FRISCO, Texas – Josh Butler was a Cowboys fan from birth. A product of West Mesquite high school, Butler grew up Dallas through and through, and his perseverance to achieve the goal of donning the star on the side of his helmet is paying off.
"I've been all over the place man," Butler said. "But definitely a full circle moment playing for the team I've always grown up watching and my favorite team as a child, so it felt good."
In Sunday's win against the Commanders, Butler shined for the Cowboys defense in his second career start, leading the team with 12 tackles, breaking up three passes, and even recording his first career sack.
"It felt really good just to be able to step up and have the coaches trust in me and actually go out there and perform." Butler said.
Butler is the seventh different player that the Cowboys have started at cornerback in a game this season, with Trevon Diggs' injury propelling him to his second start in as many games on Sunday. Despite all the different bodies that have rotated into the secondary, the understanding is the same across the board.
"Everybody knows what to do, and once we get our chance and our opportunity we got to make the most out of it," Butler said. "Studying, doing the little things, extra conditioning, extra technique stuff after practice, at all matters at the end of the day.
"Just being out there and trusting yourself and having the best confidence you can have."
On the field, it was clear that Butler was trusting his training to make plays for the Dallas defense, but he's trusted in himself since the day he started his career at Michigan State, where he played for four years before going undrafted in 2018. He finally got a chance to play again in 2023, playing a year with the Michigan Panthers after one of their scouts found his film on, of all places, Facebook.
"You never know who's watching." Butler said.
And the Cowboys were watching too. After one season with the USFL, Butler signed with Dallas's preseason roster and eventually was brought on to the practice squad for the 2024 season, checking off one of his life goals.
"I had a vision board of everything that I wanted to do," Butler said. "I had a bunch of different sticky notes. Every single day I'd wake up in the morning and I'd look at that, and one of them was sign an NFL contract… just seeing that every day, having that motivation."
Dallas USFL alumni shined bright in the victory over Washington, as former league MVP KaVontae Turpin housed a 99-yard kickoff return late in the fourth quarter to grow the Cowboys lead. Both Butler and Turpin faced similar challenges in getting to the NFL, and their trust in the process is starting to redeem itself.
"Heart and perseverance, everybody has a different path, me and [Turpin] never gave up, and it led us to what we are now," Butler said. "We're able to show everybody what we can do and what we were always capable of doing."
There were days along the way where Butler wasn't sure if he could achieve his goal of playing in the NFL, but he kept his focus narrow, and now gets to live his dream every day of playing for his favorite team.
"It's a lot of ups, and a lot of downs, but it's always how you look at it. It's always a perspective," Butler said. "There's a negative side and a positive side. You can definitely go down a negative road and it can finish you off, or you can always think on that positive side.
