"Honestly, I enjoyed it a lot," Leslie said. (Carolina), Brandin Cooks (New Orleans) on the scout team to give cornerbacks Desmond Trufant and Robert Alford good looks. Leslie’s time on the practice squad a year ago included cameos as Allen Robinson (Jacksonville), Ted Ginn Jr. Leslie signed a futures contract with the Falcons in January worth a non-guaranteed $450,000 this season and $540,000 next season. That’s my best friend."īutler's meteoric rise resulted in a five-year, $92 million contract last summer. I think the brotherhood that we have, we’re always there for each other when one of us needs to talk or when one of us needs anything. "He’s extremely fortunate to have the people that he has in his life, and I’m fortunate to have him in mine. Throughout the journey, Butler never neglected the impactful relationship he established with Leslie. He went on to star at Marquette and become a first-round draft pick of the Bulls in the 2011 NBA Draft. Add Butler to the mix and you had a whole squad.īutler stayed with the family throughout his time attending junior college in Texas. Then she married Michael Lambert, who had three kids of his own, and the couple had another child. Leslie’s mother, Michelle Lambert, had three children with Leslie’s father, who died. "I kept asking my mom, 'Can he stay another night? Can he stay another night?' And then finally I was like, 'Can he live with us?' I have a lot of respect for my mom, because that’s kind of a big thing, to take in another person. "So I was like, 'Just come over,' and he came over and stayed the night just about every night," Leslie said. Leslie immediately became well aware of Butler’s living situation. He was a senior, I was a freshman, but you couldn’t tell the difference with the way we pushed each other." "From then on, we were just kind of best friends. "There’s a lot of discrepancy about who won, but I’m going to say I won," Leslie said with a laugh. "He’ll probably say the other thing, but I definitely won. Butler bounced around until the summer before his senior year of high school, when he forged a friendship with Leslie during a shooting contest at basketball camp. The story has been well-documented how Butler was kicked out the house by his mother at age 13 and, without a father, found himself a homeless teen growing up in Houston. Somebody’s going to see it and somebody’s going to give him a good chance." But the hard work and the dedication, he’s got that. Nobody thought I’d be where I am right now. "Atlanta will see, man, if they give my guy a shot, he could turn out the way I turned out," Butler said of Leslie. Maybe Leslie is a longshot to make the roster, but he was one of 27 Falcons who joined quarterback Matt Ryan for workouts in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, recently. Jordan Leslie isn’t a household name just yet, but the former BYU and UTEP wide receiver who went undrafted is trying to earn recognition after spending time on the Falcons’ practice squad last season. It has everything to do with pulling for the guy Butler calls his little brother the guy who will start offseason workouts with the Atlanta Falcons come Monday. No, it has nothing to do with rooting against LeBron James and the bitter rival Cavs. Jimmy Butler can only watch when the NBA playoffs begin this weekend, but the Chicago Bulls two-time All-Star still will have something to cheer about despite missing the postseason. NBA All-Star Jimmy Butler rooting for 'little brother' on Atlanta Falcons You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browser
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