[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 23 (Wednesday, February 11, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S914-S915]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO MALCOLM BUTLER

  Mr. WICKER. Mr. President, I rise briefly today to recognize the 
extraordinary story of my fellow Mississippian Malcolm Butler, who 
hails from Vicksburg, MS, and attended Hinds Community College. Mr. 
Butler, a cornerback for the New England Patriots, made the game-
winning interception in Super Bowl XLIX on February 1, 2015.
  I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record an article by 
Rick Cleveland.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                 [From the Daily Journal, Feb. 3, 2015]

      Vicksburg's Butler Rises Up as Mississippi's Latest NFL Hero

                          (By Rick Cleveland)

       You wait in line, easing around one car-length at a time. 
     Finally, you roll down your window and the voice over the 
     microphone says, ``Welcome to Popeyes. Can I take your 
     order?''
       Malcolm Butler was that voice, the one who asks you if you 
     want your chicken spicy or mild, your tea sweetened or 
     unsweetened.
       Before he became a Super Bowl hero, Malcolm Butler worked 
     the to-go window at Popeyes. That was after nobody much had 
     recruited him out of Vicksburg High School. That was after he 
     was kicked off the Hinds Community College football team 
     after a campus altercation.
       ``Welcome to Popeyes, can I take your order?''
       Well, sure, I'll have a pass interception on the goal line 
     to win the Super Bowl.
       Malcolm Butler's story is for everybody who a makes a huge 
     mistake. Who flunks the big exam. Who gets kicked out of 
     school. Who gets fired. Who gets told they aren't quite good 
     enough or tall enough or fast enough.
       Malcolm Butler, Super Bowl hero.
       Twenty-six seconds remained. The Seattle Seahawks had 
     second-and-goal at the New England one-yard-line trailing 28-
     24. The Hawks needed three feet, 36 inches for victory.
       There were 22 players on the field. Would Russell Wilson, 
     the great star from Wisconsin, give it to Marshawn Lynch, the 
     irrepressible one from Washington, or throw to Doug Baldwin 
     of Stanford? Would they run behind James Carpenter of Alabama 
     or Justin Britt of Missouri? Who would make the big defensive 
     play: Vince Woolfork, the monster out of Miami, or Dont'a 
     Hightower of Bama?
       So many questions, just one answer.
       Only heaven or Pete Carroll knows why the Seahawks didn't 
     give the ball to Lynch, but they did not.
       No, they ran out of the shotgun. They didn't even fake it 
     to Lynch. The Seahawks ran a straight pass. Ricardo Lockette 
     split out wide to the right behind Jermaine Kearse. The call 
     was for Kearse to clear a path for Lockette to run a simple 
     slant pattern.
       Malcolm Butler never let it happen. Later, he would say he 
     saw what would happen before it happened. He saw it in his 
     mind's eye. Butler didn't let Kearse get in his way. He broke 
     in front of Lockette before Russell even released the ball. 
     And then, somehow, he caught the ball during the collision.
       Malcolm Butler, Super Bowl hero.


                           Summon the Heroes

       Mississippi has produced so many over the years. Jerry Rice 
     starred in three Super Bowls. Eli Manning was the MVP in two 
     of them. Brett Favre led the Packers to a Super Bowl title. 
     L.C. Greenwood sacked Roger Staubach four times in one Super 
     Bowl. The great Willie Brown of Yazoo City once returned a 
     Fran Tarkenton Super Bowl pass 75 yards for a Super Bowl 
     touchdown. Walter Payton helped the Bears shuffle to a Super 
     Bowl ring.
       But Jerry Rice was the greatest receiver in the history of 
     the game. Eli Manning's pedigree is known to all. Favre was 
     in the process of winning three straight NFL MVPs. Greenwood 
     was part of Pittsburgh's Iron Curtain. Willie Brown might be 
     the greatest corner in the history of the sport. Payton was 
     Payton.
       Malcolm Butler? After they let him back on the team at 
     Hinds, he had no Division I scholarship offers. He played his 
     college football at West Alabama, formerly Livingston. When 
     he finished Livingston, 32 NFL teams had a chance to draft 
     him. None did.
       But Malcolm Butler kept working, kept believing.
       Against all odds, he made the team, worked his way into the 
     rotation and made

[[Page S915]]

     the biggest play in the most important game. Thus he joins 
     Mississippi's remarkable Super Bowl pantheon.
       Willie Brown, L.C. Greenwood, Walter Payton, Jerry Rice, 
     Brett Favre and Malcolm Butler.
       Malcolm Butler.
       Super Bowl hero.

  Mr. WICKER. Mr. President, Rick Cleveland is the executive director 
of the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum. This story appeared 
on February 3, 2015, in a number of newspapers, including my hometown 
of Tupelo's Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal. The article points out 
how Malcolm Butler overcame adversity, how he went from working at a 
Popeyes fried chicken restaurant to being the hero of this year's Super 
Bowl.
  My home State of Mississippi has a long and storied football 
tradition. Gridiron legends such as Archie Manning, Eli Manning, 
Michael Oher, Jerry Rice, Walter Payton, Brett Favre, and a host of 
others from the Magnolia State are included in this list. As Rick 
Cleveland points out in the article, Malcolm Butler now joins 
Mississippi's remarkable Super Bowl pantheon.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. Fischer). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  (The remarks of Mrs. Murray pertaining to the introduction of S. 469 
are printed in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced Bills 
and Joint Resolutions.'')
  Mrs. MURRAY. I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. INHOFE. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. INHOFE. Madam President, it is my understanding that we have 
someone coming down in about 10 minutes. I ask unanimous consent that I 
be recognized shortly after 2:25 p.m. I wish to lock that in--Senator 
Hoeven and then me.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. INHOFE. Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. HOEVEN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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