It’s been more than a week since Malcolm Butler intercepted Russell Wilson’s pass. We all know what happened.
The criticism of Pete Carroll’s and Darrell Bevell’s decision-making still rages. The hatred they’ve received is unnecessary.
Sport is made up of ifs and buts. It’s those what ifs that keep us coming back for more.
Those nearly moments are just as important as the glorious occasions when things go our team’s way.
So, what if Ricardo Lockette clutched that ball with 20 seconds to go? Pete Carroll would be a genius. He would have been the coach who fooled us all, even the great Bill Belichick. With the ball on the 1-yard line you expected nothing but to see Marshawn Lynch barging through two or three defenders on his way into the endzone.
Carroll tried and failed. But what if he ran it? What if Belichick had called a timeout? The result would probably be different. We don’t know. All we know is what happened happened. That’s sport.
What if Carroll had chosen to go for a field goal against the Packers in the Championship game instead of faking it? The Seahawks would probably have not been in Arizona last week. But he went for it and everyone raved about it.
What if Brandon Bostick had done his job and let Jordy Nelson receive the onside kick in that same game? The Packers would have definitely been in the Super Bowl instead of Seattle!
Sport is won and lost on split-second decisions. Those decisions are what separate superstars from us mere mortals. If Dick Fosbry hadn’t broken from the norm the high jump would be completely different.
Every game in the NFL is won and lost by decisions made on the field. Carroll, Bevell and Wilson got it wrong, but they gave it a go. What if Jeremy Lane didn’t break his wrist after picking Brady’s pass in the first quarter? His replacement, Tharold Simon, got torched by the MVP the rest of the game. Would the outcome have been different? We assume it will, but we will never know.
Super Bowl XLIX was a fantastic game that was filled with drama. The drama was created by those wonderful coaches, players, decision-makers. Let’s not forget that we’re all fallible. Even the great get it wrong at times, but what if they get it right next time? We don’t want to miss it for the world and that’s why our love for the game will never wane.
5th Down UK 