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There are two plays related to Super Bowl 49 that will never be forgotten and they will likely live on for as long as most of us do:
Russell Wilson’s interception at the 1-yard line by Malcolm Butler that sealed the Patriots’ fourth Super Bowl victory.
And the play that didn’t happen, a handoff to Marshawn Lynch that may or may not have given the Seahawks their second Super Bowl championship in a row.
We will never know what could have happened if Seattle had called a different play than the one they did, but Lynch himself is confident — 100% confident — that if he had been given the ball, he would have scored. In promoting his involvement with a new league called the Fan Controlled Football League, in which fans of the team make decisions, including playcalling, and in which Lynch is an Owner and Team Captain, he once again recalls the single biggest non-moment of his life.
Which run play would have gotten the Seahawks, at the very least, a 31-28 lead with under :25 seconds left?
“At that point we were a good outside zone team,” says Marshawn. “We was averaging, shit ... about six yards on that run play.”
How many times would Marshawn have scored if they had run outside zone 10 times?
“Not to take anything away from they defense at that point in time, there was nothing they could do to stop that play,” says Marshawn. “It was two yards. Shit. You know, you average out the numbers and how that sound? Sounds like 10 touchdowns to me.”
He repeats:
“Sounds like 10 touchdowns to me.”
Keep in mind that on 1st-and-goal from the five, Lynch did receive a handoff and ran off the left tackle, Russell Okung, for a gain of four. It would be interesting to know how many times Marshawn thinks he would have scored out of 10 times from that situation. Lynch fell short on that play and the Seahawks opted to make it a pass on the next one. I don’t believe they were trying to do anything — not get Wilson a Super Bowl MVP or whatever — other than trying to score. There’s also loads of evidence against the idea that running from the one was all that successful, both for Lynch with Seattle and in general, but again, we’ll never know.
And this won’t be the last time we’ll speculate.
Lynch and Richard Sherman are the first two Team Owners / Captains for the FCFL, as announced Thursday.