Butler did it: 11 years on, was the NFL’s most criticized call actually the right decision?

The last time the Seahawks and Patriots met in a Super Bowl, a dramatic interception by an undrafted rookie changed the history of both franchises

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hen the New England Patriots faced off against the Denver Broncos in this season’s AFC championship, Malcolm Butler was at home in Houston. He had considered attending the game in Denver or watching on TV in a No 21 Patriots jersey, which he wore in Foxboro for four seasons through the mid-to-late 2010s, but feared he might jinx the outcome. In the end, it was just him and his nerves for company.

Just as Butler was feeling somewhat at peace with that setup, and the Patriots’ prospects, a bad omen intruded: His wifi glitched, delaying the broadcast as the Patriots clung on to a three-point lead in the fourth-quarter. “I was lagging bad,” Butler tells the Guardian. “But I did get the wifi back working. And as soon as I did my phone was ringing like crazy, so I knew something was going right. It’s crazy that we’re back.”

With a 10-7 victory, New England booked their 10th Super Bowl appearance in the past 24 years and the team’s 12th overall. On Sunday, they’ll face Seattle in a rematch of the Patriots’ 28-24 victory over the Seahawks in 2015’s Super Bowl XLIX. Victory this Sunday at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, would break the Patriots’ stalemate with the Pittsburgh Steelers for the most Super Bowl victories by a franchise ever, at seven. And New England’s success story couldn’t be told without Butler.