Gary Butler (born November 13, 1984) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL), the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL), and the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

(AFL). He was signed by the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

in 2008. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

California Vulcans The California Vulcans are the intercollegiate sports teams and players that represent Pennsylvania Western University California (PennWest California; known before July 2022 as California University of Pennsylvania), located in California, Pen ...

Professional career

BC Lions

Butler signed with the

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions playe ...

of the

in May 2009 and appeared in the first eight

2009 BC Lions season The 2009 BC Lions season was the 52nd season for the team in the Canadian Football League and their 56th overall. The Lions finished the season in fourth place in the West Division with a disappointing 8–10 record after losing their last three ...

regular games before being released on September 1, 2009.

Pittsburgh Power

Butler played in 2011 and 2013 for the

AFL AFL may refer to: Education * Angel Foundation for Learning, a Canadian Roman Catholic charity * Ankara Science High School, a high school in Ankara, Turkey, natively referred to as ''Ankara Fen Liesi'' * Assessment for learning Military * ...

Pittsburgh Power The Pittsburgh Power were a professional arena football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team belonged to the East Division (AFL), East Division of the American Conference in the Arena Football League. Founded in 2010, the Power was t ...

Cleveland Gladiators

On April 8, 2014, Butler was assigned to the

Cleveland Gladiators The Cleveland Gladiators were an arena football team based in Cleveland, Ohio, and members of the Arena Football League (AFL). The Gladiators played their home games at Quicken Loans Arena, which they shared with the Cleveland Cavaliers of the ...

. On June 3, 2014, Butler was reassigned by the Gladiators. On June 5, 2014, Butler was again assigned to the Gladiators.

Niles Township High Schools

In Fall 2022, Butler began working as a PE instructor as well as a football coach at Niles Township High Schools in Skokie, Illinois.

References

External links

BC Lions bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Gary 1984 births Living people Players of American football from Pittsburgh Players of Canadian football from Pittsburgh American football defensive linemen Canadian football defensive linemen California Vulcans football players Philadelphia Eagles players BC Lions players Pittsburgh Power players Cleveland Gladiators players