Tight end Martellus Bennett didn’t know the rules of overtime as the New England Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons went past regulation in Super Bowl LI. No Super Bowl had ever gone to overtime.
And while viewers got graphics from the broadcast to explain that, if a team scored a touchdown, the game was over, Bennett was not privy to that explanation. So when Patriots running back James White dove into the end zone for a touchdown and the Patriots stormed the field, Bennett had to ask Tom Brady: Did we win? Here how Bennett remembers it.
“I was like water and all my teammates were like water. Basically, it was just like so focused and enter a space of flow that I’ve never experienced in sports before,” Bennett told B/R in an interview with Master Tes. “In fact, when we won, I had to ask Tom Brady. I said, ‘Yo, Tom. Did we win?’ He was like, ‘Yeah. We’re champions.’ I said, ‘Oh, (expletive). We champions!’ I don’t know the (expletive) overtime rules in the Super Bowl. (Expletive), they changed it.
“I’m telling you, bro. I was in flow. Like, I don’t know what the score is, right? I had no idea. Like, that was really my only time of like really snapping out of flow ’cause I’m looking around and guys are running around. We’re all crying and I don’t know why I’m crying. My brother comes down and I think I was extra emotional. ‘We’re Super Bowl champions, the Bennett brothers. Like, who the (expletive) can say that (expletive)?’”
In Bennett’s defense, the Patriots’ comeback was record-setting. They were trailing 28-3, and no team had overcome a deficit that large in the Super Bowl. It was a dizzying experience for everyone involved.
Only Marty.
