Former NFL coach labeled ‘class act’ after touching on-field moment with former Eagles star in XFL championship game

SAN Antonio Brahmas coach Wade Phillips showed a touch of class following his team’s XFL Conference Championship victory.

The 7-3 Brahmas reached the inaugural UFL Championship game with a 25-15 victory against the 7-3 St. Louis Battlehawks on Sunday.

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The victory ended St. Louis’ hopes of competing for the UFL title at their home stadium on June 8.

As for Phillips, 76, this was the latest triumph in a 55-year career that has seen him work as a head coach for six NFL teams and win a Super Bowl.

After the win, Phillips was on the field, talking to Fox Sports’ Brock Huard when the Hakeem Butler-less Battlehawks approached the legendary coach to congratulate him.

The two shook hands, with Phillips calling the butler“A hell of a player.”

“I’m going to tell everyone in the NFL that I talk to, you need to play,” he could be heard telling the 28-year-old wide receiver and reigning UFL Offensive Player of the Year.

“I thank this coach. You’re a great coach,” Butler responded.

“You bet. You deserve it,” Phillips added before returning to Huard.

The exchange drew a plethora of responses from fans on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“#WadePhillips is a class act. Good human,” said one fan.

“THE GOAT”, commented a second.

“Wade was special before those reading this were born, and he still is today! That’s what sportsmanship is like.”

As another added, “@Seahawks could use the competition at TE.”

While a fourth suggested: “Considering Brandon Aubrey and Kavonte Turpin… I’d say @dallascowboys and others already know about him.

“What a huge endorsement from @sonofbum, love that guy.”

Butler finished the season as the UFL’s leading receiver with 652 yards and five touchdowns on 67 targets in 10 games.

If the NFL called now that its season is over, it wouldn’t be its first foray into the big leagues.

A fourth-round draft pick by the Arizona Cardinals in 2019, he spent time with the Carolina Panthers and Philadelphia Eagles, where he would make two appearances in 2020.

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In 2022, Butler headed north of the border, where he briefly signed for the BC Lions and Edmonton Elks before joining the Battlehawks in 2023.

He was later named to the All-XFL team, earning another shot at the NFL, spending the offseason with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

While Butler’s UFL season may not be over, Phillips’s will continue with the championship game scheduled for June 16.

There, the Brahmas will face the USFL conference champions, the Birmingham Stallions.

The Stallions are fresh off the USFL championships in 2022 and 2023 prior to the league’s merger with the XFL.

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