Two former Butler Grizzlies set to face off in the AFC Championship game Sunday
The Butler Grizzlies football team will be well represented in Kansas City on Sunday when the Cincinnati Bengals and the Kansas City Chiefs play in the AFC Championship game for a trip to the Super Bowl.
Zac Taylor, former Butler quarterback, has coached the Bengals to the AFC Championship for the first time in 31 years, while former Grizzlies wide receiver Byron Pringle is looking to return to the Super Bowl for the third straight time as a member of the Chiefs.
"It is very exciting to see two Grizzlies living out their dreams ont he biggest stage," said head football coach Brice Vignery. "So proud to know that they are part of our history and legacy of Butler Football,. They have done it the right way, the Grizzly way."
Pringle:
Pringle, who played for the Grizzlies in 2015 and helped the Grizzlies win the Jayhawk Conference, earned second team all conference honors while in El Dorado, finishing with 28 receptions, 432 yards and nine touchdowns as a member of the Grizzlies. After finishing his playing days with the Grizzlies, he moved to Kansas State University, where he was a breakout member of the Wildcats team. He was a Honorable Mention All Conference member in 2017, and in 2016 was the Big 12 Special Teams player of the week twice.
After his college days ended, Pringle went undrafted in 2018, but signed with the Chiefs as an undrafted free agent. After weeks on the practice squad, he had a breakthrough game in 2019 against the Indianapolis Colts, finishing with 103 yards and a touchdown on a nationally televised game at Arrowhead, cementing his place on a roster that would eventually win the Super Bowl.
Pringle has had another excellent season in 2021, and has been an integral part of the Chiefs returning to the AFC Championship for the fourth straight year. He scored touchdowns in the first two Chiefs playoff games, and has totaled nearly 600 yards of offense on the year while playing with one of the greatest quarterbacks in the world with Patrick Mahomes.
Taylor:
Taylor, the first ever Butler Grizzlies player to hold the title of head coach in the National Football League, played in El Dorado during the 2004 season. He led the Grizzlies to a Region VI title and an 11-1 overall record making it all the way to an appearance in the national championship game. Taylor was named NJCAA All-American after he passed for 2,682 yards and 27 touchdowns during that season. After Butler he would go on to have a successful career in Lincoln, Nebraska, playing for the Cornhuskers and being named Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year in 2006.
After his playing days, Taylor's coaching career began as a graduate assistant at Texas A&M. He made the jump to the NFL serving as the offensive coordinator of the Miami Dolphins the final five games of the 2015 season. Taylor dipped back into the collegiate ranks for a season in 2016 serving as the OC for the Cincinnati Bearcats. The next year he was back in the NFL with the Los Angeles Rams serving as an assistant in 2017 and 2018 when the Bengals came calling.
After two rebuilding years for the Bengals, Taylor has finally put it together. Building one of the youngest rosters in the league into an explosive offensive team. The Bengals are ranked fifth in the league in points this season, putting up 444 points in 17 games. Led by former Heisman winner Joe Burrow at quarterback and Rookie of the Year candidate Ja'Marr Chase, Taylor's offense has passed for almost 5,000 yards this season. Taylor has led the Bengals to 12 wins, a division title for the first time since 2015, along with two playoff wins over the Raiders in the wild card and the No. 1 seeded Tennessee Titans in the divisional round.
The two will face off in the AFC Championship on Sunday, January 30 at 2:00pmCT with winner advancing to the superbowl.