Jack Butler, a Steelers cornerback of the 1950s who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2012, has died at the age of 85.
Butler had been suffering from a staph infection since November, stemming from a knee replacement that was necessitated by the lingering effects of the leg injury that ended his career in 1959.
“His heart just stopped,” Steelers scout Mike Butler, Jack’s son, told Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “He was completely lucid last night, my sister and brother made him a root beer float and he went to sleep. He never complained, never said anything hurt.”
Butler was a member of the NFL’s All-Decade Team of the 1950s, and at the time of his retirement his 52 career interceptions were the second-most in league history. He briefly worked as an assistant coach and was then a scout for nearly half a century before finally retiring for good three years ago.