Thereafter, he played as a tackle, and was selected by Walter Camp to the 1912 College Football All-America Team.

The 1913 Badgers slipped to a 3–3–1 record, while some selectors again named Butler to the 1913 College Football All-America Team.

In 1915, Butler was recruited by Jack Cusack, manager of the Canton Bulldogs of the Ohio League (a predecessor of the National Football League), to bolster the Bulldogs' roster in their final game of the season, against the rival Massillon Tigers.

[8][9] The Bulldogs, who had lost to the Tigers two weeks earlier, 16–0, won the rematch, 6–0,[8] with all of Canton's points scored by Jim Thorpe.

[10] Butler married Lillian Eastlund, a fellow graduate of the University of Wisconsin, on December 31, 1918.