| Keith Butler, LB
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"Our faith is everything." -- Keith Butler
Source: Inside the Seahawks, Vol. 1, Number 10, October 10,1986 - October 16, 1986
IS: Tell me about your marriage, your wife, your children.
KB: "I met my wife Janet at Memphis State and we've been married six years. I've got a son that's three, Blake, and a son that's nineteen months, Brandon. During the season Janet puts more work into it than I do because she knows the physical toll being a football player takes ... how tired I get... the bumps, the bruises. She mostly takes care of the kids, letting me concentrate on playing football and doing my very best."
IS: How do you and Janet maintain a sense of balance with all the attention you get as a football player?
KB: "We have a different perspective on that because we are both Christians and have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. That helps us keep our priorities in line with our lives. Our faith is everything. Our relationship with God is number one, second is our kids and families. God created us to glorify and worship him and we've been blessed in my job, being able to participate in football.
IS: What excites you about the game?
KB: "The challenge ... the competition. That's exciting because I realize my opponents are some of the best athletes in the world. To compete against them and win is very satisfying. Playing all these years has ingrained in me the competitiveness to go out there, win the game, get to the play-offs and eventually become the Super Bowl champion. As far as my career is concerned, that's foremost in my mind."
IS: Is that mental motivation, that attitude, one you acquired from your family while growing up in Alabama?
KB: "Well, yes, I grew up in a large family, having three sisters and two brothers who were very sports-minded, very competitive siblings. I can remembergettin' out in the backyard, playing one-on-one slow motion football until the sun went down, and my mother would make us come in and take a shower. That's the biggest thing that's helped me the most —my brothers and sisters and the parental support that I've had all my life ... my father coaching us all ... the boys in football and baseball and my sisters in softball. My father has meant a great, great deal to me, encouraging me to be competitive and to become the very best I can.
IS: Describe your parents.
KB: "My parents are just back home people from Alabama that have a lot of friends and get along with everybody down home. They're very even-keeled people, having the same perspectives in life that I do. They always encouraged me when I was down, when I needed a swift kick in the pants they gave me that too."
 
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