Patriots: Former player wants to spill the beans on Butler benching

Marquis Flowers, who was a linebacker with the Patriots during Super Bowl 52, said he plans to reveal the truth about Malcolm Butler’s benching one day.

One of the great mysteries surrounding the New England Patriots to this day revolves around a player no longer on the team. And now, another player who’s no longer on the team claims he has the answer to that mystery – but he’s not going to share it with the general public until he retires.

Marquis Flowers was a linebacker with the Patriots for just one year in 2017. Malcolm Butler was also with the Patriots that year, though his career in New England lasted a little longer – from 2014 to 2017.

Arguably the biggest event for the team that season was Super Bowl 52, a riveting back-and-forth shootout in the championship game that had New England quarterback Tom Brady setting records for passing yards in what was ultimately a losing effort against the Philadelphia Eagles.

The controversy that lingers over that game – and that season in general – mainly stems from the dramatic fall from grace suffered by Butler, the one-time hero with the game-saving interception off Russell Wilson in the waning seconds of Super Bowl 49. Butler went from Super Bowl savior and Boston-area legend to persona non grata in just a few short seasons, culminating in his mysterious benching for the start and then the full length of Super Bowl 52.

Caught on camera crying openly before the game began, Butler had to stand on the sidelines and watch helplessly as Eagles quarterback Nick Foles mercilessly shredded the Patriots defense and secondary for oodles of yards and points.

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick was asked after the game – and then many times for many months afterward – why he had benched his starting cornerback and kept him there in such an important contest. Belichick did what Belichick does with the media: he evaded the question with murky non-answers, only going so far as to say he did what he thought was best for the team, and acted in the interests of what he thought would help the team win a title ultimately.

If New England had beaten Philadelphia that day, no one would have cared why Belichick benched Butler. A little over a month after the Super Bowl, Butler signed a lucrative contract with the Tennessee Titans and both sides went their separate ways.

Because the Patriots lost, however, there still hangs a shroud of secrecy over just what transpired between Belichick and Butler. And now it appears that Marquis Flowers, who was teammates with Butler that year and who now plays for the Washington Redskins, is angling to solve that mystery once and for all… though not until he one day hangs up his cleats.

https://twitter.com/MFlowers59/status/1139524105596575744

Pressed further on the issue by a fan on Twitter who wanted answers here and now, Flowers seemed to backtrack on his claim… and in doing so, became a bit vague and mysterious in his own right.

Flowers’ statement that his information has nothing do with the Patriots’ coaches or players seems to somewhat contradict whatever exciting new information he apparently has ready to divulge.

Most fans have moved on from the Butler incident… particularly after New England emerged victorious just a season later in Super Bowl 53. But for any conspiracy theorists still losing sleep at night over what happened two years ago, they may just have to wait until Flowers – or another player/coach from that 2017 season – decides to open up on what occurred that fateful day.