Malcolm Butler had just won a Super Bowl and revived a sleeping dynasty. His interception on the goal line had given the New England Patriots another title and prevented the Seattle Seahawks from winning a second straight.
Butler had effectively rewritten football history. Now, in a locker room inside University of Phoenix Stadium, Butler was learning the price of instant fame.
"Are we done?'' he asked the gathering crowd. "Can we please be done?"
An undrafted free-agent rookie out of West Alabama, Butler had never before been asked to conduct interviews with television stations from around the world. He had never before struggled to find room to dress.
"Please?" he said. "Can you please let me put my pants on?"
Recovering from the flu this week, Butler is expected to play in a third Super Bowl in his fourth NFL season Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium. He is also expected to leave the Patriots as a free agent. In so many ways, Butler is as emblematic of the Patriots' intermittent dynasty as Tom Brady.
Butler's presence on the roster speaks to Patriots coach Bill Belichick's eye for underappreciated talent, and for players who fit his scheme more than the generic physical measurements favored at the NFL combine.
Butler's famous play exemplifies Belichick's ruthless gamesmanship and granular teaching, and his impending departure speaks to Belichick's cut-bait personnel philosophy.