Butts Searches for Daylight, Shuns Nightlife

SAN DIEGO —  Marion Butts can do without the glitter.

He can do without prime time, flashing cash, a big splash and talkin’ trash.

He likes to keep it simple.

“In my spare time I just go home and watch television,” Butts says. “And that’s it.”

Butts, a 6-foot-1, 248-pound rookie running back for the Chargers, is being careful not to get caught up in all of the commotion surrounding his recent success. He rushed for a season-high 176 yards in 39 carries in the Chargers’ 20-13 victory over Kansas City last Sunday. That was 10 more times than he carried the ball during his senior year at Florida State.

Everybody took notice. The word is out. You’d think he was dating Donna Rice or something.

People are now asking Charger Coach Dan Henning about Butts. People are asking each other about Butts. People are asking Butts about Butts.

Karl Mecklenburg, All-Pro defensive end for the Denver Broncos, is saying: “I think he’s going to be a good running back in the league for a long time. We’ve got our work cut out trying to stop him.”

Denver visits San Diego to play the Chargers today. The Broncos defense hasn’t allowed a runner to go over 100 yards all season. “Work cut out” from a guy like Mecklenburg, who plays for a defense like that, is high praise.

What’s next for Butts?

A swelled head?

Ask Henning.

“This guy,” Henning says, “is the most unaffected pure and simple football player, with very little, if any, airs about what he is or what he’s not. He likes to play football. And he isn’t a guy that gets all caught up in himself.”

So when somebody approaches Butts and asks him to sign an autograph, he doesn’t stand there thinking: “Gee, what a great guy I am.”

“You don’t really think about it,” he says. “You just write. Because if you let stuff like that go to your head, you’re going to stop performing.

“Person wants an autograph? Hey, I sign it. It don’t hurt. Everybody likes publicity. But you can’t let it swell your head, because then you’ll feel comfortable. And you never should feel comfortable in football.”

Smart thinking for a rookie.

Strange how so many budding stars start to feel comfortable, forgetting all they went through on the way to the top floor. A kid might have the same friends for years, and then he grows up and becomes a star in the NFL and doesn’t associate with them anymore. Butts sees it happen. He says it won’t happen to him.

“A lot of athletes change greatly when they become professionals,” he says. “You’re on such a high. They stop speaking to old friends. They speak to who they want to speak to and do what they want to do.

“You got to realize they’re only people. They’re high and mighty this second. The next week, they can be dead broke.”

So Butts makes a point of keeping in touch with his humble beginnings. He frequently calls his best friend, Michael Moore, back home in Sylvester, Ga. Moore played with Butts at Worth County High School.

You don’t forget friends like that, friends who “stuck beside you when you had nothing.”

“You got to stick with your friends,” Butts says. “You’ve got to put yourself in your friend’s situation. If a person makes it, why did he suddenly just put you down? It really hurts you. You say ‘How could he do this to me?’ We were friends, and now you’ve just plain forgotten.”

Friends remember what it was like before you were a big shot. They remember when you broke your leg as a junior in high school and were told you would never play again. They remember when you amazed everybody and came back as a senior, dragging enough tacklers with you to earn all-state honors.

They remember what you went through at Florida State, where you were better than the incumbent fullback, but because the incumbent had already established himself as a starter, it was just accepted that you would do a lot of blocking and not a lot of talking. They remember how you dealt with that, deciding to ride it out because only losers run from problems, and you don’t consider yourself a loser.

And most of all, they remember how you used to be, and they see that you haven’t changed. Through it all, through the high school successes, the college frustrations and, finally, the spotlight of the NFL, you’re still the same old guy.

“He’s always been a pretty regular guy,” Moore says. “He’s always trying to help people out, help them make it.”

So these are the people Butts trusts. He knows they aren’t just hanging around now because they see him on television or read about him in the newspapers.

“There are a lot of individuals that are not really your friends, that just want to be around you because of your success,” Butts says. “That’s why you don’t try to gain new friends, you just keep with your old friends.”

Basically, Butts has kept his simple life style even though his role as a football player has become much more complicated. There was a time when all anybody expected of him was an occasional quick burst at the goal line, plus a lot of reliable blocking and special teams play. Henning thought this seventh-round pick was a blocking back. Butts did, too.

But Gary Anderson, because of failed contract negotiations, never showed up this year. So the Chargers were forced to find a replacement for his 1,119 rushing yards, third in the AFC last season.

The comparison is almost comical. There aren’t two more different running backs than Anderson and Butts. Anderson is a half-inch shorter and 67 pounds lighter. He plays with a certain grace, makes people miss and has outstanding receiving skills. Butts is a meat-and-potatoes back who usually tramples over people and still needs work in the pass-catching department. He doesn’t sneak up on you.

Durable might be the best word to describe Butts. The best description of his style comes from Wayne McDuffie, Florida State’s offensive coordinator. “You worry about him hurting other people, not other people hurting him.”

But steadily and surely, just the way he runs, Butts is changing his image as a one-dimensional, rock-’em-sock-’em power back.

“When we got him in training camp, we tried to find out what his total capacities were,” Henning says. “And obviously, they’re higher than we figured. He’s made such a great deal of improvement in his ability to run and pick holes that I would say if he just continues to do what he’s doing, he’ll get better.”

That Butts has gained 667 yards for a 4.3-yard average per carry and nine touchdowns is even a surprise to him. He figured he’d be doing about the same stuff he did at Florida State.

“I wasn’t really considering being the back that I am now,” he says. “I thought, basically, that my assignment would probably be special teams. But if you start giving a guy the ball, and he’s breaking good runs, why take him out? Let him keep running.”

Butts plans to keep running. Right now, he’s not thinking about anything else. This is his time to show people he’s capable of playing at this level.

He had to fly home to Georgia two weeks ago for his mother’s funeral. He returned in time to gain 72 yards and score a touchdown in the Chargers’ 26-21 loss to the Washington Redskins. This is football season. He will put the emotions of his mother’s death on hold until after Sunday’s game with the Denver Broncos, until the season is over, and he can afford to think about something besides football.

“That’s something you’ve got to put in the back of your head,” Butts says. “There’s really nothing you can do about that but just work with it in your spare time. Whenever you have time to deal with that situation, you do it. But once you’re out here performing in football, you just perform to the best of your ability and let the other stuff come as it comes.”

So for now, Marion Butts will continue doing what he is doing, what he is comfortable with. He will practice. He will play. And when the football business is done for the day, he will go home and watch television.

Somebody else can go to the night clubs, somebody else can go out raising up a storm, or raising Arizona or whatever else. It’s not for him.

“I don’t mingle around in society,” he says. “I’m a social individual, but I don’t really socialize that much, because there are a lot of individuals out there really looking to get an individual such as myself in trouble, introduce me to something that’s bad. I don’t go places that I think would jeopardize my career or my ability. I stay home. That’s the best place for you.”