You may or may not know this, but negativity tends to drive and dominate conversations in the realm of professional sports. Blame whatever you want for that phenomenon — ratings, clicks, the general downfall of mankind, I do not personally know — but the natural response to just about anything these days is to spew negativity into the universe and move on to the next thing.
Yet if you don’t mind, it’s a worthwhile time to mix it up a bit. Because Kayshon Boutte is, quite simply, a tremendous sports story right now.
Coming off a week when teammate Stefon Diggs — a renowned, established superstar — was the Patriots’ best pass catcher, Boutte rose to the occasion on Sunday in New Orleans, catching all five passes thrown his way.
Two of those went for touchdowns.
One sealed the victory.
Another moved the chains on that game-suffocating drive.
And the other converted a third-and-9, one play before a 53-yard touchdown pass to DeMario Douglas.
Boutte was, without question, excellent. But that’s hardly the story. Players have big games across the league every week. From that wide angle, Boutte’s day was not remarkable.
It is, rather, the journey of Boutte that makes Sunday’s showing special.
A five-star recruit out of high school, Boutte didn’t exactly have the collegiate career that many might have expected in his home state at LSU. As a result, he wasn’t drafted until the sixth round in 2023, the 22nd receiver taken.
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In his first NFL game, he came down with a catch with his toe out of bounds. Twice. Bill Belichick responded by keeping Boutte out of uniform for the next eight games. On a team that badly needed receiving help, that coaching decision stood out, and he finished that rookie season with just two catches for 19 yards.
His career — or at least his Patriots career — appeared to be over just weeks after his rookie season concluded, as he was arrested and charged with making more than 8,900 online bets when he was underaged, including bets on NCAA football games, with some of those involving his own team.
Boutte remained with the team, and those charges were eventually dropped, clearing the way for Boutte to establish himself on the roster under new head coach Jerod Mayo. That didn’t really happen, though. Outside of two late-season performances against the Bills, Boutte failed to dispel any outside suggestions that the Patriots had the worst wide receiving corps in the NFL.
With an entirely new coaching staff — one that would have zero loyalty or ties to him — this year, Boutte was at a career crossroads. Not many — if any — outsiders would have foreseen him being the most consistent, reliable receiver all throughout spring practice and training camp, yet that’s what Boutte did under head coach Mike Vrabel and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.
Boutte was a roster lock all summer long, which was a positive step. But ultimately, what he did on Sundays would be the measurement of success or failure.
He went over 100 yards in Week 1, scored a touchdown in Week 2, and though his output the following three weeks was muted, he burst out with the best all-around game of his career in New Orleans of all places.
Kayshon Boutte is a great sports story: Leftover Patriots thoughts
