The Arizona Cardinals selected receiver Hakeem Butler with the first pick of the fourth round of the draft on Saturday. The former Big 12 standout from Iowa State finally gets to play for Kliff Kingsbury.
Butler, who piled up more than 1,300 receiving yards in 2018, wanted to play for him in college.
“I told (the Cardinals) when I met with them at the combine I wanted to go to Texas Tech.,” he said in a conference call after being drafted. “They didn’t offer me.”
Butler said Kingsbury referenced that conversation when the team called him to tell him he was being drafted.
“He just called me and said he wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice.”
Kingsbury saw Butler’s play personally. Butler tore up the Texas Tech defense in 2018, catching four passes for 148 yards and a touchdown. Kingsbury talked to Butler after the game to tell him what he thought of him.
“It was crazy,” Butler recalled. “After the game he came up to me and told me, ‘You’re a beast. I love you and I’m in love with your game.'”
Butler was overlooked once by Kingsbury. Not anymore.
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