SuperBowl Hero Butler Says “Yes” on Initiative 42

Initiative 42’s campaign for better public schools scored points today with a video endorsement from Vicksburg native and Super Bowl XLIX hero Malcolm Butler, whose final-seconds interception gave the 2015 victory to his New England Patriots.

“It’s very important for a kid to get a good education,” Butler says in the 50-second video released by the 42 For Better Schools campaign spearheading passage of Initiative 42 on the Nov. 3 ballot. “This football – or any kind of sport – it can break your heart, but, you know, you need that education to take you a long way.”

Initiative 42 is the citizen-led ballot measure to require the Mississippi Legislature to abide by its 1997 law and fully fund some 150 school districts, which are home to 90 percent of the state’s K-12 public school students. Voters will decide whether to adopt the amendment on Nov. 3.

A 2009 Vicksburg High School graduate, Butler, 25, attended the University of West Alabama and joined the Patriots in 2014 as an undrafted free agent cornerback after his senior year. He began college at Hinds Community College and then played at Alcorn State University.

Butler endorsed the schools-funding ballot measure, saying: “Tell your friends and neighbors to vote ‘yes’ on 42.”