Al Michaels Relives Malcolm Butler’s Shocking Super Bowl Heroics
Al Michael has called 11 Super Bowls during his legendary broadcasting career, including Super Bowl XLIX between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks.
Nowadays, many NFL fans refer to it simply as “The Malcolm Butler Game.”
Butler saved the day for the Patriots during the game’s final minute, snatching Russell Wilson’s goal-line pass for a game-sealing interception. Eleven years later, it remains one of the most famous and shocking plays in Super Bowl history.
Fortunately, Michaels was ready for it and delivered a perfect call on the NBC broadcast.
“Play clock at five. Pass is…intercepted at the goal line by Malcolm Butler! Unreal!”
Most NFL fans didn’t know Butler’s name yet, as he was a rookie that year and only started one game. Thankfully, Michaels had done his homework according to his recent appearance on the “Fitz And Whit” podcast.
“Obviously, everybody remembers the one play at the end…What I remember about that too is that Malcolm Butler was like the number six or seven defensive back coming into the game. He was not a regular,” Michaels recalled. “Fortunately, the night before…I looked at like the last four or five guys on each roster just in case.”
Fortunately for Michaels, his preparation paid off. He correctly identified Butler for making the play and got the call right on one of the biggest calls of his career.
Michaels also said he thought the Seahawks’ play call should have been rolling Wilson out to the left to either pass the ball or run it in. Many think Seattle should’ve just handed the ball off to Marshawn Lynch, including his color commentator at the time, Cris Collinsworth.
Either way, the Seahawks made the wrong decision and Butler was ready for it. Thankfully, so was Michaels.