Just a month after his fellow offensive star featured on IU’s last Rose Bowl team, Jade Butcher has passed away.
Considered one of the top receivers to ever play for Indiana, Butcher was a 1969 first team All-American.
Butcher was a key piece of the 1967 Hoosier squad. He helped lead a Hoosier offense that marched all the way to the Rose Bowl and turned in a 9-2 season. His teammate and fellow IU Hall of Famer John Isenbarger passed a month ago.
A Bloomington native, Butcher was a two-time All-Big Ten selection for the Hoosiers, earning the distinctions following his junior and senior seasons. Butcher is second on the all-time list in receiving touchdowns for the Hoosiers, with 30 catches for scores in his three-year career. His trio of 10-touchdown reception seasons in 1967, 1968 and 1969 are tied for the fourth best seasons all-time.
In his first team All-American final season, Butcher produced 37 receptions for 552 yards and 10 touchdowns, and participated in the North-South Game and Hula Bowl following the year. Butcher led the Hoosiers in receiving all three years he played at IU.
Butcher and the late James Hardy are the only Hoosiers to have scored 10 touchdowns or more in more than one season.
He held Indiana records for passes received (119) and reception yardage (1,919), touchdowns (30) and points (180) at end of his career, and also held IU season records for touchdowns (10, all three years). He set a then Big Ten record with 30 career touchdown catches.
Butcher was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in 1970.
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