In the world of professional sports, there are very few events, if any, that accentuate the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat as much as the Super Bowl. Nearly a decade has passed since the New England Patriots gave the Atlanta Falcons the heartbreak of a lifetime in Houston, Texas, yet the pain is as fresh as ever for both the franchise and the members of its 2016 roster.
Unfortunately, much of that loss still haunts Matt Ryan to this very day. Something that, according to Rob Gronkowski himself, is nothing short of a travesty.
After his former cohort in the matter, Rob Ninkovich, asked Gronk and Julian Edelman if they had any sympathy for the Falcons, they both admitted to harboring some sense of it. Despite playing a direct role in their infamous 28-3 blunder, the star tight end is still upset by the fact that the loss tends to overshadow Ryan’s success.
“He had a hell of a career. He made so much money, threw for so many touchdowns, and all people bring up to him is “Hey, like what happened in that game versus the Patriots in the Super Bowl?” That sucks,” Gronk recalled.
Meanwhile, the former linebacker Ninkovich also admitted that he couldn’t help but to occasionally “think about the other side” as well. Surrendering the largest comeback in Super Bowl history is a rather permanent stain right up until another unfortunate franchise is able to take it off of you.
Even though he’d never trade away the win himself, Ninkovich did attest that he had hoped for Atlanta to win at least one championship with the core members of that roster.
“How terrible that must feel for them… I wish they would have won a Super Bowl for those guys. Now, I’m happy that we were able to make that happen and win that football game. I kind of, sometimes, have a little bit of empathy for those guys that didn’t win a Super Bowl.”
For better or worse, Ryan and the Falcon’s performance in the second half of Super Bowl LI will be brought up in conversation alongside the likes of Steve Bartman’s catch in 2003 and J.R. Smith’s decision in the 2018 NBA Finals for one of the most disastrous results in title game history. There’s essentially an entire economy that has been made off of the result of this one contest.
Everything from memes and merchandise to a Paramount-backed, major-motion movie have been made in dedication of the Patriots’ comeback, signifying its significance in not just NFL history, but American culture as a whole.
For as much as people remember the game for Atlanta’s poor decisions, it’s also become a shining example of the insurmountable odds that human beings can overcome when given the opportunity. Nevertheless, the Falcons haven’t been to the playoffs since 2017, and for every year that passes, the implications of the damage appear to worsen.
Until they finally manage to return to contender status, the perception of the franchise is unlikely to change.