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http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/new-...d/4778180/jim-harbaugh-on-malcolm-butlers-int
He says it much better than I ever did. I try to explain to friend/family who don't follow football just how amazing it is, and they tend to assume that the interception is a gimme once the ball is in your catch radius.
What is so amazing about The Pick is:
The problem is, it is impossible to say all this quickly to someone who doesn't care about football. So we just say it was an amazing play.
And that young man from the New England Patriots made a play -- I mean, that is a play that the stars of the game don't make. He made a play that was ... at best that ball gets knocked down and incomplete. But to make an interception on that play ... what a phenomenal play. That was the play of a lifetime.
He says it much better than I ever did. I try to explain to friend/family who don't follow football just how amazing it is, and they tend to assume that the interception is a gimme once the ball is in your catch radius.
What is so amazing about The Pick is:
- In a high-stress time crunch, Butler and Browner got on the same page about the play they were going to execute. I read that the Patriots practiced that play only three times in the previous two weeks. But their pattern recognition is so good, their football intelligence so high, and their coaching so effective, they immediately recognized the situation and knew what they needed to do.
- His reaction time and speed were off the charts. He planted that foot and accelerated like his life depended on reaching the ball before Lockette (note Lockette is no slouch: he runs a 4.3 in the 40). This shows how receptive he was to the coaching. In practice, when Butler got burned on the play by taking steps back, Belichick told him to never step back in that situation, but to aggressively make a play on the ball. In the SB, when it mattered most, when the entire season was on the line, he came out shot out of a freaking cannon.
- Butler LEVELED Lockette. This is impressive, as Butler is 5'11" and weights 190 lbs. Lockette is 6'2", weighs 211 lbs. Yet Butler's hit literally sent Lockette flying in the air. Butler is a strong freaking dude.
- Perhaps most amazing is that despite simultaneously colliding with a guy 20 pounds bigger than him, he is able to catch the ball. That took very good hands, regardless of how easy he made it look. For many backs (ahem, Asante) that ball would have ended up being deflected at best, and it still would have been considered a great play.
The problem is, it is impossible to say all this quickly to someone who doesn't care about football. So we just say it was an amazing play.
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