The Butler football team, picked as the unanimous preseason favorite to win the Jayhawk Conference championship and ranked No. 3 in the national preseason poll, began the defense of its 2010 conference and regional championships with its first practice of the 2011 season on Thursday, Aug. 4.

The Grizzlies went through about two hours of stretching, agilities and non-contact drills in their first workout of the year under legendary head coach Troy Morrell, who has won 115 games in 11 years in charge of the Grizzlies.

A video, edited by Butler student MacKenzie Walker, is available on the newly-launched Butler Athletics YouTube site, ButlerAthleticsTV.

The Grizzlies will begin their season on Thursday, Aug. 25 with a road trip to Texas to take on defending national champion and preseason national No. 1 Navarro at 7 p.m. The game can be heard live on KNSS Radio, 1330 AM in central Kansas and worldwide at www.knssradio.com