The Will to Rise above Hate: A Super Bowl 51 Story
February 5th, 2017- Super Bowl 51, a showcase of the NFL’s top two teams in the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons. I like most fans were at a Super Bowl party to watch the grand spectacle with friends and family. Butterflies were flying around, not only the players but the fans ready to watch the game, pre-game superstitions, predictions, had partaken in the waning minutes to the coin toss. Everyone at the party was rooting for Atlanta except for my friend Will. Will lives in Massachusetts and understandably is a Patriots fan. He has a superstition of wearing any Patriots gear during games since they had been winning when he hadn’t been wearing it. He, like other Patriots fans, were cheering their team on for a 5th Championship, while the rest of the Country including yours truly were rooting for the Falcons to win their first championship and take down the Football Empire known as the New England Patriots.
Game Time! The Falcons won the coin toss and deferred leading the Patriots to receive the opening kickoff and starting on Offense. The Falcons Defense kept New England at bay leading to a three and out and giving the Falcons possession inside their own 8-yard line. Falcons running Back Devonta Freeman ran for 37 yards, (6:35pm check of Will; Still good, not distraught). The Super Bowl had started off with a nice back and forth, Tom Brady threw a couple of nice passes, even though their running game behind Legarette Blount was stagnant. Matt Ryan of the Falcons practically mirrored Brady’s performance, except for a better running game behind Devonta Freeman. A nice back and forth in the 1st quarter, then the 2nd quarter started. (7:00 pm check; Will is giddy, while the rest of us are freaking out).
The Patriots were continuing their drive from the 1st quarter on the Atlanta 40. The Patriots managed to get a first down behind Blount’s powerhouse running, then the next play happened. A simple run play the Patriots ran, but Falcon’s linebacker Deion Jones saw opportunity. Jones stripped the ball from Blount, “FUMBLE,” everyone screamed, Atlanta recovers. (Will was quiet as all fans are when something bad happens to their team). Five plays later, “TOUCHDOWN FALCONS,” screamed FOX announcer Joe Buck through the TV. (7:15 Check; Will is sort of freak out over what is happening in the game, but is calm as if his team will answer with a score of their own.) Another 3 and out by the Patriots, it wasn’t looking good for New England with 10 minutes left in the half. Matt Ryan and the Atlanta offense got the ball back and did the same thing they had done the previous drive, went down the field and scored but this time Ryan threw it to tight end Austin Hooper for the touchdown.
An utter silence fell upon Will, not a peep came out of him, everyone at the party was mocking him and the Patriots, what made it worse was that he as the only Patriots fans there. Little did we all know more pain and agony would befall Will. The Patriots were cruising down the field, nothing was going to stop them from getting a touchdown. Everyone was at the edge of their seat despite Tom Brady getting hit play after play. Brady hikes the ball, he throws it to his wide receiver Danny Amendola, except Falcons cornerback Robert Alford is there to pick it off and return it to the house for an 82-yd interception touchdown. (7:50 check, Will has fallen deeper into his silence not saying a word.) All the Patriots could do was kick a field goal going into half time. So the score before Lady Gaga’s Halftime show was 21 to 3 in favor of the Falcons.
At the beginning of Halftime, the internet was being ruthless with the Patriots, meme after meme was being made about them. But once Lady Gaga hit the stage everyone all got together to watch and talk about her performance. A calming time, but with the calm comes a storm which would be the 3rd quarter.
The 3rd Quarter was just like the 1st quarter for the first 7 minutes, a back and forth contest. (At this point of the night my dear old pal Will is digging his way through strawberry chocolate Hagen Daz ice cream, hoping the sweet combination would soothe his anger and frustration at how the game is being played). 8 minutes left and Atlanta scores another touchdown, this time running back Tevin Coleman scores on a run, Atlanta now leads 28 to 3 with 23 minutes left in the game. (9:05 PM Check: Will is halfway through his ice cream just focused on the sweet indulgence.)
Then a ray of hope shined in the distance for Will and every Patriots fan… they scored a touchdown. Tom Brady threw a pass to running back James White, (Will happily shouting, “THANK YOU, FOOTBALL GODS.”) Then as he shouted the Patriots missed the extra point, and happiness was washed into anger, frustration, and stress all at the same time with the score standing at 28 to 9 still in favor of the Falcons. There was no way the Falcons can blow a 28 to 9 lead with 2 minutes and a quarter left to play right?
The 4th quarter, the quarter that separates the boys from the men, where legends are made. The Falcons and their fans are celebrating like the Super Bowl is over, then they have an adequate drive but punt it back to the Patriots. The Patriots failed to do anything big and settled for a field goal now down 28 to 12. (9:30 Check: Will is still silent while watching the television, but with an empty pint of Hagen Daz in his hand, oh the humanity.) Atlanta gets the ball back, Matt Ryan is in the groove getting his team in position, but Ryan didn’t count on Patriots linebacker D’Onta Hightower to not only tackle him, but strip the ball for his teammate Alan Branch to recover it to give the Patriots the ball in Atlanta territory.
Four plays later, Touchdown! Brady finds Amendola again for the touchdown, but now they must get a 2-point conversion. Will is now on the edge of his seat as he exclaims, “Why can’t they (Patriots) let it be a blow out instead of leaving me stressed out.” Who could blame him, this game just went from a blowout to a close game within minutes of the 4th quarter. New England is now in position to pull a historic comeback of crazy proportions, (Will is finally being a Patriots fan again and is losing it as the Falcons offense takes the field). Atlanta strings together a couple of great plays including a catch by Julio Jones sideline tiptoe grab. But it wasn’t enough, the Falcons had to punt. Now the ball was in the Patriots yard, and they can tie the game 28 all. (10:00 PM check: Will like myself and others is on edge, this drive is what it comes down to, either the Patriots score or the game is over, and those like myself who were making fun of him are now freaking out that the Patriots can tie the game.)
For Five plays, the Patriots were inconsistent on the drive, but were driving up the field, and then the most improbable, inconceivable play happened that brought the whole country to its feet. First down… Brady drops back… throws the ball… it’s on its way into three Falcons defenders… it’s batted… its Caught! Julien Edelman made a catch one inch off the ground that should have hit the ground but he caught it. Robert Alford couldn’t believe that Julien Edelman caught that pass, in a post-game interview with Pro Football Talk’s Michael David Smith said, “It was a nice bat by me, I hit the ground, I was trying with everything in my will to get back up and at least make a play on it, “I thought that Rico or one of my brothers would get it, but they all were battling for it and Edelman came down with it.” (10:05 PM check: Will is silent but his face says he is determined and knows the Patriots are going to win the game.) Four plays later Touchdown! The Patriots even made the 2-point conversion, now the game is 28 to 28 now heading into overtime. (Recap of the game before overtime, Atlanta scores three touchdowns, Will is as silent as a mute. Then in the fourth quarter, the Patriots tie the game and he is ecstatic.)
There has never been an overtime Super Bowl until Super Bowl 51, so everyone in America knew it would come down to the OT coin toss. Who won the coin toss? The New England “freakin” Patriots. All it took was eight plays for them to get to the end zone, as a fan of football, it pained me to watch and write (type) this on paper. The improbable happened! The New England Patriots had absolutely no shot of winning, yet against all odds, somehow, some way they came back to win the Super Bowl. As James White ran the ball into the endzone, football fans across the United States wept as the Patriots claimed their fifth trophy, but as America wept, nothing but respect and admiration was given to the Patriots. As a fan of the game that’s all you can really give because they showed nothing is impossible.
On the other side of the spectrum Patriots fans leaped for joy in the stadium, including at the Party was Will, through a torment of agony from the internet, friends, and team he could finally become happy. Championship number 5 for the Patriots, and boy was it sweet. I had asked him throughout the gam how he was doing, but due to bad timing throughout the game he denied an answer, until the Patriots had won. He then opened to me about the game. “I am emotionally drained, and I am going to need to process what happened today, once I have processed everything, I’m going to enjoy my happiness for my team winning.”
As a fan of the game Super Bowl 51 was a great game, a historic game for the ages. Do I hate Tom Brady and Bill Belichick for winning 5 Super Bowls yes, but I sure as hell respect them, just like my friend Will, he endured so much hate from the beginning not just by my friends and I, but the internet and he finally got the last laugh, his team winning it for a 5th time, I respect him for standing through the hate, I apologized for the stupid things I said about his team and the memes and I gave him a hug. Sportsmanship was shown, even though Jets fans ran out of the room. If this Super Bowl has meant anything it’s that you don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched otherwise you end up with egg on your face instead.
