Finally, New England Can Stop Talking about the David Tyree Catch

The New England Patriots won Super Bowl LI in dramatic, scintillating fashion last night with a comeback for the ages. Down 28-3, the Patriots rattled off 31 points consecutive points. The game had everything you could ever ask for in a Super Bowl and then some. It started out against type, with the Patriots uncharacteristically gifting the Falcons 14 points with turnovers, one an 82 yard interception return, the first pick six Tom Brady has ever thrown in his long playoff career. It featured the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history. It went to overtime. There were remarkable, stand-out plays that will go down as legendary.

Julio Jones almost had one of those legendary plays when he made one of the prettiest Super Bowl catches this side of Santonio Holmes. At the time, it wasn't just pretty, it felt like it might have solidified an MVP award for either of Matt Ryan or Jones. With that catch, the Falcons went to the New England 22 yard line and had an eight point lead with just under five minutes to play. That is a lifetime in football—we all knew at the time, and New England proceeded to reinforce that—but all they needed to do was not completely implode and Atlanta could have made it a two-score game. That didn't happen, setting the stage for the actual catch that everyone will now remember from this Super Bowl.

Where Jones's catch was a case study in perfection, the catch Julian Edelman made two minutes later was a clusterfuck of improbability. If you were watching with people, or even just talking to yourself, your immediate reaction was "holy shit," followed by a few gobsmacked moments of silence, and then simply: "David Tyree."

The comparison to the Giants wide receiver's pinned-helmet catch was apt for several reasons, including the involvement of these same Patriots, the time and implications it had on the game, Joe Buck's voice narrating, and of course, the totally WTF nature of it all. On the Tyree catch, most of the WTF-ery happened before the ball was even thrown, with Eli Manning nearly getting swallowed by the New England defense before heaving a desperation jump ball that stuck like glue to Tyree's helmet. All the action in the Edelman catch happened on the back end. Brady's pocket was clean and he had time sit back and make the play he wanted. He chose Edelman and it was only then that what should have been Robert Alford's second interception on the day, became the craziest catch you have ever seen. No one should ever breath David Tyree's name again, in fact, especially those in New England.

Tyree's catch, and the resulting Giants win, became symbolic in New England. The Pats can't just lose like the rest of us chumps, it has to be beyond comprehension. The only hope you have against the Patriots: insane, improbable, luck. We all rationalize losses, and not content with already being considered a modern day dynasty with or without that win, the Tyree catch was tossed aside as an inexplicable phenomenon. The Patriots didn't lose the Super Bowl to the Giants, the universe stopped working for a few minutes that night. And New England supporters never stopped talking about it.

So please, now, never mention it again. Your New York Giants nightmare has been cancelled out and avenged. You have your own absurd pass that had no business being caught that set in motion a ridiculous win. The amount of things that had to go right, and body parts that had to be in just the perfect spot for this catch to happen is remarkable. This ball was nearly intercepted, bounced off Edelman's hands, then off Alford's leg because he slid back, like, five yards after initially tipping the ball, and safely back into Edelman's clutches before it ever touched the ground. This catch makes the Tyree catch look like a simple five-yard out. It is the Rube Goldberg Machine of catches and it is all yours, New England. Please let this be a reminder that the true reason sports are awesome is because of these plays, not because your team is the best.