Jeff Butya: Penn State’s ‘Rudy’ left his mark on people on and off the field

The passing of Jeffrey Butya – local bar and grill manager, former rock ‘n roll roadie and perhaps most notably, one of the most unforgettable walk-ons in Penn State football history – brought forth an outpouring of sympathy and remembrances from those who knew him or frequented one of his Robinson Township establishments over the years.

And that certainly didn’t surprise his father, George, who witnessed how people just naturally gravitated toward his son from the time he was a young boy throughout his 65 years.

“People just always seemed to attach themselves to him,” he said of his oldest son, who died Friday, Feb. 7, due to complications from a stroke he suffered two months earlier.

“It seemed like they would end up glued together and end up being friends forever.”

Cassie Butya has seen and heard many comments about her brother-in-law since his passing, and she’s not the least bit surprised that his death has hit people so hard.

“He loved people and he loved to talk to everyone,” she said. “He loved to greet people – he definitely had the gift of gab.”

The 65-year-old Butya, who never married and had no children, spent most of his time at the All Star Sports Bar & Grill in Robinson Township – and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“He was very dedicated,” said Cassie Butya, who owns the place with her two sons, Ryan and Troy, and also owns a second location in Southpointe. “He wanted to be there from open to close. He just never wanted to leave. You could count on him.”

She characterized her brother-in-law as a people pleaser. “He always wanted to make sure everyone was happy,” she said. “He was a great front-of-the-house person. He’d go above and beyond for the customers, to make them happy.”

According to Cassie Butya, whose husband, Ken – Jeff’s younger brother – died in 2017, Jeff Butya never regained the ability to speak after he suffered a stroke on Dec. 2 that also left him paralyzed on the right side.

Prior to the stroke, Jeff Butya was working every day. “He pretty much dedicated his life to his businesses,” said Cassie Butya, noting that Jeff and Ken had bought Butya’s Tavern, a longtime eatery and watering hole off Route 60, from their uncle in the early to mid-1980s. They operated that establishment for years before relocating to the All Star Sports Bar & Grill, which Cassie and Ken owned, in 2008.

“Jeff was there from the beginning,” Cassie said of Butya’s tenure at All Star. “He didn’t really have any other activities. He didn’t want to leave the bar. We had to force him to take breaks – he was not happy taking breaks.”

George Butya said his son would even skip holiday family dinners to take care of the bar. “He never showed up because it was a good opportunity to clean the hood, or to do this and that,” he said. “We’d say, ‘Forget that bar – take a day off.’ But he wouldn’t listen to us.”

Cassie said her brother-in-law did take one extended break from the bar/restaurant business, and that was to work as a roadie for about a year for such acts as Fleetwood Mac and Barbra Streisand.

“Jeff somehow had become friends with Stevie Nicks’ manager and he traveled around with the band, helping with luggage and making sure the band had all the things they needed,” Cassie said. “He was so into things. He loved bands and music. For that year, that was his life. Anyone famous or popular, or who had a name, he got so excited about. He loved it.”

Jeff Butya achieved a level of fame in his own right, particularly among the Penn State football community. Although he wasn’t quite built for football, through sheer force of will he carved out a spot for himself on Coach Joe Paterno’s 1980 and 1981 squads, despite standing just 5-foot-6 and weighing only 165 pounds – and never rising above special teams duty at Montour High School.

Butya’s fairy tale story was chronicled by Penn State historian Lou Prato in a lengthy two-part feature that appeared in a publication called Blue White Illustrated in 2010. Prato notes that Butya was Penn State’s version of Rudy Ruettiger, a player of similar stature who made the Notre Dame practice squad in the mid-1970s and finally appeared in a real game at the end of his senior season. His exploits were featured in a 1993 film, “Rudy,” which became a major hit.

Butya, who absorbed a relentless pounding from his teammates during practice during his two years – causing many of them to question why in the world he was willing to do it – made his debut in an official game against Colgate in 1980. Penn State won that game, 52-10, and Paterno sent him in for the final kickoff.

“I couldn’t believe I was on kickoff coverage,” he was quoted in Prato’s article, “but I had worked hard in practice for more than a year. I think the kickoff went into the end zone, but I was just happy to be on the field.”

In Penn State’s 1981 season-opening win over Cincinnati, Butya landed the assignment of breaking up the opponent’s blocking wedge on kickoffs. The first five kickoffs traveled into the end zone, but on one second-half effort, the Bearcats were able to return it, and Butya carried out his mission.

“I went straight down and broke it up,” Butya told Prato. “Actually, the wedge hit me, and I got to see Beaver Stadium from my back. It’s a great view.”

Butya’s love and lifelong devotion to Penn State started as a young fan of Montour’s high-powered football program. Bob Phillips, who coached Montour to four WPIAL championships, later went on to become an assistant at Penn State. And several Montour grads, most notably All-America tight end Ted Kwalik and All-America quarterback John Hufnagel, enjoyed great success in the Blue and White.

“They were my idols,” Butya told Prato. “I’d walk through the woods with my parents and our neighbors and walk up the hill to the (Montour) games. Then, when they went to Penn State, we’d watch ‘Penn State Football Story’ on Sunday afternoons and all the games whenever they were on television. I’ve always loved Penn State.”

Butya was determined to play football at Penn State, despite his size and his modest success at the high school level. After graduating from Montour, he enrolled at Penn State Beaver, which had no football team, but he ended up playing baseball even though he never played it at Montour. He wound up being inducted into the Penn State Beaver Athletic Hall of Fame.

His next step was to write Phillips a letter in the early spring of 1979, asking if he could try out for the Nittany Lions football team. Phillips wrote back and told him what would be expected of him – a 40-yard dash time of 4.5 to 4.7 seconds. Butya’s best time was 5.0.

“I told myself I still had to find a way to get to Penn State,” Butya told Prato.

So he and two friends piled into a car one day and drove up to State College. One of those friends, Ed DeChellis, later would become the head basketball coach at Penn State and currently coaches at the Naval Academy.

DeChellis told Prato that everyone thought Butya – known to his friends as Booty – was crazy when he said he was going to walk on at Penn State. “I didn’t think he was crazy,” DeChellis said. “Booty was a very, very competitive person and a tough guy, the type you wanted to have on your team because he was so nasty … He was as tall as he was wide and very physical.

“He had this dream and he was a persistent guy, and he was going to camp out and do whatever he could to get his shots. I told the guys he’ll find a way to walk on.”

George Butya said his son never asked him if he could try to walk on at Penn State. “He just did it,” he said. “I said, ‘Jeff, do you realize what you’re going up against? You have to worry about your health and everything. He said, ‘Dad, I’m going to do it.’ And that was the end of it.”

George Butya said he met Paterno while he was on campus for a game, and the legendary coach shared his impressions of his undersized son. “He told me that (Jeff) had given him 200% effort every day in practice. He said even with his size, ‘The sky is the limit.’”

George Butya, who now resides in a community living center in Scott Township, said he would make the trek to State College to watch his son play – or at least roam the sidelines, as he didn’t see much playing time. “You could tell who he was – he stood out because he was so small,” he said. “But he would get emotional on the sidelines.”

Cassie Butya said her brother-in-law wasn’t shy about sharing stories of his Penn State days, but he talked about it less frequently as time went on. “If people brought it up, he’d talk about it,” she said. “He was definitely proud of that. He was all Penn State. He just lived for Penn State.”

Butya’s exploits on and off the field and at his different bar and grill stops left an impression on scores of people, many of whom posted comments on social media sites after learning of his death. One person wrote, “Jeff was absolutely always smiling. We used to hit the old Butya’s on (Route) 60 for Fish Fridays. Jeff greeted us every week and talked to my husband about his teams he coached. Then years later when we went into All Star he would come over to say hello. He was definitely a community celebrity. He will be missed. RIP Jeff.”

Butya’s Tavern attracted its share of sports celebrities; according to a story in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from January 1994, several Pittsburgh Penguins players including Rick Tocchet and Ulf Samuelsson, would occasionally stop in after games because Butya’s would keep the kitchen open late on game nights. Butya became close enough friends with one of the players – Norm Schmidt – that Schmidt invited Butya and his parents to Schmidt’s wedding in Canada.

Cris Winter, a local radio personality, posted her recollections of times spent at Butya’s Tavern in the late 1980s and early ‘90s. She recalled being at the bar and watching the Penguins pound Minnesota in the last game of the Stanley Cup finals in 1991. With the outcome no longer in doubt, Butya bolted for the airport to welcome the team home. “We were the first people at the airport,” Winter wrote in a Facebook post. “Within an hour it was sheer pandemonium. Little did we know it would take hours for the team to arrive (and) by that time the airport was completely packed – you couldn’t move. It was a hoot to see Jeff get dragged out of the mayhem by one of the Penguins coaches to board their bus and celebrate with the team.”

Cassie Butya said there will be no public viewing for her brother-in-law, who was born in Kennedy Township but lived much of his life in neighboring Robinson. However, she said she and her sons will plan a memorial get-together, but details haven’t yet been finalized.