I've never experienced a singular moment of sports joy as pure as that. Was watching at a Super Bowl party a friend was having, and within a split second of Malcolm's pick I grabbed my kids in each arm and swung them around the living room, screaming deliriously.
I was in too much shock to experience the joy in that exact moment. The game was lost.
This was me. The rest of the SB party was jumping around like monkeys on crack, and I just sat there staring in stunned silence. Will never forget that play.
I was in front of my TV, on my knees with my head on the ground, in despair and then I don't really remember my exact reaction to the INT but I remember the gloriousness of it.
Yeah I was slumped deep into my couch, and kind of fell off when it happened in disbelief
After Kearse's catch I sat there muttering something along the lines of "Again. It happened to us fucking AGAIN."
Then... Malcolm, go! And all was right with the world.
I was up on my feet, remote at hand, with my finger on the power button, already trying to come up with a way to ease my mind and manage to go to sleep. And there I remained, standing in complete silence after the interception. I was just so sure of what was coming it was like space time itself ruptured in front of me and I couldn't even process the reality of the happy ending.
Shock, joy, jumping around the room with my friend who was hosting a Pats fan super bowl party in NYC, as a safe space. No amount of replays could convince us it had just happened, and it wasn't until the offsides (and the oddly brutal fight in the end zone which they airbrushed, Stalin-style, right out of future replays) that we finally got our heads back into the present.
I will say that for as much as it was a shocking and glorious ending, the greatest play in NFL history, it wasn't as enjoyable to me, wasn't as thrilling, as that slow and steady of march of SB 51. I'll look forward to marking the 6th anniversary of that game with you all this coming Sunday.
I will say that for as much as it was a shocking and glorious ending, the greatest play in NFL history, it wasn't as enjoyable to me, wasn't as thrilling, as that slow and steady of march of SB 51. I'll look forward to marking the 6th anniversary of that game with you all this coming Sunday.
Yep, was on my knees in front of the TV after the Kearse catch sick to my stomach that it had happened again...
After the catch I was on my back kicking and punching the air and yelling like a madman. My kids still like to do impressions of my "unique" celebration to give me a hard time :-D
After the catch I was on my back kicking and punching the air and yelling like a madman. My kids still like to do impressions of my "unique" celebration to give me a hard time :-D
Was at a friend's super bowl party. Almost everyone were casuals or their teams were eliminated long ago. Just me and one Seahawks fan... just standing off the side during that drive. I used to have a video somewhere my wife took of us as the drive went along... the opposite rollercoasters we were on were crazy...
I was watching at home with the family, and I'm pretty sure after that play, I could only unleash a 5 minute stream of "Holy shit. Holy Shit! HOLY SHIT!"
Am I the only one that didn’t realize for a few seconds that the ball had been intercepted?
I might suggest that that divisional round game versus Baltimore that season was the single best game of that era.
I might suggest that that divisional round game versus Baltimore that season was the single best game of that era.
Watching with two friends and our wives...the ladies returned from whatever they were doing right before the interception to see the glorious moment that was a jumping rotating group hug...a truly amazing moment.
I didn't either, until one of my buddies started yelling "HE PICKED IT OFF! HE PICKED IT OFF!" and then I saw the whole team celebrating. So glorious that my hangover and the like 2 feet of snow that we got the next day didn't even come close to bothering me at all.
I didn't realize it either. Even watching full speed replays, I still have a hard time seeing it. It's like watching a hockey game on a small TV. You don't know there has been a goal scored until you see the players raising their arms.
Pure elation. But I only let my guard down when they drew the offsides (*situational football*). And I still beg Malcolm to go down in the end zone and am afraid the ball is going to pop out.
Incidentally, kind of an incredible call by Michaels - recognizing immediately it was an interception - when from my perspective it was pure chaos.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7rPIg7ZNQ8
One of the best parts of that whole sequence was Richard Sherman's reaction. Priceless.
One of the best parts of that whole sequence was Richard Sherman's reaction. Priceless.
Brady in the 4th quarter: 13-15, 124 yds, 2 TD
Seattle D was #1 in fewest points, passing yards and total yards.
Seattle D was #1 in fewest points, passing yards and total yards.
I just broke down and watched the overtime of that game. Brady just sticking big throws to Hogan, Jules, and Gronk. Huge third and long conversions. The ballsy, eff-you fee-flicker they called to try and it with a dagger. And then smash mouth with Burkhead and the O-line once they got in the red zone. I love that game. Maybe my favorite non-super bowl game of the entire run.
I will be forever grateful that he announced the flag the way he did ("there are flags on the field for celebration"), because if he had said there were flags on the field and we had to wait more than a millisecond to see if the play would stand, it might have killed me.
What's crazy is that Brady gave guys multiple chances to make a play in OT and everyone not named Gronk and Edelman came up short. Overcoming those incompletions and converting three straight third and longs on the road in that environment is just special.
We also get Romo in his early Nostradamus phase calling a pass to Gronk before it happened if the safety moves to the center.
I was at the only Pats bar in a Seahawks city (Yur's in Portland) which meant that all of the assclown Seachicken fans were there to make fun of us. I closed my tab to make a quick exit through the kitchen back door and all of the sudden my Bills friends grab me "They picked it off!!!" sincerely happy for me. The quiet half of the bar erupted and started jumping. The erupting half of the bar grew silent and shrunk 2-3 inches in their posture. The entire bar got in line to either close their tabs or re-open theirs
You can hear the beginnings of the word salad that he features now, but he was good. He has become unlistenable in a very short period of time.
I had what is in some ways the nightmare watching scenario. I was in Singapore, so the game was early Monday AM. There were only a few places to watch it since it started at something like 630 am so I was actually at a TGI Fridays sitting at the bar---the bar was full of americans watching Super Bowl. Immediately after the interception, before he even fully landed, the satellite feed and the wifi in the bar went out. None of us were sure what might have happend---was there a flag? Was there a bobble we didn't see? What happened on the next play? We all took out our phones, but no wifi and we couldn't get an outgoing signal to call. So we were all turning off wifi to call, and had trouble getting a signal too. After about 30 seconds I finally got my dad who (because he's watching the game actually live) was another play or two in and all I can hear over bar crowd is "that was unbelievable turn of events, wasn't it?" BUT WHAT HAPPENED IN END?
Finally, TV feed came back---maybe 1 minute later---and we caught up. But MAN was that a stressful and amazing 60 seconds of uncertainty. At least it happened AFTER seeing what I was pretty sure was a pick so I didn't miss it.
Was just sitting in stunned silence leaning forward on the couch after the Kearse catch. No shouting, no screaming, no throwing stuff. Just dumbfounded that it had happened again. Then the 2nd and goal play seemed to happen in slow motion, sorry for the cliche, as I processed what happened step by step. There’s the pass, then the collision, and I see Lockette flying back with his arms in the air so I think “incomplete” and then I see Malcolm with his back to the screen and his arms seem to be holding something. Then the absolute insanity of realizing he had the ball and we were gonna win.
All I remember is running down the hallway of my apartment screaming “Interception!” on a loop
How many interceptions do you even see on short routes like that, within a few yards of the LOS where they're not tipped by a lineman or something? Most interceptions are mid-range or long throws that everyone has the time to process and react to. Butler's interception is one of the very few I can remember that came that close to the line, and of course as we later learned, came because he had been specifically coached to expect that play and what to do for it. The play was the entire Belichick era in a nutshell - situational football, over-preparation, reading the mind of the other team, and an open roster with spots available for anyone who's able to work hard and do their job well. Plus, ya know, the titles that come from it.
And they'd given up 0 points in the 4th quarter of like the previous 10 games.
There were four of us and we just jumped up and down in the living room, kind of like Brady's celebration.
I could watch Butler's pick for four straight hours, after which I'd need to call a doctor.
Nope, I was stunned and it did not register until I saw all the players running off the field.
And his interception was a thing of beauty, he made a great play on the ball, that was no gimmee and every time I see the replay, I still think Hightower is going to accidentally knock it out of his hands.
I think there is a Seattle fan video where they react instantaneously to hearing flag, and then immediate deflation again when they hear celebration. Pure schadenfraude.
Good point, and it wasn’t a soft throw either.
I have an autographed picture of the Butler INT in my son's room. I'll admit that I didn't see the play, I turned off the tv when Lynch caught that first long pass. I just couldn't take it, I had actually left a party at halftime to go watch it by myself at home. I followed the game thread on here and the reactions to the Kearse catch were off the wall insane and depressing. Then nothing but f-bombs and exclamation points when Butler made the int, and I turned on the tv to see the Seahawks jump offsides and then the hell breaking loose with the scrum afterwards.
I was in a bar in Morgantown about 4 years after that Super Bowl and Bruce Irvin walked in. My one buddy dared my to go ask what it felt like to be ejected from the Super Bowl, but I didn't have the balls to do it. Plus there is a 99% chance Bruce would put my through the front window.
I was in a bar in Morgantown about 4 years after that Super Bowl and Bruce Irvin walked in. My one buddy dared my to go ask what it felt like to be ejected from the Super Bowl, but I didn't have the balls to do it. Plus there is a 99% chance Bruce would put my through the front window.
Pretty much exact same reaction here - was also sitting silently and my gauge was waiting to see the Seahawks start celebrating as I watched the play through my fingers on my face as though a kid would watching a horror movie. In a split second I think huh, they didn't celebrate. Incomplete, we'll lose on the next play instead.
Then I realized everyone around me had jumped up and I looked back at the screen. We all know the rest from there.
I Tebow'd onto my Mom's knee.
It was like Bird hitting that rainbow against the Hawks and falling into the trainer's lap.
It was like Bird hitting that rainbow against the Hawks and falling into the trainer's lap.
After the Kearse catch, I was standing in front of my TV with this wave of dread coming over me, and I’m thinking “it’s the third time we’ve been beaten by an unbelievable catch“. I was just dealing with how I was going to resolve that then when the interception happened, I just started screaming at the top of my lungs like a wild banshee. My then 12-year-old daughter was hiding behind the couch because I don’t think she’d ever seen me like that. I’ve never had a sudden change of emotions like that in my entire life.
Man, I could read all of your reminiscing all day. What joy this franchise gave us for 20 years.
I was sitting on my couch, about a month removed from tearing my ACL, MCL, and breaking my tibia. We just had our first child, and my 1 month old was sitting on my lap at the time. Jumping up and down wasn't an option, so the only thing I could do was Gronk spike the baby.
Anyway, we won the SB, so, no regrets.
Anyway, we won the SB, so, no regrets.
I screamed in joy. My wife told me to be quiet because I would wake up our 7 year old daughter. I yelled "That's a GREAT IDEA!" and ran up to get her out of bed. We watched the end together.
This is my favorite so far.
I was in a camp on Moosehead with my ice fishing crew. It was at least ten below. One guy in the group is a huge baby and his whining was almost unbearable. The ring was secondary to getting him to stfu.
Ha. Reminds me of the 2008 Celtics win. My son was 4 months old and was asleep in my arms for that last game. It took a lot to not wake him up while still “celebrating”.
Since then, I’m pretty sure at least one of our kids has been up with me watching each championship win.
The thud I made dropping from the couch to the floor woke up my wife, caused the dog to bark, which then woke up my ~15 month old daughter and ~32 month old son. I got yelled at. Good times.
Celebrating what is seems as good a place as any for this. I’m connecting through Vegas, having just left Sacramento, where I was saying goodbye to my ailing uncle. Not that we were super close, but plenty of fond memories. Anyway, passed this taxiing to the gate. A bright spot on a somber day.
I feel lucky that I got the chance to wake my daughter up multiple times to see our teams win it all. The Sox once and the Pats twice. The Falcons win was slightly different though, as she went to bed on her own about half way through the third. She made me promise to get her if they came back. When they tied it, I woke her up by saying “they are going to win.” She couldn’t believe it.
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