I can't be the only one who had a flashback Sunday while watching the Super Bowl in Glendale, Arizona — the first at the venue since the fateful afternoon in February 2015 when the Lombardi Trophy was yanked out of the Seahawks' hands.
I've been in that stadium — called University of Phoenix Stadium in 2015, State Farm Stadium now — several times in the ensuing eight years for Seahawks games. Each time, especially when the action heads toward that end zone where New England's Malcolm Butler made his interception, I involuntarily think about that play. In more than 40 years as a sports writer, it was the single most shocking moment I've experienced — and it's not even close. Certain victory became tormented defeat in the blink of an eye.
What's increasingly clear is that the stunning interception, the forever second-guessed play call that led to it and the fallout from both had profound and far-reaching ramifications for the Seahawks. It's not a stretch to say that the end of the unique chemistry that powered that team — and the de facto end of their would-be dynasty that never was — was sealed at that precise moment.
