"Come get your jacket, LeRoy." Leroy Butler finally puts on his gold jacket at the Pro Football Hall of Fame weekend

1 Oct 2000: LeRoy Butler #36 of the Green Bay Packers comes onto the field during the game against the Chicago Bears at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The …

1 Oct 2000: LeRoy Butler #36 of the Green Bay Packers comes onto the field during the game against the Chicago Bears at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Bears defeated the Packers 27-24.Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Daniel /Allsport

Posted: Aug 5, 2022 / 11:18 PM CDT

Updated: Aug 6, 2022 / 07:42 AM CDT

CANTON, Ohio (WFRV) – The Gold Jacket dinner is unlike anything you’ve ever been at. There is NFL history just brimming in every moment of every breath you take. For LeRoy Butler, it is a moment he’s been waiting for, for a very long time.

The longtime Packers safety and inventor of the Lambeau Leap slipped into that iconic gold jacket with the help of his wife, Genesis, and the smile on his face, you could see it all the way from Lambeau Field.

“I’m so excited for my family,” Butler told members of the media earlier on Friday after the Class of 2022 took a photo with the current members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. “I told my nephew, when you get inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame, doors open for you. When you win a Super Bowl, all doors open for you, when you’re a Pro Football Hall of Famer, heaven opens for you.”

Butler walked down a gauntlet of Hall of Famers before stepping to the stage to be honored with the rest of the Class of 2022. The joy and pride and respect from every single player and coach in the room was apparent all over the former Packers safety’s face. In that moment, everything he had ever dreamed of had come true.

Butler joins the likes of Brett Favre, Charles Woodson, James Lofton and Dave Robinson. Robinson and Lofton were at the photo session for all the Hall of Famers and had some words of wisdom for Butler and on just what it means to be a Green Bay Packer.

“The organization is unmatched,” Lofton said when asked if he thought the Packers would beat the Bears on number of players in the Hall of Fame. “Standing right here are players from the 60s and 70s, 70s and 80, and 90s and 2000s.”

Butler said the biggest reason he only ever played for one team was because of the fans in Green Bay. He said the loyalty of the fans is what makes playing for the Packers such an honor. Robinson agreed.

“The biggest honor I ever received, was after I had got my bust, and I had my Hall of Fame ring,” Robinson said. “And then we got back to Lambeau and I saw my name up there for generations to come. That was what brought chills to me.”

Butler will be a part of the enshrinement ceremony on Saturday at noon. He will be introduced by his wife, Genesis and his bust will be unveiled.