MitchMash: Female football player is queen of kicks

ANTIOCH, Calif. – It could get a little clumsy when they crown the Homecoming Queen at Antioch High School Friday night.

She might be wearing a football helmet.

Dallas Butterfield, a spry and bright-eyed third-year starting placekicker on the Panthers’ varsity team, is one of six finalists for the coveted crown that will be present at halftime of Antioch’s game with Freedom. 

While the other gals will be dolled in makeup and glitter and pumped in pumps and sequence and other elegant attire, Butterfield will proudly sport the black mesh and burnt gold of the mighty Panthers — along with clunky knee, hip and shoulder pads, of course.

Though the slender 5-foot-10, 130-pound senior — it’s right in the program folks — can’t possibly match style or chic points with the rest of the princesses, she definitely has some home field advantages.

The eye black really does block out the glare of the bright lights and her cleats – c’mon – ever try to manage turf and the red carpet in heels? And look like Cinderella?

Edge Butterfield!

To all of it, the athletic and good-natured 17-year-old blonde offers an easy giant grin.

“Honestly, it doesn’t matter to me if I win or not,” she said Tuesday at practice. “It’s just an honor to be in the top six. I’ll be much more nervous about the game.”

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The jittery one may be her boyfriend, Jon Myers, who is also a football player, a 6-2, 200-pound senior linebacker. Myers is the team’s co-captain, second-best tackler and undisputed leader in humility.

“I get to escort her,” he said sheepishly.

Like everything else here, it’s all a little backward.

The Homecoming King is supposed to be escorted by the cheerleader at halftime, not the linebacker arming the kicker.

And though the handsome Myers may indeed be the school’s King — Antioch calls it “Mr. Panther” and votes for it during the winter — he’s secure enough to play a backup role to in the fame game.

 “She’s been on varsity longer than me so she’s definitely doing something right,” he said grinning.

Butterfield is already something of a local celebrity, having been the subject of features in Bay Area newspapers and television stations.

The hook has been her breaking gender grounds, displaying the grit and athleticism — she’s already accepted an athletic scholarship to play soccer and run track at NAIA school William Jessup University in Rocklin, Calif. – to compete in an almost exclusive all-male sport.

The girly twist of Homecoming Princess now adds a new but not unprecedented angle.

The earliest football player/Homecoming Queen we found was Sally Phipps, a kicker for the 1993 Spanish River (Boca Raton, Fla.) team.

This season, Labette County (Altamont, Kan.) freshman Shelby Reazin plays special teams for the football team and was nominated for Homecoming Queen and in Hope, N.D., Finley-Sharon senior Alicia Patton is a safety and receiver for the Spartans’ 9-man team.

The night Patton was crowned Homecoming Queen last month she intercepted a pass in her first varsity game.

We’re not sure if they immediately changed the name of the North Dakota competition to “9-person”  football, but it still made for an awfully good tale.

Butterfield said she could imagine an even better one on Friday.

“Well, I guess I could win at halftime, then kick the game-winning field goal,” she said. “Now that would be a pretty good story.”

In terms of courage, fighting fear and improving gender relations, this one is already worth telling.

Tears and fears

Athletics run deep in the Butterfield family. Her dad, Mike, was a lineman at Antioch in the late ‘80s and her uncle, Mark, starred at quarterback, earning a scholarship to Stanford before a brief stint with the Chicago Bears in the early and mid-90s.

Butterfield’s mom, Kristi, is a sargeant in the sheriff’s department and is also a fitness instructor.

“She’s definitely a role model when it comes working around a lot of men,” Butterfield said.

So, it wasn’t such a far-fetched idea to try out for the football team when she was a freshman. “I thought about going out for a regular position and then changed my mind,” she said. “I was kind of afraid to do it.”

When a special teams coach approached her about coming out before the following season, “At first I was like noooooo, but then I just ended up doing it.”

That was the moment of truth, however. When her mom drove her to the first summer practice, she cried. “I was just so nervous,” she said. “I remember getting out of the car and just convincing myself to quit crying.”

Butterfield almost welled up recalling what came next. 

“I came up on the field and there was like 10 players and they all just said, ‘hey, what’s up,’ and they introduced themselves,” she said. “They were so nice and welcoming. That’s when I realized there was nothing to be afraid of.”

The gesture wasn’t phony. Butterfield hasn’t been fearful from that day forward. 

“Honestly, I thought everyone would be mean to me and ignore me because here’s this girl trying to pay their sport,” she said. “But they actually welcomed me with open arms.”

Nick Novero, a scary-looking but teddy bear of a 6-3, 275-pound guard, said he was somewhat pessimistic Butterfield would tough it out.

But being a fellow sophomore, he also felt isolated and thought he could make a friend.

“I remember thinking, ‘wow, can she handle being the only girl on a team with all guys?’ “ he said. “But you know what she did. All three years she’s so well liked and respected. She’s been amazing. She’s just a great person. She always works hard in whatever she does and works just as hard as any of us.”

It’s made it very easy for teammates to block for her.

“I think we’re kind of protective for her anyway because she’s a female,” Novero said. “But also obviously we’re blocking because she’s kicking our PATs and field goals. It’s important for the team.”

Butterfield kicked four field goals with a long of 37 yards over the next two seasons and 38 extra points. This season she’s made 16 extra points in 18 attempts and not attempted a field goal.

Her coach, Randy Autentico, hasn’t called on her yet not because he lacks confidence in her. “She’s very reliable up to 35 or 40 yards,” he said.

More so, she’s reliable as a teammate.

“She’s just one of the players, but she happens to be a girl,” he said. “I think as simple as that sounds it’s a very high compliment. She’s never asked for any special privileges. She’s just a great person to be around.”

The feelings are mutual, Butterfield said. She looks forward to every day of practice and the games. It’s like a big family gathering, she said.

“I think my sophomore year, all the guys were like older brothers to me,” Butterfield said. “And now they are like younger brothers to me.”

Obviously there is one major exception: her boyfriend.

A love story

Myers was a sophomore on the JV team when Butterfield joined the varsity. He’d heard about her and read the stories “but I didn’t know who she was. I just saw her in uniform and shoulder pads and that little blonde pony tail sticking out the back of her helmet.

“That’s all I ever saw.”

But the following summer, during weight lifting training, he and Butterfield struck up numerous conversations.

“We laughed a lot,” he said. “She was just really cool. I liked her. What can I say?”

The two began dating last season, which caused an immediate stir among the team.

“Oh, they let me have it,” Myers said. “It was kind of awkward for sure. There were lots of jokes but it’s all been a lot of fun.”

Said Novero: “We roughed both of them up quite a bit, but they took it in stride.”

Myers had to have thick skin to take the banter, plus stay cool with the 40-to-1 boy-to-girl ratio on the team. Teammates certainly were going to mingle with Butterfield. Didn’t that ever cause some jealousy?

“No, we’re all like family, so there’s a trust for sure,” Myers said.

Said Butterfield: “Jon has never told or asked me not to talk to someone on the team. But there are times I can see there might be some jealousy, but it’s never been a problem.”

On the flip side, both have seen it as a major plus in their relationship.

“I know in a lot of relationships at school with people who play sports, it’s hard to see one another,” Butterfield said. “But we play the same sport, we go to the same places, we ride buses together, we hang out at the games and after practice. I think it helps.

“Plus, I get to see him around his friends.”

Males have been known to get a little silly amongst their own. See any movies involving men and Las Vegas.
But Myers, a 3.5 student, appears to have the confidence and balance to walk the delicate and difficult line of dutiful boyfriend and faithful co-captain. Likewise, Butterfield walks the same line with Myers and teammates. 

“Sounds corny, but we’re really like best friends,” Myers said.

He will show a protective side in games, however. Especially afterward when Butterfield removes her helmet, flips her locks and offers a soft-handed handshake.

“The other team often will do a double take,” Butterfield said. “They’ll go, ‘Wait, what is this? You were playing?’ Then some will be like, ‘oh, hey baby, let me get your phone number?’ “

Myers said he heard such comments only once and he about came unglued.

“I told the guy, ‘what did you say to No. 12?’ and he just kind of ran and hid,” Myers said.

Myers is also on the PAT team and blocks for Butterfield. He said luckily no one has ever taken a cheap shot at her and dreads the day.

“I just hope that day never comes, otherwise I might be going to jail,” he said.

Crowning season

Butterfield is dreading Antioch’s final game this season, because she won’t get to kick in college.

Not a football anyway. William Jessup doesn’t have a team.

“If they did, I would definitely walk on,” she said.

Butterfield said that taking that frightful step with her strong right leg onto the football field has changed her life, all for the better.

And that’s not even counting Myers.

“It’s just given me so much more confidence in everything I do,” she said. “My freshman year I was so shy and scared to talk in front of people. I didn’t know how to talk to boys. After my sophomore year, I realized I’ve been so much more outspoken with friends and I have more friends because of it.”

She’s gained fans, too, especially younger females.

Moms often approach Butterfield after games and say she is a great role model for their daughters.

“They say their daughter wants to play football, too,” she said.

Perhaps, most important, Butterfield thinks playing football at Antioch will benefit her future relationships with men, especially if she enters a male-dominated field.

“I know better how they interact with each other and how they interact with (females),” she said.

In that regard, her teammates have been good role models, too, which is no minor deal.

Disrespectful male behavior toward females among teens is a rapidly growing concern among educators and football players and teams – with all that muscle and all that testosterone – often get a bad rap, deserved or not.

So, no matter how their season winds down for the Panthers – they are 3-3 and face the meat of their schedule the last three weeks — they’ll grade out quite positive in this gridiron of gender relations.

For that they deserve a rousing ovation. Or maybe even a crown of some sort.

E-mail Mitch Stephens at mastphens@maxpreps.com.