Before Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler became the hero of Super Bowl XLIX, he was serving up fried chicken on Pemberton Square Boulevard.

Butler’s football career, as the world has learned since his game-sealing improbable interception late in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s Super Bowl, took a detour to the drive-through window at Popeyes in Vicksburg.

“He started out as a cashier when he was in high school,” Popeyes store manager Shennelle Parker said.

She was Butler’s supervisor long before Bill Belichick was his coach, and she taught him how to batter chicken, run a cash register and take drive-through orders before Butler ever stepped foot in training camp.

“It feels good knowing I worked with and trained somebody who went pro,” Parker said.

Before Sunday, Butler never drew much public attention outside Vicksburg, and his career certainly wasn’t associated with one of the country’s largest fried chicken chains.

“I had no idea he had worked here until Shennelle told me this morning,” Popeyes area manager Eric Lawrence said Monday afternoon as he was putting up a sign to congratulate the former store employee.

The rookie cornerback caught the attention of millions of people and set social media on fire with a goal line interception with 26 seconds remaining to give the Patriots their first Super Bowl victory in 11 years. NBC’s Al Michaels called Butler “the hero of the Super Bowl.”

So when Butler mentioned his former employer in a postgame interview, Parker couldn’t help but be proud.

“You don’t hear many people say, “I started from Popeyes,” Parker said.

Butler showed a strong work ethic, even as a high school student as he was learning the ropes of the chicken business, Parker said. He was always on time and eager to work.

Butler played just one season of varsity football for the Vicksburg Gators, but his showing was good enough to earn a scholarship offer from Hinds Community College. After half a season with the Hinds Eagles, Butler was kicked off the team for an off-field violation. So he went back to work at Popeyes.

“I stayed on Malcolm and talked to him and said ‘whatever you do, don’t give up.’ At one moment he gave up and was following that wrong crowd,” Parker said.

With the encouragement of his friends, family and co-workers, Butler took classes at Alcorn State University, got his academic qualifications back, and regained his roster spot at Hinds.

“The times I was sitting out of school, I was working at Popeyes and people used to just come by and be like what happened, what you going to do,” Butler told CBS This Morning.

By fall 2010, Butler had earned back his cornerback position at Hinds.

“Next thing I knew Malcom was in the pros,” Parker said.

It wasn’t quite that quick, but it sure seemed like it. Within two seasons Butler had signed with Division II West Alabama. There, he was a two-time All-Gulf South Conference Player. He went undrafted, but against remarkable odds tried out for and made the Patriots’ 53-man roster for this season.

Butler only played 184 snaps on defense this season for the Patriots, but the last one certainly counted the most as he intercepted Russell Wilson’s pass. At Butler’s former workplace, the crowd went wild.

“We were working last night but we were all talking about Malcolm, even the customers. When he got that final touch with the ball we were really excited,” Parker said.