This is the fourth in a series of articles profiling the 2013 inductees into the Butler Area School District Athletic Hall of FameWHEELING, W.Va. — By the time Bill Rettig had wrapped up his high school football career at Butler, he had earned plenty of collegiate opportunities.Actually, that’s an understatement.The running back-linebacker was recruited by more than 100 Division I schools before settling on Penn State.Now he’s taking up residence in the Butler Area School District Athletic Hall of Fame. He and five others — including younger brother Terry — will be inducted during a 5 p.m. reception Sept. 20 in the high school cafeteria.“It’s exciting and it’s humbling,” Rettig said of being part of his alma mater’s fourth Hall of Fame induction class. “And going in with my brother Terry is truly special. We grew up playing sports together.”A 1964 Butler graduate, Rettig rushed for 751 yards and 11 touchdowns during his junior year. He became the first Golden Tornado back to rush for 1,000 yards in 1963, accumulating 1,112 yards on 204 carries — a 5.45-yard average — and 14 touchdowns.Butler polished off a 9-0 regular season in 1963, only the second perfect regular season in the program’s history. Rettig earned all-conference, all-state and high school All-American honors that year.He said his biggest honor was being invited to the West Mifflin North football banquet after being voted the toughest player that team faced all year. West Mifflin North defeated Butler, 12-6, in the WPIAL championship game.“We lost that game on a fluke catch in the end zone and it hurt,” Rettig recalled. “I was humbled to have to tell them they had a really great team — and they did — but I felt like we should have beaten them.“Of course, I couldn’t say that at their banquet ... but I wanted to.”The collegiate interest Rettig generated spoke for itself. He narrowed his choices to nine — Penn State, Ohio State, Georgia, Yale, Michigan State, Texas A&M, Army, Navy and Pitt — before ultimately choosing the Nittany Lions over Yale.“Yale is a great school, obviously, but Penn State was a school that was the city, it wasn’t too far away and Joe Paterno and his staff were great, wonderful people,” Rettig said.A Butler teammate, defensive tackle Tom McGrath, was heading to Penn State as well.Primarily a strong-side linebacker with the Nittany Lions, Rettig did see action at running back occasionally. He rushed for 105 yards as a sophomore against Maryland.“We had three backs go over 100 that day,” Rettig said. “That’s only happened one other time in Penn State history. Lydell Mitchell and Franco Harris were two of the backs who did it the other time.”Rettig has gone on to become a world-known watercolor artist and has sold numerous paintings.“I loved drawing since I was 6 or 7 years old,” he said. “Dick Nitkowski was my junior high coach and he was an artist. He took me under his wing and I went from there.”Rettig ran the 440-yard relay and threw the shot put for the Butler High track and field team. He trained with coach Paul Uram’s gymnastics team to improve his flexibility.“I was like a big brute in there with all of those gymnasts,” Rettig recalled, laughing. “But Coach Uram knew what he was doing. That experience really helped me.“My entire athletic career at Butler really helped me.”