An oral history of the ‘unreal’ ending to the final drive of Super Bowl XLIX

Woa....

Kornegay: I was in the back room with our guys when he threw the pick, and it was disbelief. Really thought they were going hand the ball off, and when he went back to pass, it went so fast it was just a matter of, Did that just happen? It was very quiet and just looking at each other like, I can’t believe that just happened. It certainly cost us a lot of money and changed it from a very good day to about a break-even day. I can’t give out specific numbers, but it’s a healthy six figures. Nevada sports books lost $115 million. That play was ... unfavorable.

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Malcolm pissed off a lotta goodfellas. LOL.

Funny in the differences between how the offensive and defensive guys were feeling.

Wilfork, ' I knew we were going to win'
Connolley, ' I knew they were going to score'

Tony2046 "call a damn timeout for God's sake"

hahaha

Vince Wilfork (Patriots nose tackle and defensive captain, now with the Texans): I told my wife, it’s impossible that we will lose this ball game. This was two weeks before we played it. I don’t think we had one bad day of practice the whole season.

Tony2046 said:

Funny in the differences between how the offensive and defensive guys were feeling.

Wilfork, ' I knew we were going to win'
Connolley, ' I knew they were going to score'

Tony2046 "call a damn timeout for God's sake"

hahaha

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robertweathers: "I can't believe they're gonna lose like this again....."
robertweathers' 13 year old daughter wearing her #87 Gronk jersey : "They won't."
robertweathers' 13 year old daughter wearing her #87 Gronk jersey one minute later: 'TOLD YA!!!"

signbabybrady said:

Vince Wilfork (Patriots nose tackle and defensive captain, now with the Texans): I told my wife, it’s impossible that we will lose this ball game. This was two weeks before we played it. I don’t think we had one bad day of practice the whole season.

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I'm not sure I buy that but whatever....

Dan Connolly was doing an autograph signing on the day of the season opener this year. It was a rainy Thursday and not many people went. That, however, turned out to be fortunate for me. I got his autograph but also got to talk to him a little bit about the Super Bowl.

One of the questions (and responses) that stuck with me was this.......

After the Butler interception you had the ball on the shadow of your own goal line. Ultimately the Seahawks jumped offsides, but what play were you about to run?

He said they actually didn't even have a play called when they went to the line. They lined up with the sole intention of trying to 'hard count them' and get them to jump offsides. If it didn't work they were prepared to use one of their remaining time outs.

I wonder how sick to their stomachs Seahawks fans are when they read stuff like this? It's nice to be on the other side for a change

brdmaverick said:

Dan Connolly was doing an autograph signing on the day of the season opener this year. It was a rainy Thursday and not many people went. That, however, turned out to be fortunate for me. I got his autograph but also got to talk to him a little bit about the Super Bowl.

One of the questions (and responses) that stuck with me was this.......

After the Butler interception you had the ball on the shadow of your own goal line. Ultimately the Seahawks jumped offsides, but what play were you about to run?

He said they actually didn't even have a play called when they went to the line. They lined up with the sole intention of trying to 'hard count them' and get them to jump offsides. If it didn't work they were prepared to use one of their remaining time outs.

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That's pretty cool, thanks for sharing that!!!

Never forget that moment, I ran screaming through my house and my son and I started hugging and jumping up and down like they do after a walk off home run. Then I ran back to the tv and started fretting about the last 20 seconds or whatever it was.

I couldn't give a flying **** how much money that cost Vegas. However, that was a great read. Thanks for the share.

I've always said that Browner is the unsung hero of that play. Don't get me wrong, Butler deserved all the credit he received, but Browner really made that play possible by stopping the rub and I'm glad Vince mentioned it.

Brady_2_Moss said:

I've always said that Browner is the unsung hero of that play. Don't get me wrong, Butler deserved all the credit he received, but Browner really made that play possible by stopping the rub and I'm glad Vince mentioned it.

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Very true, and I think what people sometimes people overlook is the degree of difficulty of that interception.
I think there are a good number of people who say that interception was all about anticipating the play, but the actual catch was great too. I mean think about it.

He's running full speed trying to beat the defender to a spot.

The ball gets zipped into him and he has to the make the catch (and maintain possession) as he is being hti by the receiver. The impact was so great it literally took the receiver off his feet.

He very well could have been in a great position to make the catch but then still drop the potential INT either from the hit or from the ball coming in so fast in such a short distance. Had he dropped it perhaps the Seahawks score on 3rd or 4th down and we'd all be left dreaming 'how cool would that have been had he held onto it?'

Guess what......HE DID! THAT HAPPENED!!!!

As an obsessed Pats fan I'll be the first to admit that there will be very few times in life when you feel those range of emotions in such a short time frame. (utter disbelief and disappointment with the Kearse catch and then the best feeling in the world when Butler steals the game)

Butler INT is #2 on Yahoo's list of the top 50 super bowl plays:

50 Most Memorable Super Bowl Moments, No. 2: Malcolm Butler picks off Seahawks

brdmaverick said:

Very true, and I think what people sometimes people overlook is the degree of difficulty of that interception.
I think there are a good number of people who say that interception was all about anticipating the play, but the actual catch was great too. I mean think about it.

He's running full speed trying to beat the defender to a spot.

The ball gets zipped into him and he has to the make the catch (and maintain possession) as he is being hti by the receiver. The impact was so great it literally took the receiver off his feet.

He very well could have been in a great position to make the catch but then still drop the potential INT either from the hit or from the ball coming in so fast in such a short distance. Had he dropped it perhaps the Seahawks score on 3rd or 4th down and we'd all be left dreaming 'how cool would that have been had he held onto it?'

Guess what......HE DID! THAT HAPPENED!!!!

As an obsessed Pats fan I'll be the first to admit that there will be very few times in life when you feel those range of emotions in such a short time frame. (utter disbelief and disappointment with the Kearse catch and then the best feeling in the world when Butler steals the game)

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Not only that, but Hightower almost knocks the ball out while he is going to the ground.

BostonWolverine said:

Butler INT is #2 on Yahoo's list of the top 50 super bowl plays:

50 Most Memorable Super Bowl Moments, No. 2: Malcolm Butler picks off Seahawks

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What could beat this play?

signbabybrady said:

What could beat this play?

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The play that shall never be named here again.

BostonWolverine said:

The play that shall never be named here again.

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brdmaverick said:

Very true, and I think what people sometimes people overlook is the degree of difficulty of that interception.
I think there are a good number of people who say that interception was all about anticipating the play, but the actual catch was great too. I mean think about it.

He's running full speed trying to beat the defender to a spot.

The ball gets zipped into him and he has to the make the catch (and maintain possession) as he is being hti by the receiver. The impact was so great it literally took the receiver off his feet.

He very well could have been in a great position to make the catch but then still drop the potential INT either from the hit or from the ball coming in so fast in such a short distance. Had he dropped it perhaps the Seahawks score on 3rd or 4th down and we'd all be left dreaming 'how cool would that have been had he held onto it?'

Guess what......HE DID! THAT HAPPENED!!!!

As an obsessed Pats fan I'll be the first to admit that there will be very few times in life when you feel those range of emotions in such a short time frame. (utter disbelief and disappointment with the Kearse catch and then the best feeling in the world when Butler steals the game)

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Every time I see the INT I see Hightower grabbing at Butler and worry that one of these times it will all be a dream and that Hightower actually knocks it out of Butlers hands.


And have the same dream that Asante actually catches the ball in SB 42.