Georgia football: 30 greatest players of the Mark Richt era

• 2x First-Team All-American (2009, 2011)
• Ray Guy Award winner (2009)
• First-Team All-SEC (2009)

No, I’m not kidding. We have a former Georgia special teams player coming in at No. 7 on this list. Drew Butler was already Georgia football royalty being the son of legendary placekicker Kevin Butler. The younger Butler is probably the best punter in Georgia football history, if we’re being honest.

Yes, being the son of Larry Munson and Lewis Grizzard’s favorite Georgia kicker could have been tough for Butler following is his father’s Bulldog footsteps. However, Butler more than made a name for himself in his five years in Athens. Butler committed to Georgia in the 2007 high school class out of Peachtree Ridge High School in nearby Suwanee.

While Butler would be redshirted his first year in school, he would eventually become one of the best punters in the country. After playing in only three games as a redshirt freshman in 2008, Butler would experience his breakout campaign in a big way in 2009.

He not only played in all 13 games for the Dawgs that fall, but had arguably the best statical punting season in Georgia football history. Butler not only was named First-Team All-SEC, he would win the Ray Guy Award in 2009 as the best punter in college football.

Butler had 56 punts for 2,691 yards that fall, averaging 48.1 yards per punt. Obviously, he would be named First-Team All-American that season, but he was just getting started as the star of Georgia’s special teams.

While the Dawgs stumbled to 6-7 in 2010, Butler would bounce back with another All-American season in 2011. He had 58 punts for 2,566 yards, averaging 44.2 yards per punt as a redshirt senior. Georgia made it back to the SEC Championship in 2011, but would suffer an awful loss at the hands of Les Miles’ LSU Tigers in Atlanta.

Overall, Butler played in 43 games for the Dawgs from 2008 to 2011. He had 167 career punts for 7,589 yards, averaging an impressive 45.4 yards per attempt. Despite all his collegiate success, Butler went undrafted in 2012.

However, that would not be the end of his football career. Butler played four NFL seasons with four teams from 2012 to 2016, most notably with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals. After being cut by the Cardinals in late 2016, Butler remains unsigned. Could he make an NFL comeback? We’ll see, but we can’t overlook who talent of a special teams player Butler was for Georgia under Mark Richt.