Super Bowl LII certainly was not the way Malcolm Butler wanted to go out as a member of the Patriots.
After playing 98 percent of the snaps during the regular season, Butler was benched in Super Bowl LII, as the Patriots fell to the Eagles. This was Butler's last game with the organization and that was known going in since New England would never have signed him to a contract he was looking for as a free agent.
After signing with the Titans a few weeks ago, Butler didn't speak much about the game, but in an interview with SI: Under The Cover, he said a little bit more on the game and what he was thinking standing on the sidelines.
"There was times that I was on the sideline that I just wanted to go up and say to [Bill] Belichick or Matt Patricia and just say, 'This is how we're gonna end this,?'" Butler said. "I grew up in the Patriots system, and I'm a well-mannered guy. I respect my authority. I just couldn't ask them for something they didn't want to do. I just was doing my job. I was close to going up there and saying what I wanted to say to Matt or Belichick, but I just stayed in my lane and just did my job, man. I really wanted to go ask them, but I didn't."
Added Butler: "The week before the Super Bowl, I wasn't feeling too well. I had the flu, a nose running, nose stopped up. I took a trip to the hospital and I didn't travel with the team the day they traveled down there. I never missed a game, never missed practice or anything like that."
The cornerback believes he would have made a difference.
"Would we have won if I played? Probably. Maybe. I'm not sure," Butler said. "But I would say we were short about one or two plays and I've seen a couple plays out there I could've made."
Butler also detailed his free agent process where he said he received interest from the Bears, Saints, Titans and Texans, but the Bears were the only team that made a formal offer.
Deep down, he wanted to stay with the Patriots, but with everything that happened, he knew it wasn't possible.
"You know, I wanted to go out like Kobe Bryant. I might not be Kobe Bryant, I'll never be Kobe Bryant, but I always told myself that I always wanted to finish my career on one team and just go out like that," Butler said. "But no one wants to be somewhere where they're not wanted."
