Patriots’ Malcolm Butler This Year’s Super Bowl Unlikely Hero

Super Bowls, on occasion, have been known to give the little-known player national recognition for their performance in the big game.

Malcolm Butler intercepts a pass by Russell Wilson intended for Ricardo Lockette late in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XLIX to preserve the victory for New England at University of Phoenix Stadium on Feb. 1, 2015 in Glendale, Arizona. Rob Carr/Getty Images

Super Bowls, on occasion, have been known to give the little-known player national recognition for their performance or one key play in the big game.

Think back to 2008 and David Tyree of the New York Giants with his incredible “helmet catch” or last year, Seattle linebacker Malcolm Smith with a pick-6 and fumble recovery and being voted MVP.

Tyree, a sixth-round pick, was primarily a backup player with only 54 catches in 83 games played over a six-year NFL career. It’s simply astounding if one thinks of what Tyree came up with given the circumstances and his limited experience.

Smith was a seventh-round pick and had only two interceptions in his regular season career. In Seattle’s run to the title last year, he had two interceptions in that postseason alone. His pick-6 in the Super Bowl gave Seattle a 22–0 lead and effectively put the game out of reach.

Sunday’s XLIX version was no different, but the unheralded hero “award” could have gone to two players depending on who won the game—Seattle’s Chris Matthews and New England’s Malcolm Butler.

He made the play of the century.

— Rob Gronkowski