After coaching against him in the UFL, Wade Phillips says Hakeem Butler belongs in the NFL

After leading his team to the UFL title game, Wade Phillips made a point of singling out one of his opponents for praise.

Phillips, head coach of the San Antonio Brahmas, spoke to St. Louis Battlehawks wide receiver Hakeem Butler while the TV cameras rolled and told Butler that he belongs in the NFL.

“I’m going to tell everybody in the NFL that I talk to that you need to be playing,” Phillips told Butler. “You deserve it.”

A 2019 fourth-round pick of the Cardinals, Butler missed his entire rookie season with a broken hand and never played for Arizona, and he has played in only two regular-season NFL games, both with the Eagles, and never caught a pass.

But Butler was named to the All-UFL team with the Battlehawks this season and was one of the best players in the spring league. One of the reasons players sign up for spring football is because NFL scouts watch it. He may find himself in an NFL training camp thanks to his play in the UFL.