After missing a season and much
of practices this year, UL Ragin' Cajun receiver James Butler had no idea just
how bad things really were that late-August day last year, when a costly
misstep wound up revealing an even costlier miss.
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| James Butler @ Hahnville High |
"I
cut the wrong way, and it (his left knee) gave out on me," Butler said.
"I still played the rest of the scrimmage, and the next day it just
swelled up."
It was the final scrimmage of
UL's 2011 preseason camp. And, as it turned out, it was the last day of the
season for the Hahnville High product.
He
had torn meniscus, or knee cartilage.
But there is much more to that,
which made it more serious. "Actually,
I tore my ACL in high school — and I didn't know about it," he said.
An MRI exam for the meniscus tear
showed the additional damage.
"The
doctor was like, 'Well, you have a torn ACL — but it seems like it happened a
long time ago, because there's no bone bruise,' " Butler said. "So,
I'd just been playing for three years with a torn ACL."
He even played with his entire
2010 true-freshman season at UL — when he caught 14 passes or 200 yards and one
touchdown, including three straight catches and the TD, the first three grabs
of his career, on successive plays against then-No. 22 Oklahoma State and
another six catches against UL Monroe— with a torn ACL.
"No
pain, no nothing," Butler said. "I just was playing with it."
The doctors told me my hamstring
and my quads were so strong," he said, "that it compensated for it
the whole time."
"We thought he was gonna be
in the mix big-time last year," Cajuns coach Mark Hudspeth said.
"When we lost him, we just lost a lot of depth — and those other guys had
to go the whole year."
After missing a season Butler
cheered on his team after finishing 3-9 in 2010, the Ragin Cajuns go on to
finish 9-4 in 2011 and expecting to better things this upcoming season.
"I've got to give
kudos," Butler added, "to (quarterback) Blaine (Gautier and) the
whole receiving corps. Javone Lawson. Harry Peoples. Darryl Surgent. Ross
Goodlett. Jamal (Robinson). All the receivers that played last year."
"I knew I would be in a
rotation and I would catching a couple balls. And I was here at a time (in
2010) when the (Cajun Field) stands weren't filled. Just to see the stands filled,
and I wasn't able to play; you know, you had that hurt.
"But
then it became a reality that I'm gonna have another chance to play,"
Butler added. "So when I get my opportunity, get my opportunity to get
back on the field, I have to get my spot back. I have to get back into the
rotation, and right now I'm fighting to do that."
So
far, the battle is being won. And Butler is ready to return to the field this
season and give it all that he has.
"He's
getting better every day," Hudspeth said. "He'll play a lot."
Butler should have his shot come
Sept. 1, when UL opens at home against Lamar.
