The New England Patriots are not an easy team to root for.

They win all the time. Their coach ranks somewhere between Darth Vader and the shadiest used car salesman you’ve ever met on the likability scale. And then there’s all of the cheating — sorry, alleged cheating — that the team has engaged in over the years. The Patriots have had more gates associated with their name than a picket fence company.

And then they had to go and ruin all of the bad will they’ve built up by signing a guy like Malcolm Butler. His story might not get as much press this Super Bowl week as deflated footballs, equipment guys stopping for bathroom breaks, or the cryptic wisdom of Marshawn Lynch, but it should.

For those not familiar, Butler went from Vicksburg High to Hinds Community College, where he got into trouble and was kicked out of school. It should have been a dead end. A lot of people would’ve whined about their bad break or about how the coaches did them wrong and never amounted to anything.

Not Butler. During his hiatus from Hinds, he worked the drive thru at Popeye’s and got tired of answering questions from the people who came through his window about what he was doing these days. He realized his mistakes, got his life and priorities in order, and made a vow to make something of his life.

He showed enough to Hinds’ coaches to earn a second chance, and made the most of it. He became an all-state cornerback at Hinds, was all-conference at Division II West Alabama, and got a shot to make the Patriots’ roster as an undrafted free agent — which he did with an outstanding training camp.

Butler isn’t a superstar yet. He was inactive for a few games this season and plays mostly on special teams and as an extra defensive back on passing downs. He has contributed to the Patriots’ success, though, and seems on his way to having at least a solid NFL career.

On Sunday, he’ll live out every football player’s dream when he runs through the tunnel at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, to take the field for Super Bowl XLIX against Seattle. That’s a long way from taking orders for a three-piece chicken and biscuit in the drive thru.

Not everyone can have the level of success Butler has had, of course, but it’s all relative. Butler’s story is as much about never giving up, believing in yourself, and putting yourself in the right position to make good decisions. Do all that, and you can’t help but succeed in life. Even if it just makes you a better person, Butler’s journey is one to take inspiration from.

That’s why, on Sunday, even if the Patriots aren’t quite America’s team, they should be Vicksburg’s team. I know I’ll be rooting not just for the hometown guy made good, but taking lessons from what it took to get him there.

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Ernest Bowker is a sports writer. He can be reached at 601-619-7120 or by email at ernest.bowker@vicksburgpost.com