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Sunday’s showdown between the Raiders and the Patriots was a bit of a grudge match for a few players who spent time under the watchful eye of Bill Belichick in New England before taking their talents to Las Vegas. That includes defensive lineman Adam Butler, who wasn’t afraid to call out his former head coach for supposedly snubbing him after the home team walked away with the win.
Butler spent four seasons in New England before linking up with the Raiders after a one-year stint in Miami, and he joined a Las Vegas team that currently features a number of other Patriots alumni, including Jimmy Garapollo, Brian Hoyer, and Jakobi Meyers (the last of whom made it clear he has some bad blood with the franchise that declined to bring him back in the offseason).
That offensive trio helped lead the Raiders to a 21-17 win over a Patriots team that fell to 1-5 on the season and is down worse than it’s been at any point during the Belichick Era. Maxx Crosby was undoubtedly the biggest factor on the defensive line, but Butler also did what he could to contribute to the cause with a couple of tackles (including one of the four sacks Mac Jones fell victim to during the game).
Belichick was obviously less than thrilled with how his team performed, and it’s pretty easy to understand why he wasn’t scrambling to engage in some casual chit-chat with members of the opposing team after the final whistle blew.
However, Butler made it clear he wasn’t thrilled with his former coach’s decision not to acknowledge his existence following the contest, as he had this to say while speaking with reporters in the locker room:
“It did make me very upset that Bill didn’t have the respect for me to say anything to me after the game.
Not even to congratulate me, tell me you look good, you don’t look good, kiss my a**—something. He didn’t say anything, so I kind of felt disrespected. It made me feel bad.”
He acknowledged Belichick did have “bigger things to worry about” than exchanging pleasantries with a former player, and based on what we know about the infamously ornery head coach, it probably would’ve been more surprising to hear he went out of his way to track down Butler in the immediate wake of the loss.