Sports: Football and Track & Field
Born: March 1, 1960
Town: Westfield, New Jersey
Harold E. Woolfolk was born March 1, 1960 in Milwaukee and moved to Westfield, NJ, as a teenager when his stepfather, William Johnson, took a job at Port Newark. “Butch” was already a track star at Eastside High School in Kankakee, so his arrival in the Garden State was a pleasant surprise for the Westfield High track team.
Butch was an intimidating runner at 6’2” and more than 190 pounds—a man among boys—and this caught the eye of football coach Gary Kehler, who already fielded a strong Group 4 squad. Butch went out for the Blue Devils and made the team as a junior. He played sparingly as a defensive back in 1976 for Westfield’s undefeated varsity and went on to destroy his track rivals the following spring. He was state champion in the 220, anchor of the state-champion relay team, and turned in lightning-fast times in the 100. As a junior and senior, he did not lose a single sprint.
As a senior in 1977, Butch joined Frank Kelly in the Westfield backfield, giving the offense two elite-level track athletes to carry the football. A third back, Owen Brand, was a sensational runner and blocker. Their big test came in an away game at Montclair in November. Both teams were 6–0 and Montclair hadn’t yielded a point. Butch rumbled for 262 yards and four touchdowns, including a 63-yarder, in a 35–0 wipeout.
In his final high-school game, Butch led Westfield to a 33–12 victory over Barringer High in the state Group 4 championship game. More than 30,000 fans filled the stands at the Meadowlands and saw Butch overcome a strained groin to score his 33rd and 34th touchdowns of the season, increasing his state-leading point total to 206. It ran the Blue Devils’ unbeaten streak to 24 games. Butch finished the 1977 season with the school record for rushing yards, eclipsing the mark held by Glen Kehler, the coach’s son.
Following Butch’s senior track season—during which he turned in the nation’s fastest prep times in the 100 and 200—he formed his own AAU track team, made up of his top New Jersey rivals. It included Ronaldo Nehemiah, Chris Persons and Bob Calhoun. It was called the New Jersey Flyers.
More than 100 colleges offered Butch athletic scholarships. He chose the University of Michigan, in part because football coach Bo Schembechler favored a ball-control offense, which played to Butch’s strengths. The Wolverines also agreed to continue his sprinting career. Butch saw limited action as a freshman, running for 371 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The physical demands of Big Ten football caught him by surprise, but he adjusted by his sophomore year and became Michigan’s featured back. Butch ran for 927 yards and score 13 touchdowns in 1979. His 92-yard touchdown run against Wisconsin set a school record.
Butch and receiver Anthony Carter led the Wolverines to a #4 national ranking as juniors in 1980. They beat Washington in the Rise Bowl and Butch was named MVP. Butch had his best season as a senior in 1981, running for 1,273 yards—including a 253-yard performance against Michigan State. He graduated with Michigan’s career rushing record with 3,861 yards. His final college game was the Bluebonnet Bowl against USC. He gained 186 yards in a 33–14 win and earned his second college bowl MVP.
Butch wrapped up his college track career in 1982. He led Michigan to the Big Ten outdoor title in 1980, ’81 and ’82 and the 4×100 relay team won the conference title in 1981 and ’82. Butch was the Big Ten champion in the outdoor 200 and indoor 300 as sophomore in 1980. That spring, he competed in the Olympic Trials but did not make the 200 team. Several of the records he set stood for decades.
Butch was delighted to be selected in the first round by his hometown team, the Giants. In his strike-shortened first season, he ran for 439 yards and showed his developing pass-catching and kick-returning skilled to finish third in the NFL in all-purpose yards and earn Offensive Rookie of the Year honors. In 1983, Butch racked up 1,225 yards from scrimmage—the most in a decade by a Giants runner. New coach Bill Parcells gave him plenty of touches, including 43 carries in a November game, which set an NFL record.
The emergence of Joe Morris in 1984 relegated Butch to backup duty and the Giants traded him to the Houston Oilers after the season. Quarterback Warren Moon made the most of Butch’s soft hands, and he led the team with 80 receptions. He shared the backfield with fellow New Jerseyan Mike Rozier and the pair combined for more than 800 rushing yards. In his second season in Houston, Butch became more of a traditional fullback, but still was the Oilers’ most productive receiver. A shoulder injury in 1986 concerned the team enough to draft Alonzo Highsmith in 1987 and Butch was released. After failing to make the Browns roster, he caught on with the Detroit Lions that fall and had a good year, but the following season he injured his knee, ending his pro career in 1988.
Butch had dabbled in real estate investing while playing in Houston and quickly built a highly successful second career as a builder in Texas. When the Houston Texans joined the NFL, he served as a community ambassador for the club. His son, Troy, became a star defensive back for Michigan. His final game was a 23–20 victory over Virginia Tech in the 2012 Sugar Bowl.