This story was originally published on MyNorthwest.com.
The snap. The quick slant. The ball breaking toward the goal line. Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler is cutting underneath it. And while a season and a potential dynasty ended, that singular moment in Super Bowl XLIX never really ended for 12’s and many of the Seahawks players on the field that day.
“I think it’s massive,” Senior Sports Illustrated writer, Greg Bishop, who has reported 24 NFL seasons, including 20 Super Bowls, recently told KIRO Newsradio. “I’ve never seen a play in the Super Bowl have the kind of reverberating impact that we’ve seen, from that interception in a game that was played almost 12 years ago.”
The interception that still haunts Seattle
The Seahawks were one yard from immortality on Feb. 1, 2015, trailing New England 28-24 with seconds left and the ball at the Patriots’ one-yard line. Instead of a handoff, Russell Wilson dropped back. Butler intercepted the pass in the final moments, sealing a Patriots victory and producing one of the most dissected plays in NFL history.
“I mean, there are still guys that played on that team that are upset about it,” Bishop said. “That feeling like they’ve wasted an opportunity and they haven’t gotten over the trauma of that moment.”
It was a moment that every 12 remembers. Ask any of them. The couch, the bar, the living room floor. They remember the pause before the pass, and the disbelief after the catch. The way the air seemed to leave the room.
For me, I watched it all unfold deep underneath the then University of Phoenix Stadium, from a television monitor signal delayed by close to 10 seconds. Moments before the ball was snapped, I heard a roar from the crowd and convinced myself the Seahawks pulled off one of the greatest Super Bowl victories of all time. Of course, they didn’t. I was sick to my stomach.
I knew I wasn’t alone. Many also still suffer a deep-seated trauma caused by Wilson’s pick. One expert says that the feeling may never go away.
“You work so hard for years and in some cases for decades to actually get to that game, and you’re that close to that win,” explained Murray State University sports psychologist, Dr. Daniel Wann. “It doesn’t surprise me they’re having a hard time letting it go.”
Bishop also had a lot riding on the play.
“The day before, I’d met with Russell Wilson’s representatives, and we had talked about a three-book deal,” he explained. “I remember when he threw the pick, I was sitting in the press box in Arizona, and I screamed the F word involuntarily, just seeing my kids’ college educations evaporate in that moment.”
Living with the memory
What followed for the Seahawks was a downturn, new coaches and players, a rebuild, and now a return to the big game.
Somehow, however, it feels to many fans like they cannot fully heal unless the Hawks win Sunday. Then again, maybe not.
“Anything that is that level of importance, it’s that much more difficult to let it go,” said Dr. Wann. “You know what, you can let that go a little bit, not forget it, but let it go.”
In other words, for some, the trick might be to learn to live with those awful memories.
If there’s any consolation, three things can be true at the same time. Super Bowl XLIX will always be there. The interception will always be there, and the Seahawks can also be world champs once again.
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