Samuelsen: 1 play changed NFL lore in Super Bowl XLIX

Jamie Samuelsen
Special to the Detroit Free Press
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New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady celebrates with head coach Bill Belichick after winning NFL Super Bowl XLIX against the Seattle Seahawks.


There's a fine line between winning and losing in football. We learned that again on Sunday.

The line is even finer between hero and goat, between legend and choker. That was never clearer than on the final play that mattered in Super Bowl XLIX.

Russell Wilson stood under center, surveying the defense, ready to lead the Seahawks to their second straight title in only his third season in the league. With a win, all the debate would be about Wilson's chances of unseating Joe Montana, Terry Bradshaw and yes, Tom Brady as the greatest postseason quarterback of all time.

Brady stood on the sideline, watching on the big screen. He's a Hall of Famer to be sure. He's easily one of the top five quarterbacks of all time, if not the greatest. But he was staring at a third straight Super Bowl loss after winning his first three. Montana and Bradshaw were both 4-0 in Super Bowls. If those two greats never lost on the biggest stage, how could Brady even compare with a .500 record? The Patriots would be 0-3 in Super Bowls after the "Spygate" scandal. And "Deflategate" would have been an even bigger story than it has already become ("Sure, they win when they control the footballs. But what about when the NFL controls them?").

If Wilson completes the scoring pass to Ricardo Lockette, Pete Carroll wins his second Super Bowl, putting him in the discussion for the Hall of Fame. His decision to pass when everybody on the planet expected a heavy dose of Marshawn Lynch would be hailed as bold, reckless and inspired. He'd be a Super Bowl champion willing to take risks, play by the rules and win.

Belichick would be under further scrutiny for his bending of the rules over the years. He would have three Super Bowl losses, playing as the favorite in all three. That total would leave him just one behind Marv Levy, Don Shula, Bud Grant and Dan Reeves for the most in NFL history. His decision to let the clock run and leave Brady with little time to drive back down the field would be second-guessed for years.

This isn't "sliding doors." We'll never know that reality. Malcolm Butler became the hero of the night by stepping around an attempted pick by Jermaine Kearse and grabbing the pass from Wilson out of the air. Brady leapt in celebration. The Pats ran out the clock and celebrated their first Super Bowl title in ten years.

So Belichick joins Chuck Noll as the only man to win four Super Bowls. Brady stands shoulder to shoulder with his idol Montana and Bradshaw. And instead of bemoaning a 3-3 record, the Patriots have been discussed as being "two fluke New York Giants catches" away from being 6-0 and the greatest team since the AFL/NFL merger.

It's a fine line indeed.

Nothing can undo what the Pats have accomplished. Some will discredit them for their alleged (and proven) transgressions. They are one of the best teams we'll ever see. They will stand the test of time. They deserve most of the praise that they get and don't deserve a lot of the arrows that are fired in their direction.

But take a look at that one play, that one moment in time, and think about how drastically the narrative would have changed if Wilson had completed the pass instead of having it intercepted. If there's such a fine line between winning and losing, maybe we should back off on the broad generalities that are applied in football.

John Elway was a legendary choker who couldn't win the big game. Then he won the last two Super Bowls he played in and retired as one of the all-time greats.

Dan Marino only made it to one Super Bowl (in his second season) and never won a ring. He has always been viewed as an incomplete quarterback, incapable of getting it done when it mattered most.

Peyton Manning? A fantastic passer but no Brady, not even close. Heck, Peyton hasn't even won as many Super Bowls (1) as his brother Eli (2).

Barry vs. Emmitt? Emmitt Smith won three rings and holds the all-time NFL rushing title. Barry won one playoff game and walked away before earning his rightful spot as the greatest rusher (at least statistically) of all time. What if Sanders played for the Cowboys and Smith played for the Lions?

What if Manning fell under the tutelage of Belichick instead of Brady?

What if Drew Bledsoe had never gotten injured back in 2001 and Brady never got the chance to start for the eventual Super Bowl champions?

These are all questions that have no answer. They are all great bar room debates with no definitive answer. Brady and Belichick have four rings and nobody will ever be able to take those away.

As we celebrate them and laud them for what they've achieved, let's not forget how close that story was to having a different ending. And as we criticize and question Carroll and Wilson, let's remember the same thing.

Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. It is a thin line between winning and losing and that was never more apparent than in Super Bowl XLIX.

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