Bills’ Butler builds career blocks
Right guard serves as intern for Kemp
Buffalo Bills guard Brad Butler worked this offseason as an intern for famed politician Jack Kemp in Washington, D. C.
Butler was stunned by the fact several people asked him what connection he had to Kemp, the former Congressman, cabinet member and vice presidential candidate.
“I would answer that I played for the Buffalo Bills, and they still didn’t get it,” Butler said. “He has affected so many people’s lives and done so much after football, that a lot of people don’t even realize he was one of the best Buffalo Bills ever. I was blown away by that. I think that should be the goal of anybody who wants to try to be successful after football.”
Butler will not be looking past football any time soon -- it was announced Wednesday he had just signed a contract extension -- but he looks like he has a bright future both on the field and off it.
The third-year pro established himself last season by winning the right guard job, and the Bills think he has the size and tools to be a longtime NFL starter. Off the field, Butler is a bright man who is close to getting a degree in American politics from the University of Virginia.
That field of study pushed him to initiate a meeting in 2007 with Kemp, which turned into a 10- week internship that ran from January through mid-March.
Kemp runs a company called Kemp Partners, which dabbles in strategic consulting, lobbying, investing, real estate and more.
“What attracted me to him was he’s not only a very humble, gracious guy, but also he was going to teach me not only about politics but also about the economy, which I’m very passionate about,” Butler said. “The economy is something he’s a maven on. To be able to work with him and talk to him about the Buffalo economy and the national economy, that was great, invaluable advice.”
Butler did a lot of observing of the many aspects of Kemp’s business.
“I’ve used the phrase he’s a jack of all trades,” Butler said. “There’s constantly business opportunities coming to him. . . . So in the morning it might be going to a congressional hearing and covering it for a company, then coming back and doing due diligence on a company [that Kemp Partners might acquire], then sitting in on a phone call with the top people in a company and taking notes.”
One of Butler’s memorable experiences was sitting in on a congressional hearing chaired by Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N. Y.) on the sub-prime mortgage crisis.
“They were getting people’s personal views about it,” Butler said. “Do you freeze interest rates? Do you come in and have a Sarbanes Oxleytype approach [creating legislative reform] to the housing regulations? Is it the lenders’ or the borrowers’ fault? It was interesting to see how it all unfolded.”
The best part of the job was interacting with Kemp, Butler said.
“The one incident that really stuck with me was Jack having me over for Sunday brunch after church,” Butler said. “We sat down and he had the TV on and his wife made a comment that if Jack’s not watching the Sunday news shows and he’s talking to you, then he must really care about you. We sat for two hours and talked about all he’s been through, about books and life in general. To have a mentor like that really meant a lot to me.”
Kemp also facilitated a meeting between Butler and the late Tim Russert of NBC.
“There were a couple weeks left in my internship and Jack said, ‘Is there anything left that you’d like to do?’ ” Butler said in an interview before Russert died. “Obviously I’ve watched Tim Russert and know he’s a Bills fan. I told him I’d love to go to ‘Meet the Press.’ It was good to see how the things work behind the scenes. Tim Russert was just very gracious with his time. After the show, he spoke to me for 20 minutes about his experiences in Washington.”
Butler spent another two weeks this offseason attending a specially designed business course for NFL players at the University of Pennsylvania. He isn’t sure what he will do after his football career is over, but he sees public service as a strong possibility.
“It’s far down the road,” he said. “At the same time, there’s nothing more important than serving this country in some capacity. It’s something I’m really drawn to.”
Kemp says Butler can do whatever he sets his mind to.
“Brad is an absolutely charming guy, smart, witty, extremely humble and for lack of a better phrase, a gentle giant,” Kemp said. “I don’t think I’ve met a guy in professional football in a long time who has the same maturity, the same desire to build a post-football career and who thinks about the future and developing door-opening opportunities like Brad.”
Butler considers the Kemp connection just the latest good fortune he has received since being drafted by the Bills in the fifth round in 2006.
“So many people here have been very gracious and have extended a helping hand to me,” he said. “One time my car slid off the road right on Southwestern [Boulevard],” the Lynchburg, Va., native said. “I was a typical guy from the South who just slid off in the snow. I didn’t even have to get out and ask for help. Immediately two guys pulled over, parked their truck and put a rope under my car. They pulled it out without even asking.
“There’s so many stories like that. My brother was having a tough time finding a doctor who would do his back surgery quickly. I went to Dr. [Andrew] Cappuccino, and within a week my brother was in surgery.”
Perhaps the best break Butler got since coming to Buffalo was the chance to start in just his second season. Despite missing much of training camp with a hamstring injury last summer, he was inserted into the starting lineup during the last week of preseason. He never left the position, starting all 16 games.
“He played really well for us last year,” said Bills offensive line coach Sean Kugler. “His attention to detail is awesome. This is a guy who wants to get better and who’s going to work every day to get better.”
Butler makes it a point to say his internship did not limit his offseason workouts with the Bills.
“I was back here in mid-March,” he said. “Realistically our weightlifting coaches want us to take a month and a half or two months off to rest your body.”
Butler, 6-foot-7 and 315 pounds, fits in with the other huge bodies on the Bills’ offensive line.
“He has good size, long arms,” Kugler said. “He’s got a great demeanor. He has a nasty temperament. You look at all the qualities you want in an offensive lineman, and he’s got them. He’s a great communicator. . . . He can bend and he can anchor versus a bull. He rarely gets bulled. He’s a good technician with his hands. You can really tell he was well coached coming out of college.”
While he’s intrigued by his post-career possibilities, Butler said he hopes they won’t be realized for a long time.
“My No. 1 goal right now is to play for the Buffalo Bills and concentrate on winning,” he said.
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The Bills have sold out individual-game tickets to six of their seven games in Orchard Park, the team announced Tuesday. The only game with tickets still available to fans who are not season-ticket holders is the regular-season finale against the New England Patriots on Dec. 28.
The Bills are keeping a number of seats available for season-ticket sales. On Saturday, the team surpassed the 53,000-mark for season tickets. The team record for season-ticket sales is 57,132 set in 1992.
