The game is most remembered for the Seahawks' last play, in which they threatened to score a winning touchdown from New England's 1-yard line, but were intercepted in the final seconds by Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler.

Butler's interception is regarded as one of the greatest plays in NFL history, while Seattle's decision to pass instead of run the ball is considered one of the worst calls of all time.

In the wake of the defeat, and opposition by the Kansas City Chamber of Commerce and several civic and business groups, Hunt and the Chiefs announced on May 25, 2006, that they were withdrawing the request to host Super Bowl XLIX.

[29] Former Patriots safety and teammate Rodney Harrison declared Brady "looked scared to death" in the pocket and "doesn't have any confidence in his offensive line.

On special teams, kicker Stephen Gostkowski was selected to his third Pro Bowl and became the third player ever to lead the NFL in scoring four times (and the first since the NFL-AFL merger), converting 35 of 37 field goals (94.6 percent) and racking up 156 points.

Michael Bennett anchored the Seattle defensive line, leading the team with seven sacks, while teammate Bruce Irvin ranked second with 6.5 and intercepted two passes, returning both for touchdowns.

[44] Seattle had to mount a furious comeback to defeat their next opponent, the Green Bay Packers, as they fell behind 16–0 before Jon Ryan's 19-yard touchdown pass to Garry Gilliam on a fake field goal in the third quarter got them their first score.

[1] After the AFC Championship Game, ESPN reported an NFL investigation discovered 11 of 12 footballs the Patriots had used during it were under-inflated, while none of the balls used by the Colts had been, although these findings were later shown to be false.

Tom Brady and Bill Belichick became large targets as controversy swirled around what colloquially became known as Deflategate just before the week of Super Bowl XLIX.

"[66] Super Bowl XLIX was televised by NBC in the United States, with play-by-play announcer Al Michaels and color analyst Cris Collinsworth calling the game from the booth and Michele Tafoya working as sideline reporter.

Game coverage was preceded by a six-hour pre-game show featuring the Football Night in America crew, including Bob Costas, Dan Patrick, Josh Elliott, Tony Dungy, Rodney Harrison, Hines Ward, Mike Florio and Peter King.

A Spanish language telecast of the game was carried by NBC Universo, with play-by-play announcer René Giraldo and color analyst Edgar López.

NFL Network produced an international television feed of the game carried in some markets, with alternate English-language commentary provided by Bob Papa (play-by-play) and Charles Davis (color analyst).

The game was broadcast nationally on Westwood One radio, with Kevin Harlan as play-by-play announcer, Boomer Esiason as color analyst, and James Lofton and Mark Malone as sideline reporters.

Jim Gray anchored the pre-game and halftime coverage, with Larry Fitzgerald, Tom Brady, Scott Graham, Rod Woodson and Kurt Warner contributing.

[93] She then proceeded to sing "Dark Horse", with 3D rendering on the field creating a chessboard visual where the turf constantly turned into "different shapes and sizes", as acrobats surrounded the singer.

[93][94] Rapper Missy Elliott subsequently appeared, performing her songs "Get Ur Freak On" and "Work It", while Perry played "hype-woman" beside her, having now changed once again into a custom Super Bowl 49 jersey.

[98] In August 2014, it was reported that the NFL had a short list of three potential acts for the Super Bowl XLIX halftime show, including Coldplay, Katy Perry, and Rihanna.

Lane broke his wrist and tore his ACL on the play when he tried to break his fall with his arm extended after being tackled by wide receiver Julian Edelman, and was subsequently taken out of the game.

After the Patriots forced another Seahawks punt to start the second quarter, they mounted a 65-yard drive in nine plays, which began with Brady's 17-yard pass to wide receiver Danny Amendola.

Then Wilson completed a 23-yard pass to wide receiver Ricardo Lockette, with a face-mask penalty on cornerback Kyle Arrington adding an extra 11 yards that gave Seattle a first down on the New England 11-yard line.

After Lynch was stopped for no gain on 3rd-and-1 in the red zone, kicker Stephen Hauschka finished the drive with a 27-yard field goal, giving Seattle their first lead of the game, 17–14.

The drive ended with Wilson's 3-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Doug Baldwin, who was penalized 15 yards on the kickoff after the play for an inappropriate celebration.

Edelman was clearly concussed by safety Kam Chancellor's helmet-to-helmet hit, "suffering an apparent brain injury, staggering around on the field in plain view of the biggest television audience ever, per Deadline.com, and receiving no treatment.

"[106] Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press reported that "a medical observer was overheard radioing someone a second time saying Edelman needed to be examined.

Butler managed to recognize the catch and recover in time to shove Kearse out of bounds as he got up, preventing a Seattle touchdown, but the play netted 33 yards and set up 1st-and-goal for the Seahawks at the New England 5-yard line with 1:05 left in the game.

[113] The article does report that the voting was structured to try to account for "recency bias" in relation to the game at the time when the poll was conducted, but voters still "pushed it through the competition".

[122] Others, including University of Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh and Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Namath, defended the call, crediting Butler for the play he made and pointing out that the Seahawks only had one time-out left.

[123][124] Writing for Grantland, Bill Simmons said the Seahawks "took too much heat for the final play call" and noted Carroll opted to run the ball on fourth down at the end of the 2006 Rose Bowl, costing his team the game.

[125] Butler's interception, thanks to his quick "read-and-react to Ricardo Lockette's underneath route", has been considered one of the top clutch plays in Super Bowl history.