The University of Phoenix Stadium has given the New England Patriots plenty of unfortunate moments in Super Bowl play. 
 
 In the same stadium that New York Giants receiver David Tyree made the legendary helmet catch, Seattle Seahawks receiver Jermaine Kearse made a catch that may have been even more unbelievable. 
 
 With the Seahawks looking to score the go-ahead touchdown late in the fourth quarter Sunday night, New England cornerback Malcolm Butler did what he could to break up a deep pass from Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson to Kearse. However, the ball took a couple of Seattle bounces and stayed up long enough for Kearse to make the catch while he lay on the ground. 
 
 Unfortunately for the Seahawks, Wilson threw an interception a couple of plays later to essentially end the game, 28-24. Butler was the one who came up with the game-sealing pick: ||||| By way of one of the most bizarre calls that you'll ever see in an NFL game, the Seattle Seahawks have defeated the Green Bay Packers, 14-12, on "Monday Night Football." 
 
 With the Seahawks trailing 12-7 and down to their final play, quarterback Russell Wilson heaved a desperation pass toward the end zone. Green Bay safety M.D. Jennings rose highest and seemed secure the ball but Seahawks receiver Golden Tate managed to get his hands around the ball as well. One referee raised his arms to signal touchdown while another official waved his arms, seemingly signaling a touchback (by way of an interception). After review, one of the initial calls on the field was upheld... SEAHAWKS TOUCHDOWN! 
 
 "This is the most bizarre sequence you'll ever see at the end of the game," ESPN play-by-play commentator Mike Tirico marveled. 
 
 Of course, things only got stranger as the Packers left the field only to have to return in order for the Seahawks to kick the necessary extra point. In between the touchdown and the extra point, Seattle coach Pete Carroll conducted his postgame interview. 
 
 Carroll's sideline remarks promise to be just the beginning of a lot of conversation on this controversial play. 
 
 Along with just about everyone discussing the game on Twitter, Tirico and his ESPN broadcast partner Jon Gruden were both convinced the replacement officials ruled incorrectly on the play, also noting that they missed what appeared to be offensive pass interference by Tate. 
 
 "Golden Tate gets away with one of the most blatant offensive pass interference calls I've ever seen. M.D. Jennings intercepts the pass. And Tate's walking out of here as the player of the game," Gruden said in disbelief as the surreal scene unfolded in front him in Seattle. "Unbelievable." 
 
 Not surprisingly, Packers coach Mike McCarthy felt the same way. 
 
 “I was told M.D. Jennings intercepted the ball,” McCarthy told reporters after the game, via Michael David Smith at ProFootballTalk. “I’ve never seen anything like that in all my years in football.” 
 
 The controversial finish to the Week 3 finale, capped a tumultuous stretch for the overmatched replacement officials deployed as the labor dispute between the NFL and the regular officials drags on. From Patriots coach Bill Belichick accosting an official in the aftermath of his team's loss to the Ravens and the extra timeouts awarded the San Francisco 49ers to this surreal scene in Seattle, officiating is the inescapable story of the 2012 NFL season. 
 
 "From what I understood from the officials it was a simultaneous catch. Tie goes to the runner. Good call," said Carroll after the game, per The Associated Press, making him perhaps the last person still impressed with the job the replacements are doing while the NFL locks out their more experienced and prepared counterparts. 
 
 Based on his fiery (and profane) postgame tweets, Packers guard TJ Lang's opinion of Carroll will suffer greatly if he actually believes it was a "good call." 
 
 UPDATE: The NFL issued a statement on the ending of the Seahawks-Packers game on Monday night, defending the officials' decision to not overturn the call. 
 
 Referee Wayne Elliott determined that no indisputable visual evidence existed to overturn the call on the field, and as a result, the on-field ruling of touchdown stood. The NFL Officiating Department reviewed the video today and supports the decision not to overturn the on-field ruling following the instant replay review. The result of the game is final. 
 
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 Investigators hired by the NFL concluded Wednesday that it was “more probable than not” that New England Patriots personnel intentionally deflated footballs and that star quarterback Tom Brady was “at least generally aware.” 
 
 The investigators’ report on what came to be called Deflate-Gate faulted Jim McNally, a Patriots locker room attendant, and John Jastremski, an equipment assistant, for an apparent effort to let air out of game balls for the AFC championship game in January. 
 
 The report found less evidence linking Brady to tampering but found it was probable “that Brady was at least generally aware of the inappropriate activities of McNally and Jastremski.” 
 
 It quoted text messages between the two, months before the AFC title game, suggesting that Brady was asking for underinflated game balls, and that the quarterback expressed his displeasure when they were not to his liking. 
 
 It also quoted requests from McNally for shoes and signed footballs from Brady in exchange for deflating game balls. 
 
 Read the most revealing texts from the report 
 
 ProFootballTalk: NFL may discipline Brady 
 
 Full coverage from ProFootballTalk 
 
 Before the AFC championship game, McNally took two large bags of game balls, meant for both teams, out of the officials’ locker room and disappeared into a bathroom for a minute and 40 seconds, the report found. 
 
 Commissioner Roger Goodell said the league would “consider what steps to take in light of the report, both with respect to possible disciplinary action and to any changes in protocols that are necessary to avoid future incidents of this type.” 
 
 The Patriots beat the Indianapolis Colts 45-7 for the AFC championship, and the Colts complained after the game that some balls were underinflated. Underinflated footballs are easier to catch and throw, particularly in difficult weather, and it was raining during the game. 
 
 Two weeks later, the Patriots beat the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX. After a furor over the game balls, the commissioner asked Ted Wells, a prominent lawyer, to compile the report. It took more than four months and ran to more than 240 pages. 
 
 The Patriots’ owner, Robert Kraft, said he was still convinced that the team had done nothing wrong. 
 
 “To say we are disappointed in its findings, which do not include any incontrovertible or hard evidence of deliberate deflation of footballs at the AFC Championship game, would be a gross understatement,” he said in a statement. 
 
 In an interview with the investigators, Brady denied wrongdoing and said that he didn’t even know McNally’s name before the AFC title game. “We found these claims not plausible and contradicted by other evidence,” the report concluded. 
 
 It also found that Brady and Jastremski did not communicate by phone or text for six months — then communicated six times over the three days after suspicions were first raised about ball-tampering. 
 
 In May 2014, long before the season, McNally referred to himself as “the deflator,” according to texts reviewed by the investigators: 
 
 McNally: You workingJastremski: YupMcNally: Nice dude....jimmy needs some kicks....lets make a deal.....come on help the deflatorMcNally: Chill buddy im just (expletive) with you ....im not going to espn........yet 
 
 The report includes further salty text-message exchanges between McNally and Jastremski during the 2014 regular season, as they deal with Brady’s preferences for game balls. 
 
 After Brady complained about the inflation of footballs in a game in October, McNally wrote to Jastremski: “Tom sucks ... im going make that next ball a (expletive) balloon.” 
 
 Another exchange that same month went like this: 
 
 Jastremski: Can’t wait to give you your needle this week :)McNally: (Expletive) tom....make sure the pump is attached to the needle.....(expletive) watermelons comingJastremski: So angryMcNally: The only thing deflating sun..is his passing rating 
 
 In addition, the Colts alerted the league on the day before the AFC title game to concerns about air pressure in Patriots footballs, the report found. General Manager Ryan Grigson wrote: “All the Indianapolis Colts want is a completely level playing field.” 
 
 An attached message from the Colts’ equipment manager, said: 
 
 As far as the gameballs are concerned it is well known around the league that after the Patriots gameballs are checked by the officials and brought out for game usage the ballboys for the patriots will let out some air with a ball needle because their quarterback likes a smaller football so he can grip it better, it would be great if someone would be able to check the air in the game balls as the game goes on so that they don‟t get an illegal advantage. 
 
 An NFL official promised that one of his colleagues would speak to game officials about it. 
 
 At a press conference in January, Brady denied wrongdoing and said that he had never knowingly played with a football that did not meet league regulations. 
 
 “I would never do anything to break the rules,” he said. 
 
 The report cleared Bill Belichick, the head coach, and the Patriots front office in Deflate-Gate. It did fault the Patriots for refusing to make McNally available for a follow-up interview with investigators. The investigators said it was inconsistent with the team’s pledge of full cooperation.
– New England cornerback Malcolm Butler tonight stole Seattle's dream of a second straight championship, ESPN reports. With the Patriots leading 28-24 in the waning seconds of Super Bowl XLIX, the Seattle Seahawks drove down the field and even saw receiver Jermaine Kearse complete a miracle catch (Bleacher Report has video). But Butler intercepted a Russell Wilson pass on the goal line to snatch the game away. Seattle had grabbed a 10-point lead early in the second half with a field goal and a Wilson TD pass to wide receiver Doug Baldwin. (Weird side note: Baldwin incurred a 15-yard penalty for pretending to defecate the football after scoring, Yahoo Sports reports.) New England fired back with two Tom Brady TD passes, to wide receivers Danny Amendola and Julian Edelman. The first half was more of a see-saw battle. The Pats struck first with a Brady pass to slanting wide receiver Brandon LaFell. Seattle's initially anemic offense then came to life with a strong drive and a Marshawn Lynch rushing TD. The Pats returned fire with a 22-yard Brady pass to Rob Gronkowski. The Seahawks ended the first half by boldly foregoing a field-goal attempt in the red zone with less than 10 seconds on the clock. Russell Wilson connected with wide receiver Chris Matthews to even the game at 14-14 going into the locker room. It was a "much better game than last year," according to one comment on ESPN's Live Super Bowl Blog.