Hey, sometimes breakups happen. It's a natural course of life and a situation every human being experiences at least once a lifetime. New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and his former shutdown corner, Malcolm Butler, can certainly relate to the sentiment at hand.
At the same time, bitterness is optional and in this case, there doesn't seem to be any bitterness coming from Belichick's side of things, via Mike Reiss of ESPN.
“I have a lot of respect for Malcolm,” Belichick said, deflecting the question in the first time he has met with beat reporters since the day after the Super Bowl. “From the day he got here, in rookie minicamp four years ago, he's always competed as hard as he could. He always is a great competitor on the field. I totally respect that.
Though he praised the now Tennessee Titans corner, the five-time champion head coach refused to discuss the infamous Bowl benching that still remains an at-large mystery in Boston and the surrounding areas.
“I'm not going to get into last year, I'm not going to get into next year or some other year. I talked to Malcolm. I wish him well in Tennessee. Obviously, [head coach] Mike [Vrabel] and [general manager] Jon [Robinson] are great people I have a lot of respect for in that organization. I have a lot of respect for Malcolm. We wish him well.”
Obviously, Butler, whose production dipped after an All-Pro 2015 season, was mysteriously benched during the Pats Super Bowl 52 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Entering free agency, it put one final negative stamp on a Pats career that started so glowingly as a Super Bowl hero.
Butler, 28, is an undrafted free agent who's tallied eight interceptions and 177 tackles in 48 games started and 59 total contests.
He now takes that production down south to the Music City.
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