Gregory Ellis Buttle (born June 20, 1954) 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 ...

for the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

of 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). 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

Penn State Nittany Lions The Penn State Nittany Lions are the athletic teams of Pennsylvania State University, except for the women's basketball team, known as the Penn State Lady Lions basketball, Lady Lions. The school colors are navy blue and white. The school mascot ...

, earning consensus

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

honors in 1975. In 2005, he was inducted into the Nassau County Sports Hall of Fame.

High school

Buttle grew up in

Linwood, New Jersey Linwood is a City (New Jersey), city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 6,971, a decrease of 121 (−1.7%) from the 2010 United States ...

, and attended Mainland Regional High School in Linwood. Buttle was a 4-sport letterman in

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

and

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

, and was also a champion

oarsman Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically att ...

while on the Margate City Beach Patrol, as well as participating in musical theatre. He is a member of the Ocean Rowing Hall of Fame.

Penn State

A 1975 consensus All-American, Buttle was also the captain of the

Nittany Lions The Penn State Nittany Lions are the athletic teams of Pennsylvania State University, except for the women's basketball team, known as the Penn State Lady Lions basketball, Lady Lions. The school colors are navy blue and white. The school mascot ...

that year. Considered by Penn State coach

Joe Paterno Joseph Vincent Paterno (; December 21, 1926 – January 22, 2012), sometimes referred to as JoePa, was an American college football player, athletic director, and coach. He was the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions football, Penn ...

"as fine a linebacker as any prospect produced by this school," he still holds the school records for tackles in a game (24), and season (165). He stood atop the Penn State career tackles list for over 30 years, until Paul Posluszny surpassed his mark of 343 versus

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

on November 4, 2006. In 2000 Buttle was honored with the Butkus Silver Anniversary Award, which honors the top college linebacker from 25 years ago. He has been named a Penn State All-Time NFL Player.

New York Jets

Buttle was selected in the 3rd round (#67 overall) of the

1976 NFL draft The 1976 NFL draft was an annual player selection meeting held April 8–9, 1976, at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City, New York. The draft lasted 17 rounds, with the expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Seattle Seahawks making the first two ...

by the

for whom he would play 9 seasons (1976–1984) at starting outside linebacker. Two interceptions in the Jets' 1981 playoff game against the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

helped fuel a comeback effort, which ultimately fell short, in the franchise's first playoff game since the 1969 season. He was a member of defensive coordinator Joe Gardi's Swarm defense which included fellow

Nittany Lion The Nittany Lion is the eastern mountain lion mascot of the athletic teams of the Pennsylvania State University, known as the Penn State Nittany Lions. Created in 1907, the "Nittany" forename refers to the local Mount Nittany, which overlooks ...

Lance Mehl, as well as the

New York Sack Exchange The New York Sack Exchange were the front four defensive line of the American football team New York Jets of the National Football League during the early 1980s. The line consisted of Mark Gastineau, Joe Klecko, Marty Lyons and Abdul Salaam (Amer ...

defensive line. Buttle was cut in August 1985 by

Joe Walton Joseph Frank Walton (December 15, 1935 – August 15, 2021) was an American professional football player and coach who retired after 20 years as the head coach and creator of the football program at Robert Morris University. Walton played eight ...

Broadcasting

Buttle served as an on-air analyst for

WCBS-TV WCBS-TV (channel 2), branded CBS New York, is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside Riverhead, New York–lic ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, alongside play-by-play man

Ian Eagle Ian Eagle ( ; born February 9, 1969) is an American sports announcer. He calls NBA, NFL, and college basketball games on CBS, TNT, and TBS, as well as Brooklyn Nets games on the YES Network and French Open tennis for Tennis Channel. Other ann ...

, for Jets preseason games, and hosts ''Jets Gameday'' on the Jets Radio Network and ESPN New York alongside Don La Greca. He also serves as an analyst on the SNY studio show ''Jets Nation''. He was the temporary fill-in host on WABC radio in NYC, in the 10:00 AM – noon slot, until Geraldo Rivera took the chair permanently on Jan. 3, 2012. On August 7, 2018, it was announced that Buttle would no longer work alongside Eagle for Jets preseason games, having been replaced by former Jets tight end Anthony Becht.

Personal life

Buttle has received numerous honors and awards in recognition of his commitment to the community including National Spokesman for the

United Way United Way is an international network of over 1,800 local nonprofit organization, nonprofit fundraising affiliates. Prior to 2015, United Way was the largest nonprofit organization in the United States by donations from the public. Individual Un ...

. He holds a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in general arts and sciences from Penn State University. He lives in

Northport, New York Northport is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in the Huntington, New York, Town of Huntington in Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County, on the North Shore (Long Island), North Shore of Long Island, New York (state), New ...

with his wife, Rita, a son and two daughters. In 1983, Buttle opened a fitness center in

East Meadow, New York East Meadow is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Hempstead, New York, Town of Hempstead in central Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York (state), New York, United States. The popula ...

References

External links

* at databasefootball.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Buttle, Greg 1954 births Living people American football linebackers New York Jets players Penn State Nittany Lions football players New York Jets announcers Arena football announcers NFL announcers Sportspeople from Atlantic City, New Jersey Mainland Regional High School (New Jersey) alumni People from Linwood, New Jersey All-American college football players Players of American football from Atlantic County, New Jersey People from Northport, New York Sportspeople from Huntington, New York Players of American football from Suffolk County, New York