The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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DECEMBER 2023 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 59 ❱ WHERE ARE THEY NOW? jor reinvention of his mindset and a quest to figure out who he was outside of just being a football player. "I would always come back to [the idea] that if I can reinvent myself, then I can win at life. If I can reinvent my- self and come out the other side of this, then I'll never be able to lose," he said. "Because no matter what, if everything's taken away from me, I can prove to my- self from a principle that I can reinvent myself and restart my stride in a new career. And that's what I feel I've been trying to prove to myself, and I feel I've got a good start there with this career." Butt had to completely reframe his thinking heading into a new chapter of his life. Like most top competitors, he had hoped to entrench his name in record books and win championships. When the rug was pulled out from under him at the end of his career, there were major ques- tions about what might come next. "I thought I was going to have a 10- to 15-year career with a bunch of catches and be a super reliable target and be a key piece for a team that was going to chase Super Bowls," Butt said. "That is how I viewed myself. And I still believe that even after the bowl game injury, I was back playing well for the Broncos and starting and on pace to do some nice things. And then I tore my ACL a third time." Butt ended his NFL career with eight games played and 10 catches for 90 yards while spending time with the Denver Broncos. A fifth-round pick in 2017, he did not play in 2017 while recovering from his ACL tear at Michigan, then tore his ACL again in 2018 and missed all of 2019. Butt played in five games in 2020 but was placed on injured reserve in No- vember with a hamstring injury. When his rookie contract expired with Denver, Butt signed with the Chicago Bears in June 2021 and retired in late July of the same year. For him, a sobering re- ality had set in. "I remember an instance where I had just retired and I went for a run with my fiancée, and I dropped to my knees," Butt said. "I looked up at the sky and I was just like, 'Why did all this happen to me? Why was this taken from me? How did I get here?' "It was one of the most challenging things that ever happened to me. Even- tually, I got to the place where I said if I could overcome the worst thing that ever happened, how could I lose? If I can pull myself out of the depths of my hell through injuries, then it doesn't matter what life throws at me." Butt is now seen as an up-and-comer in the broadcasting industry, and his impact on football and ability to scratch a familiar itch from his playing days shows up in his work. The road has been rocky at times, but Butt feels like it's nothing but positives and perspectives from here. "Through all of this, I've been able to harden my mind to say principally as a 28-year-old man right now, that I am willing to take on all the challenges be- cause I know that I can walk through the smoke, and on the other side is a great reward," Butt said. "And that great re- ward is the knowledge that I'm built to overcome the toughest of instances. And it also gives you the perspective to appre- ciate the good times, too. "The perspective is such an amazing gift." ❏ ❱ The Jake Butt File Michigan Accomplishments: Part of back-to-back 10-win seasons in 2015-16 … Program record holder for most catches (138) and yards (1,646) by a tight end … One of six U-M tight ends to reach 1,000 ca- reer yards … Two-time Sports Illustrated All-American (2015-16) … First-team Walter Camp All-American and John Mackey Award winner (2016) as nation's most outstanding tight end … Co-captain in 2016. Professional Accomplishments: Denver Broncos (2017-20) ... Chicago Bears (2021) ... Big Ten Network football analyst (2022-present). Michigan Memory of 2013 Recruiting Class: "Everyone banded together and said it wasn't good enough and that we are going to turn this thing around. We're going to get this team to play at a high level. That's what we did even though we fell short of our goals down the stretch [in 2016]. We solidified and brought the program back to being what Michigan can be and should be every year." Education: Graduated in 2016 from the College of Literature, Science and the Arts with a degree focusing on sociology. Family: Butt is engaged to Natalie Carti, a former U-M women's lacrosse player and 2017 graduate, with their wedding planned for spring 2024. Butt is now in his second season as a football analyst with the Big Ten Network, working in-studio as well as calling games around the conference. PHOTO COURTESY JAKE BUTT