, he had two 1,000-yard seasons and rushed for 3,316 yards and 27 touchdowns, in addition to hauling in 49 passes for 438 yards and three more TDs.
After a stellar career at Nevada, Butler transferred to Iowa for his senior season and was a backup. He had 91 rushes for 396 yards and a touchdown.
After College, Butler landed in the Oakland Raiders organization, playing in the pre-season and then relegated to the practice roster, despite showing brilliance when he was put on the field.
In 2019, in a bid to get actual playing time, Butler went to the pre-season training camp of the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the CFL. When he was waived by the Roughriders, he wound up returning to the Raider’s practice roster.
In a span of two seasons, Butler was cut four times by the Raiders. They must have liked something about him, because they kept bringing him back. It seems there was wide interest in his football skills, but Butler was looking for on-field playing time.
Butler was recently in Green Bay airport, returning from a workout with the Packers, when he received the call from the XFL.
“I was in Green Bay when I got the call and I was like in the Green Bay airport and they, they were like, can we get you on a flight tomorrow? And I wasn’t even back in Chicago yet.”
On the 8th of January, the Houston Roughnecks reported that Butler had been added to their training camp roster.
Soon after joining the Roughnecks, Butler began to enjoy the type of offence they were building.
“It was a different offence. It reminded me a lot of the offense they ran in Nevada, like a true spread offence,” he explained. “I was talking to coach Estes and he was saying you’re not going to see a lot of eight, nine-man boxes in this kind of offence.”
“I would say this is a pass-first team,” Butler said. “But, incorporates a lot of that with run, so I like it. It’s different. It really utilizes a running back’s talents.”
Despite the intriguing nature of the offensive scheme, and since cut down day is fast approaching, Butler’s main incentive is to make the team. His motivation even extends to making any XFL roster at this point in time.
“Any roster, honestly,” he clarified.
It’s not just Butler who is pulling for himself to be successful in this league. Back in Illinois, Pat Calcagno the coach of Butler’s former high school team is also pulling for him.
Congratulations to Former St Francis football player James Butler on signing with the XFL is Houston Roughriders. https://t.co/u19uXS39jk
