10 Moments from Super Bowl XLIX

Here in snowy New England, it has been a bit of a disorientating week.  Last Monday, Jan. 26, we prepped for a blizzard that shut down area schools for three days, and a week later, yet another snow day, as the rain clouds that drifted over Arizona kept heading northeast.  

Also headed this way is a fourth Vincent Lombardi Trophy along with the New England Patriots who won their recent Super Bowl in epic fashion.

I should note that I am resident alien of football fandom here in the Boston area.  Being a Denver native, I take my Broncos allegiance with me wherever I go (including studying abroad in Swansea, Wales, when the Broncos won their first Super Bowl in 1998… MVP Terrell Davis migraine fake handoff? John Elway helicopter play? You know what I’m talking about.)  

But of course Sunday’s win is a boost for the local squad and community here, where the pain from a loss could have very well been buried deep in the collective New England sports’ hurt locker.  But instead, as someone from Facebookland wrote, this recent precipitation is “championship snow!!!!”  

Here are my moments:

1. Most Surprising Interview:  From  Malcolm Butler who made the game saving interception for the Patriots.  Post-game, NBC’s Michele Tafaya had to literally catch up with him for questions about the play.

“I just had a vision that I was going to make a big play and it came true and I’m just blessed…I can’t explain right now, I’m just…”  

No explaining necessary, this sounds kinda Biblical.  I also noticed after the play, Butler was pointing to the sky on the sidelines.

2.  Most Gracious Interview:  It seems like most everyone is asking:  Why didn’t the Seahawks just give it to Marshawn Lynch for the go-ahead touchdown?  He almost scored right before and he is arguably the best running back in the NFL.

I really liked how Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll handled himself in his post-game interview with NBC with class and courtesy.  He called the game “fantastic” and a “true championship game, comes right down to those punches that you take.” He explained the offensive strategy with the Seahawk’s downs and time out and called Butler’s play “miraculous.”  He said that he told his guys “that’s my fault totally.”  Seems to be some debate on this, but in this moment Carroll, while obviously struggling with articulation, showed sportsmanship, and that’s something to share.

3. Most Historic Player:  Around here he is sometimes known as TB 12.  Of course, that’s Tom Brady, your starting quarterback for the New England squad wearing #12  Here are some other numbers for Brady’s Super Bowl time, but not all of them.

Super Bowl appearances:  6 (Most in NFL history)
Super Bowl Wins: 4 (shares this with Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw)
Most Valuable Player award in Super Bowl: 3 (along with Joe Montana)
Most Touchdown passes in Super Bowl: 13 (broke Montana’s record on Sunday)

Sidenote:  Did you know the number of years Tom Brady’s father (also Tom Brady) was in the seminary, preparing for the Catholic priesthood before leaving?  7.  

4. Best Commercial:  Wading into these highly subjective waters is dicey, as the whole Super Bowl subculture of religious commercial watching is a bit disconcerting to me.  However, there seemed to be a number of pro-family, pro-fatherhood in this year’s crop: oh, the wheat and the weeds.

Right and wrong?  Wonderful that Toyota actually makes this distinction. Bravo on this ad!

5.  The Taunt that Came Back to Haunt:  Hard to miss Seattle cornerback Richard Sherman calling out Patriot’s cornerback Darrelle Revis, after the latter lets Doug Baldwin get by him in the endzone for a touchdown catch.  These two corners are widely regarded at or near the top for their position in NFL.   After the TD, Sherman gestured to the camera with his fingers “two, four, two four” which is Revis’ number, and then pointing to the replay, calling attention to his counterpart’s gaffe.

However post-game on the digital continent, someone took a freeze frame of Sherman with his four fingers and added these words “How many points you lose by?” and apparenly there were other variations on this irony.

Though, after the game Sherman shook Brady’s hand and later tweeted: “Thank you God for giving us the opportunity…. That’s all you can ask for….Thank you everyone for the support all year.” A nice turn by number 25 for the Seahawks.

6&7. A Conscience about Concussions:  I remember my high school football coach (Jim Bevell, the father of Seattle Seahawks offensive coach Darrell Bevell) describing football not as a contact sport, but as a collision sport.  On Sunday, Seattle Seahawks Cliff Avril left the game with a concussion and later New England’s Julian Edelman took a monstrous hit in the fourth quarter and apparently was cleared to complete the game by medical staff.  I was wondering if Edelman was “dinged” after the game, but I was impressed by the use of the word “epitome,” when linking the Patriots to an ethos of Boston.   Nonetheless, people wonder if Edelman should have continued and apparently called Seattle “St. Louis” at one point.

Trauma to the head, inherent to the current game, is one thing the NFL needs to spend way more energy on than so-called “Deflategate.” Diagnosed concussions are one malady, but chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) gets less attention.  Consider yourself a tackle football fan at any level?  Do yourself the service of watching PBS Frontline’s ongoing report  “League of Denial: The NFL’s Concussion Crisis” and see if you watch the game differently or think twice before signing up your youth for the sport.

8. A Commercial that Should be Shared.  The public service ad (PSA) from the NFL’s “No More” campaign in its simplicity could have been missed in the goings on of a Super Bowl party.  With basic images of the interior of a house, we begin to see signs of disruption:  displaced items on the floor, a hole punched in the wall, a family picture near a trash bin. Over these images, a 911 call is heard of a woman ordering pizza, but the dispatcher recognizes a dangerous situation behind the disguised call.  Thought provoking and raises awareness on domestic violence.

9. Best Moment of Concentration.  Seahawk’s Jermaine Kearse brings new meaning to the adage, “keep your eye on the ball!”  Fortunate for Patriots nation, their defenders had the wherewithal to tag him after the catch on the ground,  otherwise he could have run for six and a possible Seahawks repeat victory.  As it is, this clip serves as a great metaphor for perseverance.

10. Perspective: One of our local networks started their Super Bowl Sunday coverage at 9am.  I wasn’t watching, but I doubt they recommended going to Mass and taking time for morning prayer.  Michael Lavigne, who works for the Archdiocese of Boston in the Secretariat of the New Evangelization,  put things into perspective with this Facebook post before the game:

It should be noted after the game he said this (with a picture of him and his kids)

Justin Bell writes from Eastern Massachusetts. You can  follow him on Twitter @ajustbell