The Baltimore Ravens signed Jeremy Butler, a rookie free agent that has already turned some heads at OTAs and mini camp. It has been a long road for Butler. The one thing that has been consistent for him is hard work. It wasn’t an easy road coming from a rough neighborhood in Sarasota, Florida and living in a single parent home. His goal was to find a way out but he was challenged by dealing with the struggles of living in a rough neighborhood. 
Butler never played another sport growing up. All he did was play football all year round. He played for Booker High school as a freshman. As a sophomore he was told he had to play defensive end because he was too big for the wide receiver position.
This was the first of many obstacles that he had to overcome. As a result, he transferred to Sarasota High school where he played his junior and senior seasons. He was not recruited by colleges out of high school despite going first team All-Area as a senior. There were two options for him, he had to make the choice to either go to junior college or stop playing football. Not getting recruited out of high school was tough for him but he had to pull through even his own doubts after not getting any offers.
“My mom gave me a real deal choice to stay home. She made it sound good because she said that everyone was proud of me but I felt that I had to continue to play football.”
He ended up playing at Reedly Community College in California, where he recorded 20 catches for 204 yards and one touchdown in ten games. After playing one year there, Butler transferred to the College of the Sequoias in Visalia, CA, where he played in 11 games, recording 48 receptions for 617 yards and six touchdowns. Butler was originally committed to The University of Colorado out of junior college but on the day of his visit he found out that all of his college credits couldn’t transfer in, resulting in the scholarship falling through. He was hurt but knew that it was beyond his control. The next stop for him was Louisiana Tech University. They offered to pay for some things but not give him a full scholarship until he earned it at camp. He went to camp and worked out well. He impressed the coaches by making a lot of plays. Louisiana Tech still didn’t offer him a scholarship. Butler felt that he should have gotten the opportunity to get more tuition assistance.
“That’s where I learned about the business of sports and college football. It’s all about how can we get the best players for the cheapest price. They didn’t want to pay for my schooling and help out but I was in the rotation to play a lot.”
He met Quinton Patton while he was at Tech. The Ravens will host Patton’s team, the San Francisco 49ers for the preseason opening game and for four days of joint practices in Baltimore. Butler is looking forward to reconnecting with his former teammate. “He is the same now as he was back then. If you would have told me that two years removed from when I first met him that we would be playing against each other his second year and my rookie year, I wouldn’t have believed you. I would have looked at you funny. It’s crazy, you never know where you’ll run into someone again.”
The two players have taken a far different course to the NFL. Patton went on to have a solid career at Louisiana Tech and got drafted in the fourth round. Meanwhile, Butler had planned to go back home to walk on at Florida International University. He was pretty much accepting the fact that he wasn’t going to play football. After being turned down so much and pushed to the back burner he wondered if football was really for him. 
Things got better for Butler when the University of Tennessee Martin called him and told him that they had a scholarship for him. They told him to stay in shape before he reported for the 2012 fall season. He took classes to keep his eligibility and went to Tennessee Martin ready to give one more shot to give the game that he loved. Butler found success and stability with his new opportunity. He earned third-team All-American honors as a senior after posting 90 catches for 1,203 yards and ten touchdowns in 2013.
He was ready to take the next step but once again, he was faced with a challenge. He didn’t have as good of a pro day in front of the nine NFL teams that were in attendance. Butler got one more shot when he worked out at Vanderbilt University’s pro day. Unfortunately, no team drafted him. According to his agent Greg Linton, 15 teams had interest in Butler before the draft. The 49ers were one of the teams that showed a lot of interest in Butler but he signed with the Ravens on May 12th, 2014, two days after the draft ended.
Anquan Boldin was his favorite player growing up and Butler sees some similarities between them. “He brings that edge to the game. I like the fact that when you look at him, you think of a football player. Before the game even starts, you know you’ll get everything he has. He plays the game like a grown man. I bring a similar element as far as being physical and tough. Working between the hashes and doing the dirty work. A lot of receivers fall back in the run game but I look to make my mark there too. The defense hits on us all day when you catch the ball so it’s good to be able to hit them back during the running game. It’s a way to make my presence felt to the defense.”
Bobby Engram, the Ravens wide receivers coach has noticed Butler’s work ethic already. “Coach Engram has told me that he likes the way that I come to work to compete every day. I put my hard hat on and come to work. It’s that simple. I look to get better every day and put the best foot forward. Nothing bad can come from hard work. That’s my philosophy. I approach every day as a work day to get better but still understand that this is the game that I grew up in love with. You still have to have fun. Coach Engram tells me to keep working but focus on making the last play. The few weeks that I have been here, he has gotten me a lot more technical and got me a lot better so quickly.”
One thing that he has really liked is being able to work along side of a veteran receiver like Steve Smith. He can talk to him for tips and advice on how to play the position. Smith is also in his first camp as a Baltimore Raven. He has already had an effect on the Ravens mentality on offense. This is something that they missed when Boldin was traded to the 49ers.
Many know Smith for his tough style of play and for being a edgy player. Butler got to see a different side of him. 
“He gives me a lot of pointers. It’s like having a second coach. He has so much experience and he’s so willing to share it with you. We’ll be watching film and coach will pause it to give his opinion then give Steve a chance to give his which is just as good. You get two respected opinions. You get the coach side of it and the player now. I respect both of their games a lot. They tell me how to win on my routes.”
“Steve tells us that we have to earn it. He’s really humble and down to earth. He’s someone that you can definitely relate to. One thing that stood out to me a lot is even though he is a super star in the league, he’s still humble enough to tell us that we will pray together as receivers after practice. We switched it up and every day someone different has to pray. That meant a lot to mean being as though I come from a spiritual background.”
The transition from college to the NFL is not always an easy one. That’s especially the case for a player like Butler that is coming out of a Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) school. There is a different skill level in the pros. Butler talked about what he personally felt was a different to him.
“The thing that has surprised me coming from DBs is Jimmy Smith, his size. In my conference he would probably be a linebacker. Lardarius Webb has awareness and you could tell he is a student of the game. The speed is not much faster as people made it seem. It’s more mental. There’s so much attention to detail. Everything is clicking. It’s all like clock work. Mentally, that’s the biggest step for me. There’s more focus on the small things that were looked over in college. You have to really carry out your assignment. You have to know where you have to be, how to get there and when to get there. You can’t get open too early or too late. I have to be there and be ready when Joe [Flacco] wants to throw the ball.”
Having a quarterback like Flacco is different for Butler. The major difference is the size and arm strength that Flaco has. “He is so big in that pocket that I can actually see the ball come out over the line when I’m running a drag route. I can know that when I turn around, the ball will be right there every time. The thing with Joe is that you’re never out of range. You can be running 30 yards down the field and think that you’re out of range but he still gets it to you on the money.”
Butler has learned each of the receiver spots on the offense. He’s taking reps at all positions. One area that he will be able to have an impact is from the slot position. If you watch his film from UTM, it’s easy to see similarities to former player Terrell Owens when he is in the slot. He makes a lot of similar moves to Owens after the catch. One other similarity is the size that he brings to the slot position which allows him to use his big body to shield the ball from defenders when he runs a lot of in breaking routes.
There have been a lot of media mentioning Butler as someone who impressed during OTAs and mini camp. He’s officially on the watch list when training camp starts next month. Until then, Butler will go back to Tennessee to train and stay in shape. His goal is to stay focused and keep his mind sharp so that he can report to camp to continue his fight for a roster spot. The Ravens are not one of those teams that will hesitate to give an undrafted free agent a chance to have an impact. Last year, Marlon Brown signed with them and he became a productive player, scoring seven touchdowns. Talking to Butler and hearing his story makes him someone that is easy to pull for. Be sure to keep an eye on him when the Ravens come back for training camp.
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