MU’s Kentrell Brothers shrugs off Butkus Award snub

Missouri senior linebacker Kentrell Brothers was miffed Monday when the Butkus Award announced its list of semifinalists and he wasn’t among the 10 players.

By the time Brothers knocked the ball from Mississippi State quarterback Dak Prescott’s grasp and blocked a punt during a first-half monsoon Thursday at Memorial Stadium, the snub no longer ate at him.

“I was kind of upset at first, but I’m kind of over it now …,” Brothers said. “If anything, it’s motivation. I like when people are like that. I’ve been doubted my whole life, and I’ve overcome a lot of things to get to where I am right now. That’s just another one of them.”

Brothers, a native of Guthrie, Okla., finished second in the SEC with 122 tackles as a junior last season.

Being the top returning tackler in the conference, the bar was set high, but Brothers largely exceeded expectations during the season’s first eight games.

He entered the week with 103 tackles, the most in the Football Bowl Subdivision by 12 and the most in the SEC by 17.

Half of the Butkus Award semifinalists are from the SEC, yet somehow Brothers isn’t among them.

“I think every linebacker who’s playing well thinks he belongs on that list,” Brothers said. “But sometimes, it just happens like that. They have some good players on there and their teams are in position to win some big games or some championship games.”

Brothers, who had 14 tackles against the Bulldogs, averages 13 tackles per game. No other player in the country averages more than 11.38 tackles.

“He is hands down — I’ve watched a lot of film, me and him have watched a lot of film — and I’ll tell you right now, he’s hands down the best linebacker in the country,” MU junior linebacker Michael Scherer said. “It’s not even close.”

Perhaps, but Brothers won’t win the Butkus Award, which has been given annually since 1985 to the best linebacker in the country.

The winner will come from the 10 semifinalists — LSU teammates Kendall Beckwith and Deion Jones, USC’s Su’a Cravens, Utah State’s Kyler Fackrell, Georgia’s Leonard Floyd, Stanford’s Blake Martinez, Ohio State’s Raekwon McMillan, Florida’s Antonio Morrison, Alabama’s Reggie Ragland and Notre Dame’s Jaylon Smith.

Most have considerably more name recognition nationally than Brothers and each also plays for a team with a winning record, but it’s unclear if those factors weighed into selecting the semifinalists.

Brothers chose not to quibble with any of the selections, opting instead for the high road.

“The linebackers they have on there are pretty good,” Brothers said. “It’s kind of a big deal, but it’s really not a big deal. As long as I can come out here and play with my teammates, that’s all I can ask for.”

Scherer remained ticked off about Brothers’ snub.

“You’ve got a kid that works so hard and performs the way that he performs and does the things and he does then he doesn’t make it?” Scherer said. “Maybe there’s a mistake or whatever. It just, I don’t get it. It doesn’t make any sense. There must be some outside factor in it.”

Brothers missed the fourth quarter at Kentucky with a sprained ankle and only had seven tackles against South Carolina, playing hurt the next week. That’s the only game this season he’s failed to reach double figures in tackles, so consistency can’t be the issue.

“It could be the fact that he wears Mizzou across his chest,” Scherer said. “I don’t know what it is, but there’s got to be something. There’s got to be something, because on the field he’s, hands down, the best linebacker in the country. … There’s a lot of teams that are going to be dying to have him come May or whenever the (NFL) Draft is.”

This story was originally published November 7, 2015 at 6:21 PM with the headline "MU’s Kentrell Brothers shrugs off Butkus Award snub."