I don’t know if Butler has a chance at ever making the Hall because I don’t know enough about the secretive voting process. But I do know if Atwater deserves to have his case heard by the committee, then Butler does, too.

Part of Butler’s problem is the safety position is the Hall’s red-headed stepchild. There have only been seven pure safeties elected to the Hall in 53 years. In the past 27, only one player who spent most of his career at safety, Minnesota’s Paul Krause, has been fitted for a yellow jacket. And even though Krause is the NFL’s all-time interceptions leader, it took him 14 election cycles to get in.

Further complicating Butler’s candidacy is the competition at his position. Two more of his 1990s contemporaries at safety, Darren Woodson and John Lynch, have received Hall consideration and some well-known newer faces — Troy Polamalu, Ed Reed and Brian Dawkins — will become eligible in the next few years.

Perhaps Butler’s candidacy has suffered because he was overshadowed on his team by Favre and defensive end Reggie White, both first-ballot Hall of Famers. Maybe if Green Bay had beaten Denver in Super Bowl XXXII, giving it two NFL titles in the 1990s instead of Denver, Butler would be viewed differently. Or maybe Butler’s career numbers would be harder to ignore if his career hadn’t been cut short by injury.