Hometown hero Malcolm Butler may have made it in the NFL, but he hasn’t forgotten where he came from.

Butler’s positive representation of Vicksburg earned him a key to the city at a special ceremony held in his honor Saturday in front of hundreds at the Vicksburg Convention Center.

At the ceremony Butler was recognized by state Rep. Bennie Thompson and state Sen. W. Briggs Hopson III, who said the event included the most people he’s ever addressed in the Vicksburg Convention Center.

“I was so excited,” Hopson said, of watching Butler make the game winning play during the Super Bowl. “My whole family was jumping up and down.”

Also there to recognize Butler were some of his teachers from Vicksburg Junior High School and Vicksburg High School and coaches from VHS, Hinds Community College and University of West Alabama.

Lucy DeRossette, Butler’s eighth grade English teacher, said Malcolm has always been a special individual.

“There was a greatness about Malcolm at that time,” she said. “He had a specialness about him.”

DeRossette went on to tell a story about how Butler insisted on being called Mackum when he was in her class and said she and the rest of the class indulged this request.

“He didn’t care much about school and less about English, but he loved life,” she said. “I think you deserved this long ago; you were destined for greatness.”

Before the ceremony came to an end, Vicksburg Mayor George Flaggs Jr. recognized Butler and presented him with a key to the city.

“What does it mean for Malcolm Butler to be recognized in Vicksburg?,” he asked. “There’s a little boy who’s followed Malcolm around all day. He has 21 in his hair.

“Butler is a role model,” Flaggs said.

“I’ve never known anyone to stand in front of 14 million people and say I’m blessed, and I’m from Vicksburg, Mississippi,” he said.

Following the ceremony Butler hosted an autograph signing session for hundreds of fans.

It didn’t keep Diane and Vincent Carleo, of Dalton, Ga., at bay for too long. The Massachusetts natives drove into town for the parade when Diane heard about the festivities at a furniture trade show last week in Tupelo.

“I just want the chance to tell him, ‘thank you’,” Diane Carleo said. “You’ve done everything for me with this.”

Carleo’s fandom knows no bounds — she keeps a February 2008 issue of The Sporting News around to show what she says is an uncalled holding penalty against the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII that she says helped ruined the Patriots’ near-perfect season.

“They ruined it for us,” she said, adding Vincent’s favorite team, the Oakland Raiders, makes for pointed discussion. “We’ve been married 38 years and we still argue about Jim Plunkett.”