TE Butler Promoted To Active Roster

Bills sign CB Jerametrius Butler

by Nick

Bills Sign CB Butler; Release Scobey
by Chris Brown
www.buffalobills.com
Last Updated: 9/25/2007 4:21 PM ET

Finishing last week's game with just three healthy cornerbacks and Terrence McGee anything but a lock to play this Sunday, Buffalo signed cornerback Jerametrius Butler Tuesday to add some veteran experience to the secondary.

Decimated by injuries particularly on the defensive side of the ball the Bills had to trim their roster at a position of surplus to address the shortages elsewhere. Running back and special teams contributor Josh Scobey was released to make room for Butler.

Butler was signed by the Washington Redskins this past June as a free agent after he was released by the club that made him a fifth-round draft choice in 2001, the St. Louis Rams, but the Redskins released him Aug. 28.

The six-year veteran enjoyed his most productive seasons in St. Louis under then Rams secondary coach Perry Fewell. From 2003-2004 Butler made 31 starts, had 150 tackles and nine interceptions.

Butler however, was slowed by injuries the past two seasons with a knee injury wiping out his entire 2005 season. A lingering hamstring injury last season allowed him to appear to just six games in 2006.

Nevertheless he is familiar with Buffalo's defensive scheme having played a similar version in St. Louis and should be able to contribute quickly.

Meanwhile Scobey who signed with Buffalo as a free agent this past offseason, was kept on the roster primarily for his special teams abilities, despite missing most of training camp with a calf injury.

Scobey's role was expanded this past week as a kick returner with Terrence McGee suffering with bruised ribs. He had a total of 112 kickoff return yards on five attempts for 22.4-yard average against the Patriots. But with four other healthy running backs on the roster in Marshawn Lynch, Fred Jackson, Anthony Thomas and Dwayne Wright, Scobey became expendable.
- Channel: NFL TALK
-09-25-2007, 09:58 PM
Rams release Butler ...

by MauiRam

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Rams release veteran Butler
By Bill Coats
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Tuesday, Jun. 05 2007

The Rams have released veteran cornerback Jerametrius Butler, who was a starter
in the 2003 and 2004 seasons before a knee injury derailed his career. Butler,
28, spent six seasons with the Rams after they selected him in the fifth round
(No. 145 overall) of the 2001 draft.
Butler�s final highlight with the Rams came last Oct. 8 in Green Bay. With less
than a minute remaining and the Rams clinging to a three-point lead,
quarterback Brett Favre was marching the Packers toward the end zone. Then, in
an instant, Butler saw the football loose on the turf.
Packers guard Daryn Colledge got to the ball first after end Leonard Little
stripped it from Favre's grasp, but it spurted away.
"He kind of dove on it with all his weight," Butler said after the game, "but
as you know, offensive linemen, they don't usually have good hands. I hopped on
it and covered up the best I could. Guys were trying to take it out and punch
me in the ribs, but I held on to it."
And the Rams held on for a 23-20 win.
The beginning of the end for Butler with the Rams came in 2005, when he
suffered a season-ending knee injury during training camp. A hamstring injury
in camp the next summer helped shove him behind newcomer cornerbacks Fakhir
Brown, a free agent signed in the offseason, and rookie Tye Hill, the Rams�
first-round draft choice.
When the season began, Brown and Travis Fisher were the first-team starters,
and Hill was the nickel back. Butler, a Dallas native who played college
football at Kansas State, was among the Rams� inactives for the first four
games of the season until an ankle injury to Brown got him on the game-day
roster in Green Bay.
Thereafter, though, Butler suited up for just six games and played sparingly.
He essentially severed his ties with the team after the season, failing to
attend any of the spring workouts at Rams Park.
The 5-foot-10, 185-pound Butler was a restricted free agent after the �03
season when he received an offer sheet from the Washington Redskins. The Rams
chose to keep Butler by matching the six-year, $15.04 contract.
Under the terms of that deal, Butler�s salary was due to jump to $2 million
this year from $545,000 in 2006. That�s probably why the Rams found no takers
when they tried to trade Butler after the season.
Hill started the final eight games last year after Fisher suffered a groin
injury. Last month, Fisher signed a one-year free-agent contract with the
Detroit Lions. Brown is entering the second-year of a five-year deal with the
Rams....
- Channel: RAMS NATION TALK
-06-05-2007, 01:02 PM
Rams Release Butler

by Varg6

Six-year veteran Jerametrius Butler, a once-ascending cornerback whose career progress was sidetracked by a 2005 knee injury, has been released by the St. Louis Rams, making him a free agent and able to sign with any other team.

Butler

Depending on the state of his health, Butler, 28, could draw interest from around the league. The Rams did attempt to trade him during this year's draft, but found no serious suitors at the time, in part because of Butler's contract.

His deal with the Rams had three years remaining, at base salaries of $2 million (2007), $2.5 million (2008) and $3 million (2009). Butler will have to battle another recently released cornerback, Kelly Herndon of Seattle, for attention in the free agent market.

A fifth-round choice in the 2001 draft, Butler moved into the starting lineup in 2003 and had four interceptions that season. In 2004, he posted five pickoffs. So convinced were the Rams that Butler possessed big-time potential that they matched a four-year, $15 million restricted free agent offer sheet to which Washington had signed the cornerback after the '03 season.

Butler's career began to spiral, however, when he suffered a season-ending knee injury in the team's 2005 training camp. After Butler rehabilitated the surgically-repaired knee, he sustained a serious hamstring injury last summer in camp.

As a result of the injuries, the former Kansas State standout has appeared in only six games over the past two seasons. The Rams' acquisitions of other cornerbacks through free agency and the draft knocked him well down the depth chart.

This spring, Butler stayed away from all of St. Louis' offseason conditioning sessions, all but severing his relationship with the team.

In 64 games, Butler had 207 tackles, nine interceptions, 24 passes defensed, one forced fumble and four fumble recoveries.

Senior writer Len Pasquarelli covers the NFL for ESPN.com.
- Channel: RAMS NATION TALK
-06-06-2007, 12:42 PM
Onobun makes Rams as long shot ..

by MauiRam

BY BILL COATS Tuesday, September 7, 2010 12:00 am

With a total of two receptions in his one season of college football, tight end Fendi Onobun arrived at Rams Park in late April about as raw as rookies come.

"I just remember coming in after the draft for the rookie minicamp. I was like, 'Man, what'd I get myself into?'" Onobun said Monday after the Rams' first official regular-season practice.

That Onobun was still around for that practice is the culmination of what he described as an "unexplainable" journey. "It's an unbelievable story, and it's just the beginning," he said. "I'm really, really excited."

The 6-foot-6, 249-pound Onobun played basketball at the University of Arizona, mostly as a reserve forward behind future NBA performers Jordan Hill and Chase Budinger.

After completing his degree, Onobun was considering continuing basketball in Europe. But recalling an overture he received from the football staff at Arizona during his sophomore year, Onobun decided to "roll the dice and see what happens."

He enrolled at the University of Houston and joined the football team. He hadn't played football since he was a seventh-grader at O'Donnell Middle School in Houston.

Onobun got into 11 games, mostly on special teams, for the Cougars. His two receptions netted 33 yards. But the Rams were blown away by his athletic ability during a private workout and took him in the sixth round of the draft (No. 170 overall).

That gave Onobun about four months to make enough progress to prove that he was worth keeping, at least on the practice squad. He did more: He made the 53-man roster, despite some worrisome moments Saturday, the day the majority of cuts were made.

Players who are let go get a phone call; those who are sticking don't.

"I was a little worried. Family was calling me, friends were calling me: 'Hey, did you make the 53?'" Onobun said. "Every time the phone rang, I jumped. I was like, 'It's no secret. I'll let you know as soon as I find out.' ... But no news was good news."

Ultimately, the Rams decided the Onobun could contribute now, at least on special teams, and kept four tight ends. The others are Billy Bajema, Daniel Fells and fifth-round draftee Michael Hoomanawanui.

"It was pretty evident that (Onobun) has some skills; he's an athlete," coach Steve Spagnuolo said. "Then when you said, 'OK, let's see when he gets the pads on,' he showed enough in pads that he deserved and earned his way on the 53.

"Now, he still has a long way to go. He knows that. ... We'll just keep on pushing and hopefully at the end there we have a refined tight end."

butler is back

On Monday, exactly a month after he suffered a torn ligament in his knee,...
- Channel: RAMS NATION TALK
-09-07-2010, 01:50 AM
Butler's Work not Done

by RamWraith

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

By Nick Wagoner
Senior Writer

Deep beyond the smiling face and pleasant demeanor, James Butler is burning. Since the weekend of April 23 and 24, 2005, Butler has carried this with him as motivation.

After an accomplished career at Georgia Tech, Butler watched idly as 20 safeties came off the draft board. Expecting to be selected at some point, Butler couldn�t believe that his name was never called.

�It was very tough,� Butler said. �Just to watch some of the guys going before me, I was like �Man, these guys aren�t better than me.� I think every player goes through that. Every player has things they have to go through. I went through that and I just have to go with the punches that were dealt and that�s what happened.�

Instead of worrying about what didn�t happen, Butler decided to focus on making his own luck. He signed with the New York Giants as an undrafted free agent on May 6.

Fast forward four years to Wednesday and here�s Butler sitting at a table, addressing the St. Louis media after inking a lucrative four-year contract to become the team�s starting strong safety.

It was a day that seemed so far away on that April weekend.

�It helped my motivation,� Butler said. �I think that�s the biggest thing. Every player has a motivation whether they are trying to provide for their family, whatever it is. That was my motivation.�

Butler�s journey from undrafted free agent to successful, starting NFL safety isn�t necessarily an unusual tale. Plenty of players have worked hard enough to make an impression and stick on NFL rosters.

Not many have done it with the quick level of success of Butler, though. That it happened with the Rams is little surprise.

After battling his way on to the roster as a rookie, Butler spent two years under relative anonymity, contributing mostly on special teams with the occasional appearance on the defense.

Following his second season in New York, the Giants hired a new fire brand defensive coordinator named Steve Spagnuolo.

Spagnuolo gave Butler his first starting opportunity in 2007 and Butler rewarded that confidence with a solid first year including a team leading nine tackles in the team�s stunning Super Bowl XLII victory against the Patriots.

That relationship with Spagnuolo only grew last year and when Spagnuolo accepted the head coach position in St. Louis in the same winter that Butler was due for unrestricted free agency, the next stop of Butler�s career seemed clear.

�I think it was the biggest part of the decision,� Butler said. �Coach �Spags� gave me my first opportunity to be a starter in the league and he helped my career grow, so I felt that I wanted to go along with him with the Rams.�

Of course, it takes two to make a deal but Spagnuolo wanted...
- Channel: RAMS NATION TALK
-03-12-2009, 05:19 AM

Announcement

TE Butler Promoted To Active Roster

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