Cherry to be honored as a Butler hometown hero
BUTLER TWP — He became an author, appeared on camera in a motion picture and now works for a children's center.
But there was a time when Jason Cherry's life was, well, just for kicks.
The 1998 Butler graduate and former Golden Tornado, collegiate and indoor football place-kicker has been selected as this year's Butler Football Hometown Hero honoree.
Cherry, 39, will be honored on the field prior to the Baldwin-Butler game Aug. 30 at Art Bernardi Stadium.
“I remember when I was coaching, seeing some of those Hometown Hero presentations on the field,” Cherry said. “I never thought I'd be part of something like that.
“I wasn't expecting this at all.”
After his playing career — which included seven years of arena ball — Cherry served as a volunteer kicking coach at Butler for 14 years.
The Hometown Hero program honors people for their dedication to the Butler High School football program. The Hometown Hero committee has recognized 57 individuals and the 1963 Tornado football team since 2004.
Cherry wound up coaching kickers for Butler head coaches Garry Cathell, Jeff McAnallen, Jim Rankin, Clyde Conti and Rob Densmore.
He helped two Butler kickers — Chris Haley (Grove City) and Marc Hunka (Findlay) — get opportunities to kick in college.
“I did it because I just wanted to do it,” Cherry said of being a volunteer coach. “I enjoyed working with the kids and seeing the results.”
Cherry's last year working with kickers was the 2017 season.
“My girls are getting older and I had to do more family time,” Cherry said. “I had to give it up for the time being. Maybe, at some point, I'll do it again. I really did enjoy it.”
Cherry was a three-year varsity kicker at Butler, making 16 of 20 field goal attempts during that time. He hit 10 of 12 field goal attempts his senior season, falling a pair of three-pointers shy of the WPIAL single-season record at the time.
He joined the University of Massachusetts football team as a walk-on and wound up being the starting kicker as a true freshman on the Minutemen's Div. I-AA national championship team in 1998. He scored 13 points in the national title game, a record for a kicker.
Cherry graduated from UMass with a degree in science/wildlife management. He got his masters in science/parks and recreation at Slippery Rock University.
“I decided to come back home for my final year (of college eligibility) And play for Slippery Rock,” he said. “But my season was cut short.”
A high ankle sprain ended Cherry's Rock career after six games. He then spent seven years in arena football — playing for Johnstown, Huntington, Fayetteville and Columbus — before ending his career and becoming Butler's volunteer kicking coach.
“When Jeff Reed was having his problems, the Steelers worked out two kickers,” Cherry recalled. “If they didn't like either, I was invited to be one of a few more kickers they were going to try out.
“One of those two kickers was Sean Suisham. The Steelers signed him. I was that close to getting an NFL tryout at Heinz Field.”
He did return to Heinz Field, playing the role of kicker for Gotham City and standing on the sidelines during a scene for the motion picture “The Dark Knight Rises.”
“I was on the screen for a moment and got paid for two days work,” Cherry said, laughing.
He recently wrote a book entitled “Pittsburgh's Lost Outposts” and has been doing speaking engagements about it. Cherry has been working locally at the Stepping Stone Children's Center for eight years, currently as an assistant group supervisor.
He and his wife, Emily, have two daughters, Penny, 8, and Charlotte, 5.
