"Helmet and pads on Thursdays," Richard Butcher said to himself as he neared the end of his daily walk from North House to Soldiers Field.

"It's helmet and pads on Thursdays for football," he repeated.

Senior Richard Butcher should know the routine of Harvard football. He spent his first three years as a Crimson gridder.

But today, he is not going to the football stadium. Gone are the days of "helmets and pads." Now, Butcher is dressed in t-shirt and shorts--and heading for rugby practice.

"At first, it was a really tough decision," Butcher said. "I had spent three years in football, and I had to decide if I wanted to continue."

Richard Butcher, like most athletes, expects a lot from himself. He was devoting all of his time to football, but was not getting back the results he expected from his hard work.

As a junior on last year's varsity football team, he lettered while seeing limited action at cornerback. He spent most of the season on the special teams unit. But it wasn't enough for Butcher. In his athletic life, he had come to expect more.

At Granite Hills High School in El Cajon, Cal., Butcher lettered in football, baseball and basketball.

Once at Harvard, Butcher set his sights on playing football. Not unlike other players, he played on the freshman and junior varsity squads. As a junior, he made the varsity, but did not see much playing time.

"It was a hard year for me and a hard year for the team," Butcher said of last year's 3-7 squad. The team was losing, and he was not playing much.

"I did the best of my ability, but I did not have the right tools the coach needed," Butcher said. "He looks for speed and raw jumping ability in defensive backs--the God-given physical abilities. Whereas my strength is in football intuition. I fare well in his categories, but I don't depend on them."

On the system used to rate defensive backs on all three football teams, Butcher was listed 11th.

"As far as raw scores go," he added, "that could be true, but as far as being a player and overall skills, no."

In the spring of his junior year, Butcher decided to play rugby to stay in shape for the upcoming football season. He had briefly played the sport in California.

"At first, I just had an interest," Butcher said of his decision to play rugby last spring. The interest turned into a serious stint. Butcher ended up playing in every game. He proved to be a strong runner, scoring four times and helping the rugby team solidify its defensive game.