![]() If the Patriots lose, he'll blame himself for the rest of his life. He walks to the sideline and yanks off his chin strap. On the sideline, coach Pete Carroll can scarcely contain his glee.īutler - who is in the game only because Arrington had a bad first half - is devastated. Seattle trails 28-24, but the Seahawks now have the ball on the 5-yard line with 1:06 to play, poised to win a second straight Super Bowl. As the two men tumble to the ground, the football pinballs around, bouncing off arms, legs and even Kearse's feet before it lands softly in the receiver's arms. That's what the world is thinking late in the fourth quarter when Wilson floats a ball to Jermaine Kearse and Butler jumps up and partially deflects it. SCENE IV We've just witnessed a David Tyree miracle all over again. If you see that formation, you have to just jump it. Kyle Arrington, Patrick Chung and Butler split reps in practice, but when Butler tries to undercut the slant and is beaten for a touchdown in practice, Belichick gives him a short talk, planting the seed in his brain. Who would the other corner be? Not even the Patriots are sure. If the Seahawks line up near the goal line with two wide receivers bunched together - and according to Ernie Adams' research, they very well might - it will be Brandon Browner's job to jam the holy hell out of the first receiver and the other corner's job to jump the second receiver's slant route. These are the words Belichick tells Butler during practice in the week leading up to this year's Super Bowl. If you see that formation, you have to be on it. Even Brady begins to wonder: Who's that guy running down so many balls? But during training camp, Butler breaks up so many passes, Patriots veterans nickname him Scrap. No one expects much if he is lucky, he might survive the first cuts. (After pleading for a redo, Butler runs a 4.4 in a private workout with the Patriots.) He has a three-day tryout. But something about Butler, who continued working part time at Popeyes while playing two seasons at Division II West Alabama, convinces Boyer he's worth a camp invite after he goes undrafted. In reality, he probably should have looked elsewhere when Butler runs an embarrassing 4.62 40 at his pro day in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, in 2014. SCENE II Patriots cornerbacks coach Josh Boyer could have looked elsewhere. But he still believes, against all odds, he'll make it to the NFL one day. He makes $7.25 per hour and lives in a mobile home. That's where Butler gets a job - washing dishes, taking orders, frying chicken - after he is kicked off the Hinds Community College football team midway through his freshman year for a misdemeanor drug charge. We begin instead in the back of a Popeyes in Vicksburg, Mississippi, in 2010. It would be like watching the last five minutes of The Usual Suspects without seeing, and understanding, how we got there. You can't raise the curtain and see cornerback Malcolm Butler breaking on the ball right at the goal, intercepting a Russell Wilson pass to win Tom Brady and Bill Belichick a fourth ring, because that would be cheating the story. SCENE I The story of the Greatest Play in Modern Super Bowl History begins, like so many American success stories, where you'd least expect it. ![]() For more, visit /IdeasIssue, or look for the issue on newsstands Dec. This story is part of ESPN The Magazine's Ideas of the Year Issue - a look at the people, moves and moments that changed sports in 2015. How Malcolm Butler made the greatest play in Super Bowl history Kevin Van Valkenburg, ESPN Senior Writer You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browser
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