When Malcolm Butler arrived in Arizona two years ago for Super Bowl XLIX, the hordes of reporters at media day might have mistaken him for a fan in a customized New England Patriots jersey.

The Vicksburg native was a backup cornerback who had barely played during the team’s playoff run. The rookie free agent was inactive for a few games during the regular season. He didn’t make an interception during the 2014 season, and his highlight reel was sparse.

Fast forward two years, and Butler was a man in demand when the Patriots and the media assembled in Houston this week to begin the run-up to Super Bowl LI.

Butler’s game-clinching interception against the Seattle Seahawks two years ago will live forever in NFL lore, but since then he has emerged as one of the league’s best cornerbacks. He was voted to the Pro Bowl last season, and on Sunday his coverage of Atlanta Falcons star receiver Julio Jones will be one of this Super Bowl’s most intriguing matchups.

It’s a remarkable rise from obscurity that wasn’t lost on the former Vicksburg High star.

“That year, I did not know what was going on. Everything was going fast. I was just a rookie, and I did not know what to expect,” Butler said at Super Bowl media day earlier this week. “This year, it is the complete opposite. I have a role in the game. I am expected to play. People kind of have an idea of who I am, and I will be able to prepare better because I know what is coming. I am just looking forward to Sunday.”

Butler spent most of his first Super Bowl appearance on the bench. Other than some special teams plays and a few situational packages, he barely played until the fourth quarter. Then he was subbed in to prop up a struggling New England secondary and became a breakout star in one 15-minute span.
Butler knocked down three passes, was on the wrong end of a circus catch by Seattle’s Jermaine Kearse on the final drive, and picked off Russell Wilson at the goal line to seal the Patriots’ 28-24 victory.

The next few months were even more chaotic. He became an instant celebrity who appeared as a presenter at the Grammys, in parades at Disneyland and Disney World as well as his hometown of Vicksburg, and numerous other places.

“We all fantasize and have a vision of making a big play and things like that, but sometimes we think if we dream too big and it’s never going to happen. It most definitely happened to me,” Butler said. “I didn’t have it in my mind that way, but it happened that way.”

The play that launched his career into the stratosphere, however, has also been something that Butler has spent the past two years trying to escape the shadow of. He knows he’ll be linked to that moment forever, but the struggle to be known as one of the NFL’s best young players and not just someone who got lucky once has defined the last two years of his career.

He said the desire to keep pushing is hard-wired into him, and has helped him improve.

“It is in me. It is built in me. I always want more. I always work hard. I always want to be the best, and the hard work will pay off,” Butler said. “I have seen numerous players known for one play — they make a big play and fall off the map. I just put in my mind that I refuse to be one of those guys, which I did not have doubt of anyway. I just kept building, kept working and just ignored the noise. I just kept working, and it has turned out great.”

Indeed it has.

Butler moved into the starting lineup for the 2015 season opener and has started every game since. He had two interceptions in 2015, four in 2016, and has earned a reputation not only as an excellent cover corner but as a guy willing to be physical and make tackles.

Butler had 48 tackles this season, which ranked in the top 20 among all NFL cornerbacks. His 21 pass deflections tied for sixth-most in the league.

“I had to work hard to get to this point, and I just continue working and listen to my teammates,” Butler said. “I have taken advice from my coaches, built off momentum — practicing hard every day and watching film. I have been doing all those things to be the No. 1 cornerback on anybody’s team. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication.”

This Sunday might be the biggest game of Butler’s life, and not just because it’s an opportunity to help the Patriots win their second Super Bowl in three seasons.

Butler usually covers the opponent’s top receiver and this Sunday he will be matched up often on Jones, the 6-foot-4, 220-pound physical freak who led the NFL in receptions and receiving yardage in 2015. Jones had 83 receptions for 1,409 yards and six touchdowns in the 2016 regular season as the Falcons led the league in scoring.

How well Butler does his job might be the deciding factor in whether the Patriots can slow down the Falcons enough for their own prolific offense to control the game.

“I do not know if I will be checking him or anything like that. Whatever I am told to do, I am going to go out there and do it to help my team win. It is more than one player on a team. It is more than Malcom Butler and Julio Jones. It is 10 other players out there. It is a team game, and we are ready to play team ball,” Butler said.

Covering Jones is a test for Butler not just in an X’s and O’s sense, but to see how far he’s come as a player. If his first Super Bowl made him a household name, an excellent performance in this one might make him a legend.

Butler tried to downplay the bigger picture during the NFL’s opening night media extravaganza in Houston. His focus, he said, was squarely on playing four good quarters instead of one this time around and getting the Patriots their fifth Lombardi Trophy.

“It was an awesome journey. I am most definitely known for that play — making one of the greatest plays in Super Bowl history. It helped my career. That is pretty much all I can say,” Butler said. “I got us a ring, and we are just here. I am worried about this Super Bowl, and we are trying to win this as a team.”