Super Bowl 60: Malcolm Butler interception dominates build up to Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots rematch
Malcolm Butler caught game-clinching interception in final seconds of New England Patriots' infamous Super Bowl win over Seattle Seahawks 11 years ago; watch the rematch between the two teams in Super Bowl 60, live on Sky Sports NFL from 10pm, Sunday (kick-off, 11.30pm)
Thursday 5 February 2026 17:33, UK
Malcolm Butler.
The former New England Patriots cornerback had a largely unheralded seven-year career in the NFL, which ended back in 2020, but he lives in Super Bowl infamy for his part in a play that is on everybody's lips in the build-up to Super Bowl 60 this week in San Francisco.
It's the rematch: the Seattle Seahawks again face the Patriots with the Vince Lombardi Trophy on the line - live on Sky Sports NFL from 10pm, Sunday (kick-off, 11.30pm) - 11 years on from that fateful play call in the final seconds of Super Bowl 49 that led to Butler's game-clinching pick for the Pats.
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It's another good reason why former Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll - along with having just been fired by the 3-14 Las Vegas Raiders - should be as far away from San Francisco as physically possible right now, hopefully sipping cocktails on a beach somewhere and trying to ignore anything and everything to do with the Super Bowl.
For it was his decision, along with offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell, to call for a pass on 2nd-and-Goal at the one-yard line, when trailing the Patriots 28-24 with 26 seconds of Super Bowl 49 to go. Instead of hand the ball to his 'Beast Mode' running back Marshawn Lynch, who was the two-time reigning rushing touchdown leader and already had 102 yards and a score to his name that night.
Off the back of Carroll's controversial call, Rusell Wilson looked for Ricardo Lockette in the end zone, but Butler made a play on the ball and came down with the game-clinching interception, earning Tom Brady his fourth of seven Super Bowl rings and Bill Belichick his fourth of six as a head coach - a tally not considered good enough to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer, seemingly.
The Patriots' dynasty was reborn; New England were in the midst of a 10-year Super Bowl drought going into the game against the reigning-champion Seahawks. But Butler's pick set about a chain reaction that would see New England secure three titles in the space of five seasons.
As for Seattle, they'd make the playoffs in five of the next seven seasons with Wilson still at QB, and six of the next nine with Carroll at the helm, but they'd only go as far as the Divisional Round - on three occasions.
Might things have been different had Butler not made that pick at the goal line, had Lockette instead caught the ball or, as most had anticipated, had Lynch been handed the ball instead?
Perhaps not. Perhaps Lynch would have been stopped short, perhaps Brady was always destined to be the GOAT and perhaps Seattle's mini dynasty of the 2010s was always due to fade away.
We'll never know how differently things might have played out, but Sunday's Super Bowl rematch between the two sides, more than a decade on, provides the perfect opportunity for a few wrongs to be righted and some old scores to be settled.
What has been said during Super Bowl Week?
Asked on Opening Night of Super Bowl Week what he would do if faced with an identical situation on Sunday, Seahawks head coach Mike McDonald quipped: "Is Beast Mode in the backfield?
"That's within the realm of possibility."
Also cornered on the subject, Seattle quarterback Sam Darnold backed himself, joking: "I know that's a sore subject for a lot of people, but we'll say pass.
"No timeouts [and 26 seconds] left? Maybe you run it [on second down] and you get on the ball and throw it [on third down] if you don't make it, but it's tough to get those big guys back up after being down there on the one-yard line.
"As a quarterback, I've got to say pass though."
As for a former Seahawk, who played in Super Bowl 49, wide receiver Doug Baldwin said the Super Bowl rematch between the two teams can't help but bring up some painful memories.
"For me there's still that feeling of a missed opportunity," Baldwin told Sports Illustrated. "I think a lot of guys feel like this.
"But I don't hold it against Pete or Bev anymore; we all make decisions we wish we could have back.
"It's a little strange right now. Especially it being New England… it doesn't bring up a lot of good feelings, if I'm being honest.
"I want the Seahawks to beat the brakes off them. And I still want to beat the brakes off them."
How did the first Super Bowl meeting play out?
It was clear right from kick-off that Super Bowl 49 was going to be fiercely fought.
A first-quarter deadlock was finally broken early in the second by a trio of 10-yard passes by Brady, connecting with Danny Amendola, Julian Edelman and then finally Brandon LaFell for the first touchdown of the contest.
The defending Super Bowl champs - Seattle having destroyed the Denver Broncos 43-8 the previous year - came storming back, with Wilson and Lynch combining from three years out to tie things up with just over two minutes left in the first half.
But, before Katy Perry could take to the stage on a 30-foot-long, 14-foot-tall mechanical lion for the half-time entertainment, the two teams were not quite done yet. The Pats regained the lead with a 22-yard touchdown pass to Rob Gronkowski, 31 seconds from time, only to surrender it in dramatic fashion 29 seconds later.
Carroll foreshadowed the dramatic finish to the game, making a gutsy call to pass up a field goal opportunity and go for the end zone with six seconds left before the break.
On instruction, Wilson linked up with wide receiver Chris Matthews for an 11-yard touchdown pass to send the teams in to the half tied at 14-14.
Early in the second half, Seattle defensive end Cliff Avril departed early with a concussion, but it did not slow the Seahawks, who went up by three after a 27-yard Steven Hauschka field goal, and then by 10, via a Baldwin touchdown.
A 24-14 lead looked good for back-to-back championships going into the fourth, since no team had previously overcome a 10-point deficit in the final quarter to win a Super Bowl.
However, this was Brady and the Patriots, and they scored twice more - Amendola and Edelman on short passing plays - to take a 28-24 lead, with just two minutes left on the clock.
Seattle began to drive down the field with two quick first downs, and then got a huge slice of luck as Jermaine Kearse dropped a pass deep down the right sideline, only for it to bounce off his body and back into his hands as he was falling to the ground.
It set the Seahawks up with a 1st-and-Goal from the five-yard line; Lynch, naturally, ran the ball and earned a further four yards on the next play, with Seattle able to run the clock down to 26 seconds before taking their next snap down at the goal line.
The title was there for the taking, but the play call was wrong and Butler was first to it, intercepting Wilson's pass to earn his place in Super Bowl history.
Watch the New England Patriots against the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl 60 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California on Sunday February 8, with coverage under way at 10pm live on Sky Spots NFL ahead of kick-off at approximately 11.30pm.
