By Reed DeSalvo

rdesalvo@themeridianstar.com

    Oh, how a week can change things.

    At this point last week, football fans around the country were out shopping to ensure they had their favorite game-time beverages and snacks as they geared up for the evening showdown between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLIX.    

    Only the most die-hard of New England Patriots fans, family members and friends knew the name Malcolm Butler.  

    By the conclusion of the Super Bowl, Butler was a household name.

    The former University of West Alabama standout stepped in front of Seahawks receiver Jermaine Kearse at the goal line and picked off Russell Wilson with 20-seconds remaining to seal a 28-24 win for New England.

    “It’s been crazy,” Butler said. “A lot of things have been going on, but they are good things. I made one of the biggest plays in Super Bowl history, and a lot comes with that. But I’m just enjoying everything right now and winning the Super Bowl.”

    Yet it wasn’t always easy for the Vicksburg native, who attended Hinds Community College and found himself working the drive-thru of a Popeyes prior to his Super Bowl moment.

    “I always liked the sport,” Butler said. “I just wanted so badly to be a pro athlete one day. I started in ninth grade. I ended up at Hinds (Community College), but I hit a roadblock there. I went to Alcorn State to get some class hours, and Hinds called back and offered me another opportunity.”

    And Butler took full advantage.

    The 5-foot-11, 190-pound defensive back worked his way to a scholarship with UWA.

    Butler arrived in New England at the beginning of the season as an undrafted free agent out of the 2014 draft class. He appeared in 11 games and started on Dec. 14 when the Pats squared off against the Miami Dolphins.

    “I felt I could always play in this league, and I just had to show what I could do,” Butler said. “I had to play and work hard every day, no matter what the job was. You have to be productive to stay in this league. I had to dig in and give it everything I had. You have to be on top of your game.”

    Butler played the 2014 campaign under the tutelage of one of the best defensive minds in football at the moment, New England coach Bill Belichick.

    “There’s not too much Bill misses on football,” Butler said. “He’s on top of it all. Kicking game, offense and defense, discipline, it’s more than just football (in the organization). It translates over into reality, into real-world happenings. About doing your job and being disciplined.”

    Butler credits Belichick for helping employ his instincts on the interception.

    “At practice, Bill told me I had to be on that,” Butler said. “I learned from my mistake in practice by backing up on the goal line. When the situation came up in the game, it all hit me and came into my memory again, and I knew what the play was. I knew not to back up, and I just put my foot in the ground, took a glimpse at the receiver — to make sure he was doing what I thought he would be doing — and I just beat him to the point. I just focused on the ball.”

    Butler said the moments just after he hauled in the interception are all a blur.

    “I sort of can’t even remember what was going through my mind,” Butler said. “I just knew that we won the game, and I wasn’t thinking about the whole picture. I was just thinking we won the Super Bowl, and not all the things that have happened since. It’s just been a crazy experience; a life changing experience.”

    Due in part to Butler’s play, the 24-year-old helped New England secure its fourth Super Bowl.

    The Super Bowl MVP, Tom Brady has already announced his intentions of handing over the keys to the 2015 Chevrolet Colorado to Butler that was awarded to the quarterback.