Two days ago, we posted Kevin Butler’s thoughts on Georgia’s kicking situation entering the Nicholls game. As mentioned then, Butler is one of the greatest placekickers in the history of Georgia football. As a Bulldog from 1981 through 1984, he was twice a First Team All-American, and was recognized as First Team All-SEC three times. Butler scored 353 points at Georgia—an SEC record for 14 years—followed by totaling 1,208 points in 13 seasons in the NFL (11 with the Chicago Bears, two with the Arizona Cardinals). Today, he works as the Vice President of Sales for UgMO Technologies while, after returning to school, being a full-time student at UGA, where he also is an undergraduate assistant instructing the placekickers, punters, and snappers.
PG: Kevin, I read up on UgMO Technologies. It seems you guys have created a rather unique technology.
KB: Yes, we develop wireless soil sensors that help manage and reduce watering needs for irrigation while maintaining healthy turf and grass, and plants.
PG: How did you get involved with UgMO?
KB: I got involved seven years ago through my businesses and business relationships. We started off as a research and development company, developing these technologies through patents. For about the last four years, we have been out in the market.
PG: So, you left UGA in January 1985 to play in the NFL and, after more than 30 years, have decided to go back and finish getting your undergraduate degree. Why?
KB: I went back to school because it was something I had not completed. Two of my children and my wife graduated from Georgia. My third child graduated from Marymount Manhattan in New York. So, it was just time for me to go complete my degree—a task that I hadn’t finished, that I wanted to go finish.
PG: What type of courses are you currently enrolled in?
KB: I am an Economics major, and I have four economics courses to complete, plus a senior thesis.
PG: Obviously, this is your first time helping kickers as an undergraduate assistant, but you’ve actually been instructing placekickers and punters for years, right?
KB: I have essentially been coaching since the 1980s, and I think I have a very good knowledge of what it takes to kick. I’ve work with a number of high school and college kickers from my son, Drew (Georgia punter, 2008-2011), to Blair Walsh (Georgia placekicker, 2008-2011), to Marshall Morgan (Georgia placekicker, 2012-2015). So, it’s something that I have been doing outside of the Georgia program. It’s a small world out there, so my knowledge and experience gives me the opportunity to pass along techniques to others.
PG: Something fans always admired about you was that you weren’t the stereotypical kicker. Simply, why were so “involved” when you played at Georgia and in the NFL beyond what the average kicker experiences?
KB: I was a football player beginning at seven years old. So, when I was just a placekicker at Georgia, it was kind of uncomfortable for me because I was used to playing—being involved in offense and defense. I’m a big fan of the game. Throughout my college and pro careers, I had the best seat in the house. I was right up next to Coach Dooley (head coach Vince Dooley at Georgia) and Coach Ditka (head coach Mike Ditka with the Chicago Bears). I enjoyed knowing what our game plan was—what the offense and defense was doing. I had that respect for my teammates, and I tried to convey that to them.
PG: What do you want to convey to the players you work with at Georgia?
KB: I am trying to convey the importance of gaining the respect of the other players—their teammates. That can be as simple as being active at practice—not walking around with your helmet off—and practicing to their fullest—using their time when they’re at the field to get better. And, if you’re not doing those things, then you really shouldn’t be out at practice representing the University of Georgia.
PG: How can kickers gain the respect of their teammates?
KB: If you can get your teammates to understand that you’re working as hard as they are—perfecting your position—that will entice a team to work harder. If teammates see you constantly sitting around, joking around, and not taking practice seriously, they’re not going to take you seriously when you get in at the end of a game to attempt a winning field goal.
PG: What do you mean by enticing a team to work harder?
KB: At the end of a game, an offense will work harder to get into field goal position if they are confident in their placekicker. The same goes for a punter: if the defense realizes that the punter is setting up field position for them... If that punter is successful in flipping the field, pinning teams down inside their own 20-yard line, and getting a good punt out of his own end zone, those are things that inspire a defense to go out and take care of their business.
PG: With that, what kind of advice do you give to kickers and punters?
KB: One thing I’ve told our kickers and punters is that they are certainly a catalyst to the next play, and the next play is going to be an offensive or defensive play. So, they need to perform at the same level that the offense and defense performs.
PG: Tell me about your wife and children.
KB: My wife is Cathy Clement Butler. I met her my freshman year after we got beat by Clemson, 13-3. She was a cheerleader at Georgia. We started dating about two years later, and we’ve been married for 31 years. My oldest is Katie “Scarlett” Sugar—that’s her name now since getting married. My son, Drew, punts for the Arizona Cardinals. Jacqui is his wife. My youngest, Kylie Savannah, is currently living and working in New York.
PG: Besides your 60-yard game-winning field goal which defeated Clemson in 1984, what’s another memorable personal on-field moment for you while at Georgia?
KB: For my first game against Tennessee in the 1981 season opener, I felt confident but you never know how you’re going to react. I missed my first-ever field goal try, but rebounded to have a good game. (Butler was successful on his next eight kicks—three field goals, and five PATs—scoring 14 points, a then-school record for a kicker, in a 44-0 win.)
PG: What was it like to kick on those great Georgia teams of the early 1980s?
KB: Much like those first few teams I played on with the Bears, those Georgia teams were very special—very dedicated. We had a pretty good No. 34 in college (Herschel Walker), and had a pretty good No. 34 on those Bears’ teams (Walter Peyton). I kicked a lot of extra points because of a lot of good players.
PG: Beginning with that 1981 Tennessee game, besides an accurate placekicker, you became known as a player whose kickoffs were usually not returnable. Simply, how does a kicker routinely kick the ball through the end zone?
KB: I think it came from me having played soccer (Butler was also an all-state soccer star at Redan High School), and having some speed. If a kicker has speed, strength, and technique in his kicking, and can get the best out of those three things, he is going to get the most distance. Also, I was scared Willie Gault was going to run a kickoff back for a touchdown, so I wanted to kick them as far as I could out of the end zone (The speedster Gault, who had returned three kickoffs for touchdowns the previous season, was Tennessee’s primary kickoff returner in 1981.).
PG: By the way, I cannot recall, but did you ever have a kickoff at Georgia run back for a touchdown?
KB: Actually, I never had a touchdown returned while was at Georgia, or while I played in the NFL for Chicago. But, I made plenty of tackles on kickoffs, especially in the NFL. And, I think that was something my teammates liked about me—I was certainly willing to stick my head up in there. I'm not the best kicker to have ever played in the NFL, but I might be the best tackling kicker to have ever played in the NFL (chuckling).
