Double Coverage were privileged to sit down with BUAFL legend Ed Butcher and talk about football, friends and his legendary father.
DC: So, how did you get into football?
EB: When I was a lad, summer holidays were normally spent across the pond on trips to Disney world in Florida and the rest of the theme parks! It was from watching TV in countless sports bars the old man would take us around that I discovered the sport. I would watch loads of games and all the American Football movies as well.
My older brother and I would often throw the ball around in the garden and then when he went to university and joined up with the Glasgow Tigers I went to as many games as I could! I learnt a lot from watching him and the Tigers and my passion grew from there! I gained a scholarship to go over to a Private School in Northampton, MA, where I got to experience the full on the high school football experience and lifestyle.
DC: What position do you play? What attracted you to that position?
EB: The funny thing is I started off as a Quarterback as I can throw the ball a fair distance and accurately. It would have been interesting to see how I would have got on if I had continued there. I decided after 2 weeks of training that I was not going to be good enough to get on the field with the calibre of QB’s around my team at the time and I didn’t want to be redshirted, so I suggested to my coach I wanted to change!
When asked where I would go I decided to go back to my old position of Defensive end. I had played there before and it was a position I was made for! Hard hitting, tough going and non-complicated football, where every down you get to hit someone! Coming from a rugby background this suited me down to the ground. In my second season I was recruited to play offensive tackle as well, which worked for me as this was the position I had been going up against and one that I had always wanted to play!
That season and the following seasons I also played Tight End, Slot receiver and Wide Receiver! In my final University season I played Outside and Middle Linebacker, which gave me the opportunity to have a run up and hit people!
