There are certain plays that will be remembered forever. This year, it came on the last play of Super Bowl 49. The New England Patriots were up 28-24 with 25 seconds remaining. The Seattle Seahawks had already driven down the field with ease and were just one yard away from repeating as world champions. On second and goal from the one yard line, everyone imagined the Seahawks would draw up a run play for Marshawn Lynch; he is not called beastmode for nothing!
However, Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll tried to outsmart all of us. Instead of just having quarterback Russell Wilson hand off the ball and let Lynch carry the team to victory, Carroll drew up a pass play. Wilson dropped back and saw Ricardo Lockette cutting across, unfortunately he did not see defensive back Malcolm Butler who beat Lockette to the spot and intercepted the pass. Butler credited preparation from defensive coordinator Matt Patricia for recognizing the Seahawks’ formation and realizing they were planning on throwing the ball.
Both the Patriots and Seahawks could not believe what they had just witnessed. Butler, a rookie free agent, had just made one of the biggest plays in Super Bowl history. The interception was also the first of Butler’s NFL career! Quarterback Tom Brady won the Super Bowl MVP award, however, he handed the keys to the 2015 Chevrolet Colorado that comes with winning the award to Butler.
He has not slowed down this season. Butler is currently one of the starting cornerbacks for the Patriots and was recently named to the 2016 Pro Bowl.
