On January 12, 1969, for whole other reasons, the greatest Super Bowl of my football life was played on a cold, rainy Sunday afternoon in Miami. It was, by far, a historic occasion because the upstart AFL New York Jets, led by a young, brash and yet, confident Joe Namath made good on a guarantee, that his Jets would beat the mighty Baltimore Colts.
It was a guarantee taken out of context, but Namath proved to be correct and a legend was born; and parity between the NFC and the AFC, the successor conferences to the old AFL and merged NFL, was created by the Jets' unbelievable and unexpected win. Super Bowl III is still very special to this Jets fan.
However, to this FOOTBALL fan, Sunday's game was the best played Super Bowl - ever.
The game featured last year's Super Bowl Champs, the Seattle Seahawks led by a terrific up and coming QB Russell Wilson, against the team and the quarterback who had won three of five Super Bowls since 2000, the New England Patriots and Tom Brady. It was, arguably, the best defense against the best offense. Even the bookies couldn't decide, as they had this game at "pick 'em".
Even with all the distraction concerning deflated footballs and dirty defense, both teams showed up to play a game, focused in football and not all the distractions. This is the mark of true champions.
So, the best NFC team with the best defense squared off at 6:30 Sunday evening against the best AFC team with the best offense, with the outcome totally unpredicted. At the end of 30 playing minutes, in fact, the game was still even, tied at 14. The bookies, and fans it seemed, had this one right.
At the end of 45 minutes, the Seahawks, led by Wilson, were up by 10, 24-14. But the Patriots, led by the inestimable Brady, certainly were not out. Not by a long shot.
With 2:02 left in the game, Brady proved why he is the best QB playing today, one of the best to ever play the game or the position. He threw a pass to Julian Edelman to take the lead again. But Russell Wilson wasn't done, either.
He took his Seahawks down the field with a great 31 yard pass to his running back Marshawn Lynch and an improbable catch by Jerome Kearse, defended by a rookie, Malcolm Butler, at the five with 20 seconds left.
For the Patriots, it seemed to be a repeat of the two losses to the Giants in SB XLII and XLVI, with miracle catches with seconds to go in both those games. But, after a three yard run by Lynch, the best running back in the NFL, it was second and goal from the three and 18 seconds to go.
And then, the Seahawks allowed defeat to be drawn from the jaws of an impending victory. Wilson dropped back to pass and the young rookie, who just two game seconds before failed to stop the miracle catch, turned his goat horns into a hero's crown. That's right, Butler intercepted Wilson's pass at the goal line.
The last 18 seconds of this game was anti-climactic, with an offsides penalty, a fight, a 15 yard penalty, all against the Seahawks. Brady took one more knee and it was done.
Final score was 28-24 and Super Bowl XLIX was history. And the GREATEST SUPER BOWL - EVAH!
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