Sam Butler is an Australian rules footballer for the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League. A talented underage soccer player from Gawler, South Australia, who only took up football as a teenager, he was drafted by West Coast with the 20th pick at the 2003 National Draft, having played in a SANFL reserves premiership for Central District the year he was drafted. Butler debuted for West Coast during the 2004 season, and was nominated for the AFL Rising Star award. A mid-sized defender and occasional midfielder, he played in West Coast's 2006 premiership team, but missed the entire next season due to injury. Butler has struggled with injury throughout his career, only playing his 100th game during the 2013 season, ten seasons after his debut.