Crezdon Butler is doing a good job of handling his newfound fame.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders linebacker good-naturedly has accepted the fact that he has become an Internet sensation since running into a goalpost during Saturday’s 30-15 CFL loss to the B.C. Lions in Vancouver.
Websites like tsn.ca, detroitnews.com and espn.com put up the video of Butler’s collision, which occurred on the first play of the second quarter.
Lions receiver Bryan Burnham was wide open and caught a 14-yard touchdown pass from Travis Lulay after using the goalpost to pick off Butler, who was knocked flat.
“I was kind of surprised (by the reaction) after the game,” Butler said Wednesday after the Roughriders practised at Mosaic Stadium. “I was actually joking around with some teammates and said, ‘Man, I might make ESPN tonight.’ Then my mom hit me up and was like, ‘You know you were on ESPN?’ I was like, ‘Oh my goodness.’
“I guess it’s good and bad. (I) get my name out there a little bit.”
Butler is in his first season in the CFL after spending seven seasons in the NFL. A product of Clemson University — which also posted the video, by the way — Butler had never before stepped on a CFL field until the Roughriders’ training camp.
In the United States, goalposts stand at the back of the end zones and rarely (if ever) come into play. In Canada, the posts are located just inside the goal lines, so they can be impediments — as Butler found out.
“I’ve never run into the goalpost. Never. Ever. Not even in practice,” Butler said. “When I felt it, I was like, ‘Was that a legal block?’ I thought a receiver had peeled back on me. I’m like, ‘Hold on, I just ran into the goalpost.’ But it’s all good. Stuff happens. Now I know.”
Butler played defensive back in his college and NFL careers, but the Roughriders have moved him to linebacker. If he’s covering an inside receiver in the red zone, Butler has to be aware that the goalpost is nearby.
And when the receiver runs toward the post like Burnham did, well, a linebacker still getting used to the CFL field stands a pretty good chance of making it on ESPN.
“I guess (it’s embarrassing) a little bit,” Butler said. “If I was the first one ever to do it, it’d be more embarrassing. But I’ve heard it has been done before.
“I guess I’m the talk of the moment right now.”
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The Roughriders placed centre Dan Clark and defensive tackle Zach Minter on the six-game injured list Wednesday.
Clark suffered an injury to his left elbow during the second quarter of Saturday’s game. After retreating to the Roughriders’ locker room for treatment, Clark returned to start the second half, but he left again after reinjuring the joint.
Minter hurt his right calf just six plays after Clark first injured his elbow. Minter went into the locker room at halftime and returned to the Roughriders’ sideline for the third quarter in street clothes.
“We’ll need a centre, so we’ll be moving some people around to centre,” Saskatchewan head coach-GM Chris Jones said after Wednesday’s workout. “Then we’ll need a ‘3’ technique (defensive tackle) to step in. We’ll see exactly how we line up come game day.”
On Wednesday, Brendon LaBatte moved from left guard to centre to replace Clark. Derek Dennis moved from left tackle to take LaBatte’s spot at guard and Bruce Campbell took over at left tackle.
On defence, Ese Mrabure and Makana Henry got the majority of the repetitions at Minter’s tackle spot.
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The defeat Saturday was Saskatchewan’s third in as many games against West Division opponents this season, following a 43-40 overtime loss to the visiting Winnipeg Blue Bombers on July 1 and a 27-10 loss to the host Calgary Stampeders on July 22.
The Roughriders’ next four games also are against teams from the West. Saskatchewan plays host to the Lions on Sunday, visits the Edmonton Eskimos on Aug. 25, entertains the Bombers on Sept. 3 and visits Winnipeg on Sept. 9.
It’s a key stretch for the Roughriders.
“You’re smart enough to read where we’re at and look at who we’ve beat over the last couple of years; I’m no different,” Jones said when the topic of facing division opponents was raised Wednesday. “We said last week that it was very important to start playing well and not just playing well but beating a good western opponent — and we failed to do that.
“We’re not going to sit there and cry about it. We’re not going to sit there and feel sorry about it. We’re going to go to work and do what we’ve always done as coaches and players and that’s put our nose to the grindstone and try to find a way to win.”
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The Roughriders travelled to Calgary two weeks after generating momentum with a 37-20 victory over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on July 8. The Stampeders handled Saskatchewan relatively easily.
Then the Roughriders visited B.C., buoyed by a 38-27 win over the Toronto Argonauts on July 29. That confidence was diminished after Saturday’s loss.
“To go out and really lay an egg like that in back-to-back road games against division opponents, it’s a pretty humbling experience,” LaBatte said. “It’s … I know what I want to say, but it’s probably not a good word right now.
“I don’t know if it would be the lowest of the lows, but it’s definitely a disappointing time. That would be the biggest thing to say about it. The vibes have been in here (in the locker room), we’ve been talking about what we want to do, we go out there to do it and we haven’t even been close. That’s the most disappointing thing.”
