Butler By'not'e Breaks Out

There were bigger names on Ohio State’s 1993 football team.

Joey Galloway, Raymont Harris, Bobby Hoying, Dan Wilkinson, and Korey Stringer.

There were other names on that year’s roster that would become much more famous: Mike Vrabel, Luke Fickell, and Terry Glenn.

Oh, and a young running back named Eddie George.

But on Sept. 18, 1993, the first Buckeye Pittsburgh had to worry about was Butler By’not’e.

And they didn’t have to worry about him for very long.

By’not’e took the opening kickoff and returned it 89 yards for a touchdown.

Just like that, Ohio State led 7-0.

Game on.

Or, in Pitt’s case, game already over.

Before the game, Ohio State coach John Cooper challenged the kickoff return team with a simple message: don’t let the return man get tackled. If they did, there would be extra running in practice.

By’not’e apparently had no interest in that. He took the kick, found a seam and was gone.

Later, he reminded Cooper that those extra gassers wouldn’t be necessary.

He was right.

Pittsburgh had bigger problems.

Ohio State scored four touchdowns in the first quarter and led 35-0 early in the second. By the time Pitt got on the scoreboard, the game was basically over.

The Buckeyes won 63-28.

Galloway scored three touchdowns. Harris scored. George scored on each of his first two carries. Ohio State rushed for more than 300 yards.

Plenty of stars had their moments.

But By’not’e had the first one.

And it wasn’t a fluke.

A week earlier against Washington, Ohio State was clinging to a 14-12 lead in the fourth quarter when By’not’e took a sprint draw 49 yards for a touchdown.

That play finally gave the Buckeyes some breathing room.

So in the span of seven days, By’not’e had a 49-yard touchdown run against Washington and an 89-yard kickoff return against Pittsburgh.

Not bad for a guy a lot of Buckeye fans probably don’t talk about much anymore.

That’s part of the fun of digging through old Ohio State games.

We remember the stars. We remember the All-Americans. We remember the Heisman winners.

But sometimes the guy who makes the game-changing play is somebody whose name has faded a little over time.

By’not’e could fly. He also ran track at Ohio State and was a three-time Big Ten champion as a member of the Buckeyes’ 4x100-meter relay team.

He later spent time in the NFL with Denver and Carolina. And years after his playing career ended, he returned to Ohio State and finished his degree, showing us that...

A player’s life doesn’t stop when the crowd stops cheering.

And neither does ours.

Most of us aren’t going to be remembered for everything we do. We probably won’t have statues built, records named after us or our highlights replayed 30 years later.

But that doesn’t mean our moments don’t matter.

Sometimes you get one opening. One chance to make the play. One opportunity to do something people remember.

And sometimes your name eventually fades anyway.

That’s okay.

The point was never to be remembered forever.

The point was to be ready when your moment came.

On Sept. 18, 1993, Butler By’not’e was.

Pittsburgh kicked off. He caught it.

And before a lot of fans had even settled into their seats, he was gone.