Bill Belichick shocked the world in Super Bowl LII by benching Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler for the entire game. To this day, this mystery hasn’t been solved.
Butler actually plans on writing a book about his experiences in the NFL, so perhaps we’ll learn what really went on behind the scenes.
In the meantime, former Patriots safety Devin McCourty offered his thoughts on Super Bowl LII during an appearance Chris Long’s Green Light podcast.
“To this day, I still don’t know the exact reason why he didn’t play,” McCourty said, via MassLive.com. “When I saw he was coming out with a book and a documentary, I was like, ‘I can’t wait to read that.’ Gilly [Stephon Gilmore] actually texted me and was like, ‘I’m going to buy this book ASAP.’”
Devin McCourty still doesn’t know why Bill Belichick benched Malcolm Butler in the Super Bowl. https://t.co/YGi7Uu0Bth
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) March 24, 2023
An odd situation like this could’ve destroyed a team with a fractured locker room. The Patriots’ coaching staff, however, went out of their way to ensure that didn’t happen.
“Think about it: If there was something to know, we’re years past all of those guys on the team, and you haven’t heard anybody (reveal the reason),” McCourty continued. “None of us knew. Matter of fact, the next year, I remember meeting with Flo [Brian Flores] and Flo was like, ‘Hey, we’ve got to make sure that whole situation doesn’t affect the team this year,’
“He was like, I look back at Seattle when we played them in the Super Bowl and they don’t run the ball. He was like, ‘it kind of seemed like that was the end to that team. They never got back to the Super Bowl, and that team was so talented. That Seattle team had everything.’ He was like, ‘I just don’t want that to destroy us.’”
There are only two people who can tell us what really happened: Bill Belichick and Malcolm Butler.
Maybe, just maybe, one of them will come clean in the next few years.