TALLAHASSEE – Pro Football Hall of Famers and Florida State legends Derrick Brooks and LeRoy Butler were named to the Reese’s Senior Bowl 75th Anniversary Team Tuesday morning.
Brooks and Butler both participated in Senior Bowl activities prior to the NFL Draft in 1995 and 1990, respectively. The pair are two of 19 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees among the Senior Bowl 75th Anniversary team.
Brooks was a four-year letterwinner at Florida State and helped lead the Seminoles to the 1993 National Championship before a Hall of Fame career in the NFL. Brooks was the 2000 Walter Payton Man of the Year, the 2002 Defensive Player of the Year, a 2014 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee and a 2016 College Football Hall of Fame inductee.
Brooks was a three-time first-team All-ACC linebacker and was the 1993 ACC Defensive Player of the Year, a unanimous All-American in 1993 and a consensus All-American in 1994. Brooks was a first-round draft pick in the 1995 NFL Draft by Tampa Bay and played his entire 14-year career with the Buccaneers, helping the Buccaneers win the first Super Bowl in franchise history with a 44-yard interception for a touchdown in Super Bowl XXXVII.
At Florida State, Brooks recorded 274 tackles, 18.0 tackles for loss, 8.5 sacks, forced four fumbles and recovered two, blocked two kicks and scored three defensive touchdowns.
Butler was a three-year letterwinner at Florida State from 1987-89, culminating in being named a consensus All-American his final season. Butler was inducted into the Florida State Hall of Fame in 2001 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2022.
Butler appeared in 32 games at FSU with 194 tackles, 3.0 tackles for loss, 1.0 sack, nine interceptions, 14 pass breakups and three forced fumbles. He was also responsible for the Puntrooskie at No. 3 Clemson in 1988, gaining 78 yards on a fake punt that set up the Seminoles for a game-winning field goal.
Butler played 12 years in the NFL for the Green Bay Packers after being selected in the second round of the 1990 NFL Draft. Butler is credited with creating the Lambeau Leap after Packer touchdowns and was the first player in NFL history with 20 sacks and 20 interceptions in their career. Butler and the Packers won Super Bowl XXXI in 1997.
