Iowa’s James Butler ready to live his dream

IOWA CITY — James Butler always wanted to go to Iowa. He always wanted to play for the Hawkeyes, swarm hand-in-hand with his teammates as 70,000 fans looked on.

After his football career took him west for three years and a degree in communications later, Butler finally will live out that dream on Saturday against Wyoming (11 a.m., BTN).

The graduate transfer from Nevada, who rushed for 3,313 yards in his first three years as a college football player, gets to take the first step toward proving if he can play at the Big Ten level once the first chord of 'Black in Black' hits and all the preparation this summer and fall gives way to live action.

Now he's just got to survive the last, long few days to get there.

'I feel like it's Thursday already, but it's only Tuesday,' Butler said through a smile Tuesday at the Hansen Performance Center. 'I'm living out my dream right now.'

Of course, he's not surviving through his days in Iowa City. The idea of living a dream is a mix of wanting to slow down and speed up time. Of course Butler wants to get to kickoff on Saturday at Kinnick Stadium, but he also knows he only is guaranteed 12 kickoffs wearing the Tigerhawk on his helmet.

The 'one day at a time' mentality is a cliché as old as coaches and players talking to media, but it gets more real when time is finite, as in Butler's situation.

That push and pull on him mentally can cause some anxiety, but Butler cited his age as a reason for why it won't be an issue. The benefit of experience says spending too much effort thinking about something you can't control — in this case, time — isn't really worth it.

'Being an older guy, you kind of know not to play the game before it's actually played,' Butler said. 'I know I'll be a little jittery walking out knowing there will be 70,000 people. I've never played in a game where 70,000 are cheering for me. That's going to be really cool to see.'

Butler has been something cool to see, too, through camp and into game week preparation, according to his head coach and teammates.

Kirk Ferentz has lauded Butler repeatedly this preseason for his composure and what he's brought to the team, much in the similar fashion to grad transfer Ron Coluzzi last year. Ferentz said the even-keel nature to Butler has helped him fit into the fold like he's been in Iowa City far longer than just a couple months.

Butler's credentials speak for themselves, and he was likely on his way to more Mountain West honors this year had he stayed at Nevada. Instead, he left when the coach who recruited him, Lester Erb — a former Iowa assistant — was shown the door along with former head coach Brian Polian following last season.

He gave up being the main guy to be at best No. 2 behind Akrum Wadley, and Ferentz said the attitude with which he's done that has lifted up the entire group. Wadley said this summer, 'the more the merrier,' in reference to Butler, and that has held true.

'He's got a real presence to him,' Ferentz said. 'He's not braggadocios or necessarily really outward, he's just got a good demeanor, a very positive demeanor. He's all business on the field. He's done a good job assimilating on our football team and did it in quick time. And then he's practiced well.

'He clearly likes competition. He's an excellent teammate. It turned out to be a really positive development for us.'

Butler's teammates aren't worried about him being too nervous or trying to do too much to prove something. He said Tuesday the way he's approached practice, and the game is, 'don't try to do anything outside of your body that you don't feel like is you.'

Offensive lineman Sean Welsh has seen Butler do just that. Like Ferentz, Welsh called Butler 'an even-keel guy,' and laughed when he recounted the story of Butler telling him there was a tremendous learning curve because 'I haven't noticed it in him.'

Butler has wanted this from a personal perspective since he was a kid coming to games and sitting in the stands. Now he wants it from a football perspective because it's a challenge he believes he can meet — and prove he's up for.

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'People say change changes you and if it doesn't challenge you then it doesn't change you,' Butler said.

'This has been challenging. I've been through ups and downs in camps, not knowing if I was going to be set on the depth (chart), nervous if I was going to play that much or what my role was going to be.

'Being patient and not forcing any issue (is important) — things are going to work out how they're going to work out. I've grown patience. I haven't always been very patient.'

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