Former Packer LeRoy Butler Makes Fighting Breast Cancer His Cause

It all started with a young lady who put a pink ribbon on the LeRoy Butler No. 36 Packers jersey she wore to a game in 1998.

She caught the attention of Butler, then the Packers' star defensive back, who asked what the ribbon was all about. After he got the answer, the woman provided Butler with some statistics regarding breast cancer.

They hit home for the all-pro safety.

"I had two daughters at the time — I have four now — and I didn't want to wait until one of them was diagnosed with breast cancer," said Butler, now an Oak Creek resident, in an interview with Oak Creek Patch.

So he started getting involved with the cause, working with groups like Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the American Cancer Society.

About four years ago, he took another step and founded the LeRoy Butler Foundation.

Butler said the foundation does a variety of events to help raise money, such as golf tournaments, dinners, softball tournaments, bowling events. Butler himself is often around the area doing autograph signings, like last week at Wheaton Franciscan Hospital, and donates items that can be used in charity raffles and auctions.

The foundation is different than other groups because the money goes directly to women who need it, Butler said, as opposed to research. They work with hospitals to help find women who are struggling financially, likely because they have spent so much on treatment and prescriptions.

And that's the part Butler likes the most.

"I think it's fun to help out women that need help," he said.

Butler said the economy hampered efforts, but Packers memorabilia goes a long way to helping raise donations.

Butler was one of the most well-known and well-liked Green Bay Packers players of the 1990s, including the Super Bowl champion team of 1997, before retiring prior to the 2002 season.

Perhaps his most famous contribution, however, is inventing the Lambeau Leap on an interception returned for a touchdown in 1993.

For more information on his foundation, check out LBF36.org.