Note: This story originally ran in the Oct. 24, 2015 Louisiana Tech Football Game Program as the Bulldogs hosted Middle Tennessee. It is reprinted here in advance of the NFL Draft.

RUSTON, La. - Before every football game, Vernon Butler has an important decision to make ... deciding which pair of Ray-Ban sunglasses he wants to wear.

He started this game day tradition of donning the classically cool eyewear en route to the stadium his freshman season in 2012.

A couple of years before that, Butler made another critical choice, one that did not involve his wardrobe style. He opted to trade in a basketball for a football.

"I was a basketball player before football," Butler said. "I was always on a basketball court. Then I figured I wasn't going to get any taller. I wanted to be at least 6-10, but that wasn't happening so I came onto the football field and started playing defensive end my junior year of high school."

After all, basketball was in his genes. His dad played from 1981-83 at Northeast Louisiana University (now ULM). He was a shooting guard for an Indians team that made it to the NCAA Tournament in '82. The next year, he played against the likes of future NBA Hall of Famers Karl Malone and Joe Dumars.

So "Little Vern" decided to take his athleticism to the football field at North Pike High School and immediately wreaked havoc at a modest 245 pounds.

Then his senior year, he came back from the offseason weighing 270 pounds and recorded 12 sacks for the Jaguars which ranked 37th in the state of Mississippi.

While wearing a pair of dark shades, Butler made another impactful choice on signing day and that was to leave the Magnolia State and sign with Louisiana Tech.

"When I came on my visit it felt like home," recalled Butler, who also had offers from in-state schools Southern Miss, Mississippi State and Ole Miss. "It didn't feel like that at the other places. Summit is like Ruston in a lot of ways. Downtown looks exactly the same. The staff, the players, they all had a good vibe too. They were fun to be around."

Having fun off the field was right in Butler's wheel house. A self-proclaimed people person, he is always laughing, pranking people and having a good time.

"We just loosen up," Butler chuckled. "With football, we are always uptight so we try to have a good time. But when you are on the field, it is all business. The way I see it, the man across from me is trying to stop me from doing what I have to do to help my team. I can't have him stop me. It is okay to have fun off the field, but on the field, it is all business."

The business of being a Bulldog quickly started for him as a true freshman, now up to 300 pounds and moved to defensive tackle behind the likes of Justin Ellis and Shakeil Lucas.

Even though his size was proof enough, Butler quickly earned his new nickname the old fashion way.

"Kendrick James gave me my nickname," Butler said. "He gave it to me freshman year. I remember I had made a play and he said, `I can't call you Little Vern anymore. I'm gonna call you Big Vern.' It has stuck with me ever since then. Everybody calls me Big Vern."

Don't let the nickname fool you though. It is one thing to just be big. It is another to be big and extremely athletic.

Combining with his physical gift was the opportunity during the early parts of his college career to play and learn alongside some other great defensive linemen at LA Tech, or as they call it D-Line U.

"It really made me the player I am now because they came out to practice and before and after, I just got with them and they helped me on my steps, my hands, my get-off," Butler said. "Justin Ellis and IK [Enemkpali] always helped me with that stuff. We would go over film together and they would tell me what I need to work on.

"They helped me out a whole lot. It made me ready for the challenge to step in their place. I was ready to show people what I could do."

Fast forward to his senior year and Butler is now 316 pounds and faster, stronger, quicker and mentally stronger than he has ever been.

To give an example of just how athletic the defensive tackle is, he played every single snap in the three hour and 40 minute marathon at Western Kentucky. As if that was not enough evidence, he turned around the following game and played every defensive snap at Kansas State in a game that went to triple overtime.

There was also the Louisiana-Lafayette game where he flat-out dominated the man across from him on practically every possession.

"I saw Vernon Butler take his offensive lineman and put him on roller skates," Skip Holtz said in the post-game press conference. "That is what Vernon does. He is a load. When Vernon wants to get three yards deep into your backfield, you are not stopping him. It does not matter if you are double teaming him. He is a big, powerful man."

After the lopsided victory over the Ragin' Cajuns, as is the case with every victory, "Big Vern" threw on his Ray-Bans in the locker room and danced around, enjoying what he called the best decision of his life ... to come play football for the Bulldogs.

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