Jonathan Duane "Jake" Butt (born July 11, 1995) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense (sports), offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide ...

and current football analyst for the

Big Ten Network Big Ten Network (BTN) is an American sports network based in Chicago, Illinois. The channel is dedicated to coverage of collegiate sports sanctioned by the Big Ten Conference, including live and recorded event telecasts, news, analysis programs ...

. He played college football at

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

. As a junior, he won the

Ozzie Newsome Award The Touchdown Club of Columbus was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1956 by Sam B. Nicola at the request of state auditor James A. Rhodes, who later became governor of the state. Nicola served as the club's president until his death in 1993. More th ...

. He was selected as a first-team All-American and was named

Kwalick–Clark Tight End of the Year Coaches and media of the Big Ten Conference award the following individual honors at the end of each football season. In addition, the ''Chicago Tribune'' awards the Chicago Tribune Silver Football to the most valuable football player of the confe ...

in both 2015 and 2016. He won the

John Mackey Award The John Mackey Award is presented annually to college football's most outstanding tight end. Established in 2000 by the Nassau County Sports Commission, the award is given annually to the tight end who best exemplifies the play, sportsmanship, ...

given to the top tight end in college football and the Senior CLASS Award in 2016. He was drafted by the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

in the fifth round of the

2017 NFL Draft The 2017 NFL Draft was the 82nd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. It was held in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art on April 27–29, returning to Philadelphia ...

. In 2022, he began a new career in broadcasting working for the

with his inaugural game on September 10 between his alma mater Michigan versus Hawaii.

High school career

Butt was born in 1995 and raised in

Pickerington, Ohio Pickerington is a city in Fairfield and Franklin counties in the central region of the U.S. state of Ohio. It was founded in 1815 as Jacksonville, named after Andrew Jackson. Pickerington was known as Jacksonville until 1827, when the citizens p ...

, attending

Pickerington High School North Pickerington High School North is a public high school in Pickerington, Ohio. It is one of two high schools in the Pickerington Local School District. In the city of Pickerington, it is referred to simply as "North" and their mascot is the Panthe ...

. Butt caught 96 passes for 1,361 yards with 20 touchdowns and posted 142 tackles and 20.5 sacks during his high school career. He hauled in 68 receptions for 907 yards with 12 touchdowns as a senior and received AP Division I All-Ohio first-team recognition. Butt attended but did not participate in the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

All-America Game due to injury.

Recruiting

Recruiting service Rivals.com identified Butt as one of the four-star recruits in the 2013 class. On February 19, 2013, Butt announced through Twitter his commitment to the

Michigan Wolverines The Michigan Wolverines comprise 29 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the NCAA's Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except women's water polo, which competes in the NCAA inter-divisio ...

College career

Freshman season

Butt enrolled at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

in 2013. He made his collegiate debut on August 31, 2013, and made his first career catch for an 8-yard gain in a victory over

Central Michigan Central Michigan, also called Mid Michigan, is a region in the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. As its name implies, it is the middle area of the Lower Peninsula. Lower Michigan is said to resemble a mitten, and Mid Michigan corr ...

. On November 16, 2013, Butt caught his first career touchdown on an 11-yard pass from Devin Gardner, helping Michigan secure a win over Northwestern. On November 30, 2013, Butt caught a season-high five passes for 85 receiving yards and a touchdown as the Wolverines lost 42–41 to longtime rival

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

. He appeared in 13 games and started eight for the 2013 Michigan Wolverines football team. His playing time increased after Devin Funchess moved from tight end to wide receiver. He finished his first season at Michigan with 20 receptions for 235 yards and two touchdowns and was selected by ESPN.com as a member of the All-Big Ten Conference freshman team.

Sophomore season

The following season, Butt missed the first two games of the season while recuperating from a torn ACL. He made his season debut in Week 3 and caught three receptions for a season-high 59 receiving yards and scored a touchdown on a 29-yard pass from Devin Gardner in a 34–10 victory over

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public research university in Oxford, Ohio. The university was founded in 1809, making it the second-oldest university in Ohio (behind Ohio University, founded in 1804) and the 1 ...

. On November 29, 2014, Butt caught a season-high four passes for 35-yards and a touchdown during Michigan's 28–42 loss to #7

. He appeared in nine games in 2014, five as a starter, and recorded 21 receptions for 211 receiving yards and two touchdowns. After

finished the season 5–7, head coach

Brady Hoke Brady Patrick Hoke (; born November 3, 1958) is an American football coach in his second stint as the head coach at San Diego State University. He was previously the head coach at the University of Michigan from 2011 to 2014. Hoke grew up in O ...

was relieved of his duties.

Junior season

During Michigan's season-opening 17–24 loss against

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...

, Butt made a career-high eight receptions for 92-yards and caught an 8-yard touchdown pass from Jake Rudock. His eight catches was the most by a Michigan tight end since 1995. On November 7, 2015, he finished a 49–16 win over

Rutgers Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and w ...

with a career-high 102 receiving yards on four receptions. He finished the 2015 season with 51 catches for 654 receiving yards (12.8 yds/catch) and three touchdowns, while starting all 13 games. He was named the Kwalick–Clark Tight End of the Year, was named to the All-Big Ten offensive first-team, by both the coaches and media, and named a first-team All-American by ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twice ...

'' and

CBS Sports CBS Sports is the sports division of the American television network CBS. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on W 52nd Street (Manhattan), 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS ...

. He also won the

as the best tight end in college football.

Senior season

Butt opted to return for his senior season after considering entering the

2016 NFL Draft The 2016 NFL Draft was the 81st annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. As in 2015, the draft took place at the Auditorium Theatre and Grant Park in Chicago. The draft be ...

. The majority of NFL draft experts and analysts projected him to be a second round pick in 2016. In August 2016, Butt and defensive end Chris Wormley were selected by a vote of their teammates as the team captains for the 2016 Michigan team. Through the first three games of the 2016 season, Butt led the Wolverines with 15 receptions, and he was second behind Amara Darboh with 192 receiving yards. During the 2016 season, Butt was the team's second-leading receiver with 43 receptions for 518 yards and four touchdowns, including 29 of those catches that netted a first down. He became both Michigan's all-time leading receiver in yards by a tight end (1,646 yards) and the program's record holder for career receptions by a tight end (136). Following the 2016 season, Butt was named to the All-Big Ten offensive first-team, by both the coaches and media, named a first-team All-American by the Walter Camp Football Foundation, and earned the Kwalick–Clark Tight End of the Year for the second straight season. He was also awarded the

, honoring the most outstanding tight end in college football. Butt tore his ACL in the

2016 Orange Bowl The 2016 Orange Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 30, 2016 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, played between the Michigan Wolverines of the Big Ten Conference against the Florida State Seminoles of the Atlantic C ...

game. Butt was named the 2016 Senior CLASS Award winner.

College statistics

Professional career

Butt was projected to be a second round pick in the 2017 NFL Draft by NFL draft experts and scouts before he tore his ACL in the

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935, making it, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl, the second-oldest bowl game in ...

during the last collegiate game of his career. NFL draft analyst

Todd McShay Todd Marshall McShay (born March 22, 1977) is an American football television analyst and commentator. Early life McShay attended North Shore Christian School in Lynn, Massachusetts and then Swampscott High School in Swampscott, Massachusetts, ...

projected Butt to be selected within the first 50 picks in the 2017 NFL Draft prior to his injury. On January 11, 2017, Butt successfully underwent surgery to repair his torn ACL. Butt was unable to participate in drills at the

NFL Scouting Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Footba ...

and at Michigan's pro day. At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Butt was projected to be a second or third round pick by NFL draft experts and scouts. He was ranked as the fifth best tight end in the draft by NFL draft analyst

Mike Mayock Michael Francis Mayock (born August 14, 1958) is a former American football executive and former player who served as the General manager (American football), general manager of the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL) from 20 ...

and was ranked the sixth best tight end by DraftScout.com.

Denver Broncos

2017

The

selected Butt in the fifth round with the 145th overall pick in the

. Butt was the eighth tight end drafted in 2017. Butt reportedly received a $543,000 payout due to a loss-of-value insurance claim he received due to his ACL injury. The loss-of-value insurance was a rider on top of a disability insurance that Butt bought prior to the draft that would pay out if he was not picked in the top half of the third round due to injury. On May 11, 2017, the Denver Broncos signed Butt to a four-year, $2.70 million

contract A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to ...

that included a signing bonus of $300,938. He was placed on the reserve/non-football injury list on September 2, 2017, due to the torn ACL suffered his senior year. On November 6, 2017, the Denver Broncos placed Butt on injured reserve for the remainder of the

2017 NFL season The 2017 NFL season was the 98th season in the history of the National Football League (NFL) and the 52nd of the Super Bowl era. The season began on September 7, 2017, with Kansas City defeating defending Super Bowl LI champion New England i ...

2018

Butt recovered in time to participate physically in training camp in 2018. During training camp, he competed to be the starting tight end against Jeff Heuerman,

Matt LaCosse Matthew Robert LaCosse (born September 21, 1992) is a former American football tight end. He played college football at Illinois for four years. LaCosse is from Naperville, Illinois and attended Naperville North High School. High school caree ...

, and

Troy Fumagalli Troy Fumagalli (born February 17, 1995) is an American football tight end who is a free agent. He played college football at Wisconsin. Early years Fumagalli was born with amniotic band constriction, which forced doctors to amputate part of ...

. Head coach Vance Joseph named Butt the secondary starting tight end to start the regular season, behind primary starting tight end Jeff Heuerman. He made his professional regular season debut and first career start in the Denver Broncos' season opener against the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 a ...

and caught two passes for 29 yards in their 27–24 victory. On September 27, 2018, Butt sustained a torn ACL during a non-contact drill during practice, which sidelined him for the remainder of the season.

2019

On September 2, 2019, Butt was placed on injured reserve due to complications with his previous ACL injury.

2020

Butt played in five games before being placed on injured reserve with a hamstring injury on November 3, 2020. He was activated on December 31, 2020. After the season, Butt became a free agent due to his contract expiring.

Chicago Bears

On June 18, 2021, Butt signed a contract with the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine ...

. On July 28, 2021, Butt announced his retirement from the NFL.

References

External links

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Denver Broncos bioMichigan Wolverines bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Butt, Jake 1995 births Living people All-American college football players American football tight ends Chicago Bears players Denver Broncos players Michigan Wolverines football players People from Pickerington, Ohio Players of American football from Ohio