Jake Butt says he was tempted to quit during latest comeback
US could open WCup qualifying in Trinidad, site of ’17 loss
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Jake Butt is equal parts unfortunate and unflappable.
In three seasons with the Denver Broncos, the star- crossed tight end from Michigan has played in as many games (three) as he’s had major knee surgeries, each of which required a cleanup procedure.
So, that’s six operations to go with his eight career catches for 85 yards.
Yet, in a talented tight end corps that features 2019 first-rounder Noah Fant, rookie Albert Okwuegbunam, free agent Nick Vannett and veterans Troy Fumagalli and Andrew Beck, it’s Butt who’s been turning heads at training camp so far.
Just months after contemplating walking away from football, Butt has drawn high praise from his head coach and his quarterback this week with Drew Lock declaring, “There’s nobody in our locker room that doesn’t want to see Jake Butt succeed.”
Butt appreciates the sentiment but wants to put his health issues behind him.
“Man, it means a lot quite honestly,” Butt said Wednesday after another spectacular practice. “Guys have seen what
NEW YORK ( AP) — The United States could start qualifying for the 2022 World Cup in Trinidad, where the Americans flopped on the final night three years ago and failed to reach the 2018 tournament.
“We know what happened last time around, and it could just be an opportunity for us to go out, start really strong right away and obviously get some revenge there, as well,” star attacker Christian Pulisic said after Wednesday’s draw. “So that would be a really big game.”
The Americans open their 14-match round with four games next June and close in early 2022 with a difficult stretch. They are at Mexico on Feb. 1, 2022, probably in the altitude of Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca; play at home on March 25, most likely against Panama or Curaçao, then finish March 29 at Costa Rica, where they have lost seven straight qualifiers.
“You have 11 games before that to get the group used to playing in these qualifying games and then you have two of the harder opponents away from home,” U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter said. “The other way to look at it is if you can take care of all your business beforehand, you could be a very good position going in those games.”
The U.S. qualified for seven straight World Cups before missing the 2018 tournament. The Americans are among five nations with direct berths in the final round of North and Central
I’ve been through and if you’ve been through an ACL you know how hard one is. When you go through three, it means a lot to get that recognition from your comrades, your teachers, your
American and Caribbean qualifying — known as the octagonal — joined by Mexico, Costa Rica, Honduras and Jamaica.
A much transformed team is headed by Pulisic and could include goalkeeper Zack Steffen, defender Sergiño Dest, midfielders Weston McKennie, Tyler Adams and Gio Reyna, and forward Josh Sargent.
Defender Tim Ream recalled the opening home loss to Mexico followed by a 4-0 defeat at Costa Rica in the last hexagonal and predicted the new group will handle qualifying more adroitly. Even though he was 30 at the time of the October 2017 defeat at Couva, Trinidad, Ream recoaches. But for me, I’m healthy. It’s part of my story but I’m out there, I’m out there playing ball, I’m not looking back. I don’t have any excuses.”
Butt first tore an ACL during membered being one of the younger American players on the bench.
“You look at these guys who are 21, 22 years old, and they’ve brought a youthfulness, an exuberance into the team and with the youthfulness brings legs, it brings energy, it brings excitement,” he said. “First time around, we didn’t get off on the right foot, obviously, in the beginning of qualifying and we were always playing catch up. So I think with these young guys now, we’re looking to be on top from the very first game.”
The top three nations in the octagonal qualify for the 32-team tournament in Qatar that starts Nov. 21, spring drills his sophomore season at Michigan and he tore the other one in his final game for the Wolverines, in the Orange Bowl. The Broncos drafted him three months later but he spent his rookie year on IR.
In 2018, he played in three games before suffering a third torn ACL, and last year his comeback was interrupted by yet another operation to clean out a torn meniscus. He hoped to return for the final month in 2019 but Lock got the activation nod instead after recovering from a thumb injury.
Butt has spent more of his pro career in the training room than he has on the football field.
“You’re still part of the team but you also feel miles away,” Butt said. “I would say honestly that’s probably the hardest part about rehab is it can get a little bit lonely and that’s where you start to build yourself up mentally. And throughout all three of my ACLs I think I’ve come out of the rehab more mentally tough than I was going into it.”
Yet, Butt acknowledged there were some dark days during his latest comeback that made him seriously contemplate walking away from football.
“There were a lot of days I re2022, the first World Cup shifted from its traditional late May-June start in an accommodation to the region’s summer heat. The fourth-place team advances to a two-leg intercontinental playoff in June 2022.
Berhalter estimated 26 or 27 out of 42 points would be enough to qualify.
In a draw held Wednesday at FIFA’s office in Zurich, the U.S. was picked out of a bowl to start at the winner of the playoff between teams from Groups A and F, whose seeded nations are El Salvador and Trinidad and Tobago. The opener will be around June 3, and the Americans will be home approximately four days later against the winner of ally wanted to quit,” Butt said. “There was a lot of days I was really down on myself, questioning myself, questioning why I’m even doing this kind of thing? And for me it’s my support group, my teammates, my friends and maybe just a little bit of craziness that I’ve had implanted from my parents and my family growing up that you can’t quit and just show up tomorrow.
“I’m really happy I stuck with it because I do feel really, really good out there,” Butt added. “I feel like I can still play in this league and I can contribute, I can even get much better than I am right now. So, I think that’s a lesson that I’ve definitely learned through this that everybody can learn is that bad days are going to come, tough days are going to come, but you can’t quit, you’ve just got to keep showing up.”
Notes: Four players were absent from practice Wednesday, including Fant, who was sick. Fangio made a point of saying, “not COVID sick, but normal sick, that’s what he’s got.” ... Also out were OLB Bradley Chubb (rest), CB Davonte Harris (bruised knee) and Vannett (concussion). the playoff between Group B and E, whose seeds are Canada and Haiti.
The U.S. then has another tough road match at Honduras around June 11, before closing the June double window at home against Jamaica.
When qualifying resumes around Sept. 3, the U.S. will be at the winner of the playoff between Group C and D, whose seeds are Curaçao and Panama, then host Costa Rica. The October window has a home game against Jamaica and a road match at Jamaica, and the November window a home game against A/F and a road match at B/E, which could mean a chilly game in Canada.
FIFA’s new window at the end of January 2022 has a home game against Honduras followed by the road game at Mexico, a jarring trip for players who will be in the middle of their European club seasons.
European club seasons are scheduled to end the weekend of May 22-23, except for the Europa League final on May 26 and Champions League final on May 29. Major League Soccer spokesman Dan Courtmanche said the league is reviewing whether to take breaks during the international windows.
CONCACAF had used the hexagonal for the final round of qualifying for the World Cups of 1998 through 2018. This year’s hex was to have started next month and included the region’s six highest-ranked nations, with Canada just missing out to El Salvador. Canada would have been among 30 teams competing to earn a berth in an intercontinental playoff.
But the coronavirus pandemic caused CONCACAF to announce a new format on July 27 that put the top five-ranked teams in the hex and gave the other 30 nations a chance to compete for three berths in the final round. Canada headed six teams seeded into firstround groups that play a single round robin, with two games each in October and November.