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Steve Rudman
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BY Steve Rudman 01:01PM 02/19/2015

Super Bowl interception still haunts Wilson

Russell Wilson posted a video on the Players’ Tribune web site, saying that he hopes to be remembered for something other than his last-minute interception in the Super Bowl.

Russell Wilson aims the fateful pass to. . . Malcolm Butler (21). / Drew McKenzie, Sportspress Northwest

Pete Carroll spent the first few days after Seattle’s Super Bowl loss to New England taking responsibility in a variety of interviews, including one with Matt Lauer of NBC’s The Today Show, for the goal-line interception that cost the Seahawks an opportunity to repeat as champions. Carroll, though, will have to share the blame with Russell Wilson, who told the Players’ Tribune web site that the botched play was all his fault.

In a four-minute, 20-second video, Wilson said the interception is all on him and that he hopes to be remembered for something other than that play.

“One yard. I’d be lying if I said I haven’t been thinking about that one yard for the past 17 days,” Wilson said on the video. “Everyone wants to know how I feel. Well, it’s complicated. Walking off that field in Arizona and seeing disappointed Seahawks fans in the stands was anguish. How could I not feel like I let them down? I tried to be positive, but I’m not perfect.

“I have been away from the game for almost three weeks, trying to escape football and clear my mind. But the funny thing is, I’ve never felt hungrier to get in the weight room and the film room and keep pushing until we get to Super Bowl 50.

“How do I feel? I don’t know if I can fit it into a sound bite. I definitely couldn’t fit it into a 30-second Instagram video. So, after the Players’ Tribune roundtable event on Saturday, I had the camera crew stick around so I could talk it out. Sorry if it’s not perfect. There was no script here. I just wanted to talk directly to the 12s. This is for you.”

Facing second and one from the New England one-yard line, Wilson threw a slant pass to Ricardo Lockette. Reading Wilson’s throw perfectly, Malcolm Butler of the Patriots muscled his way past Lockette and swiped the ball, clinching New England’s 28-24 victory. Many blamed Seahawks coaches for throwing on second down, arguing that Marshawn Lynch should have been handed the ball.

“It hits me,” Wilson said. “It’s tough to deal with. It’s a tough feeling of losing. If anybody hates losing, I hate losing . . . me feeling like I didn’t make a play and knowing it’s over.

“The most important thing at quarterback, and a leader in general, is accountability. So what happened in Super Bowl 49, I take full responsibility for it,” said Wilson, who added that he looks forward to his next opportunity.

“The belief that I’m going to get there again and that we’re going to do it better than it’s ever been done is never going to change for me,” Wilson said. “I’m going to be the last guy to ever give up. I’m going to be the last guy to not take a risk.

“Through all the ups and downs and wondering what happened, I’m prepared for the next moment. In my mind, I believe I have a killer instinct and will keep doing everything I can to be successful.

“And there’s a difference between just being successful and being significant. My goal is to be significant. My goal is to make a difference, to do it better than anybody’s ever done it. Call me crazy. Call me insane. I don’t know, but I believe I’ll get there again.”

Wilson is due this off-season to receive one of the richest contracts in NFL history. General manager John Schneider, speaking at the NFL combine in Indianapolis Thursday, said “there is no timeline” for getting the deal done.


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YourThoughts

  • poulsbogary

    They should have kept Tate. I believe somehow on that final call that Tate would have out-muscled for the ball and winning td.

    • steverudman

      Of course you understand that, given their salary cap situation, they could not have kept Tate.

      • poulsbogary

        Steve, thanks for the reply. My point was that the team let alot of people go last year. Maybe this year they will do better in deciding who to keep and who to jettison.

    • Tman

      The defender somehow knew the play was coming. He blasted the receiver to the ground. No call. How was this not pass interference?

      • 1coolguy

        the DB made a great play. Anticipated the pass and got there before Lockette who should have batted the ball away.

        • John M

          If you watch the play from the camera at Wilson’s left it is evident Butler made his move very fast and out of the receiver’s peripheral vision. Lockette never saw him coming. Pass interference might have been called, but it was a quick play in the interior of the lines and hard to follow except on replay . . .

          • Tman

            this was not a Kam Chancellor, Richard Sherman kind of interception..i.e. defender reads the play, steps in front of receiver and intercepts. Wilson’s pass was perfectly thrown, Lockette was where he was supposed to be until Butler blasted Lockette to the ground. before the ball arrived. Can’t fault Wilson or Lockette..they executed the play as designed perfectly. Fault the pass call, fault the officials for not calling interference. Its hard to fault Wilson and Lockette who did their jobs as well as anyone could.

          • Tman

            Here’s a link to a field camera showing Butler, who claims he “read Wilson’s eyes”, zeroed in on Lockette the whole time, then blasting Lockette out of the way to make the catch.

            http://nesn.com/2015/02/field-level-angle-of-malcolm-butlers-interception-is-amazing-video/?utm_source=zergnet.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=zergnet_395450

            Is this or is this not interference? Was this practiced? According to Art Thiel, the Patriots knew this play was coming and practiced this defense against it Tuesday prior to the SB

            http://sportspressnw.com/2197817/2015/thiel-pats-knew-seahawks-pass-was-coming

          • John M

            I said pass interference could have been called, but a zebra would have had to have been in position to see it and as far as I could tell that didn’t happen. I don’t know where Art got his info, but I’m not going to belabor the point. Thing is, that isn’t a play the Hawks run very often, in fact I can’t recall ever seeing them run it in the red zone. So I don’t understand the Pats knowing it was coming.

          • mtd9904

            …and quite frankly pass interference can be called almost anytime Kam Chancellor is defending the pass.

          • eYeDEF

            Wilson’s pass was not “perfectly thrown”. It should have been low and at the hip to prevent any chance of it being picked off. The NFL network pundits who are all former players were saying QBs are trained to throw those slants low and Wilson didn’t do that there. It wasn’t a bad throw, but it wasn’t perfect either, and it was still a horrible call. Also in no universe is that “pass interference”.

  • Tman

    Not to worry Mr. Wilson. You are the best there is. Everybody knows it, Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, Peyton Manning, John Elway..everybody. Some might not want to admit it but they know it is true. They know you’ll be back and you will win. They also know you did not call the plays that ended the super bowl dreams in 2012 and 2014. If the lob was healthy, the Patriots would have met a fate only slightly less humiliating than the defeat you and the hawks inflicted on the Broncos. Superbowl 50 has a nice ring to it.

  • Its onlySports(DavidWakefield)

    First three years in the league and he has guided the Hawks to play off appearances each year. Two Super bowls. Most wins compiled in his1st 3 years breaking some lofty records.He sets high standards and what is not to like about that?
    If the haunting is making him hungrier watch out league. Just imagine what this guy will be like when people like Steve are writing stuff like Wilson has that Veteran savvy and swagger about him.These next 5 years will be remarkable. It is a great era in Seahawk football.Go Hawks!

    • poulsbogary

      I have a difficult time reconciling his results with the numbers. Statistically speaking he is mid pack. Hard to figure.

      • Tman

        Mid pack? Surely you jest. Who in history has done better his first 3 years? Is there a major quarterback playing he has not defeated?

        • poulsbogary

          In terms of the traditional measurements of good qb’s, i am talking total yards, yards per game, comp %, yards per completion, td’s, you know, the usual stuff, he is mid pack. His numbers are average, very average. Look don’t get me wrong, i am just as pissed off as any other hawk fan, and man did i spend alot of money at Christmas time on seahawk gear/jerseys, but we have to accept the numbers for what they are.

          • Tman

            Where are you getting your stats and compared to who? How did Wilson set so many records his first 3 years? Who would you rather have quarterbacking the Seahawks? What makes Russell Wilson one of the greats is,, compared with any of them..Unitas, Namath, Montana, Elway, Brady, Manning, et al, Wilson can do what they do but they cannot do what he does. Who, but Fout,s could beat Wilson in a straight up match between two all time teams with healthy players?
            Wilson has beaten all of the current greats..many of them soundly.

          • poulsbogary

            Next season, I would prefer that Russell hand the ball off at the one yard line, or run it in himself. No throwing.

          • Tman

            yep. A universally held sentiment.

        • mtd9904

          That’s like saying Dilfer was the big reason the Ravens won the 2001 Super Bowl.

      • Dan

        Not to take anything away from Wilson, but it’s really not all that hard to figure. It’s called the Legion of Boom. They’ve limited opposing offenses’ scoring opportunities and forced turnovers, so even “mid-pack” QB numbers can result in record wins. Wilson’s a great QB, very elusive, great decision maker, good under pressure–but all those victories belong to the Legion as much as they belong to him. As long as the Legion stays together and healthy, the Seahawks’ future looks pretty bright.

  • 1coolguy

    glad to see Wilson is taking responsibility for that last play. He had plenty of time to pass the ball and it was wide open. He should have thrown it low and to the right more. It would have either been dropped or caught. even so it was still a horrible play call. It should have been a rollout triple option for Wilson to pass, run, handoff to lynch. If there was nothing available one thing that Wilson is exceptional at is throwing the ball away when there’s no play.

  • notaboomer

    wilson, can you still have fun?

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