Super Bowl 2012 Highlights: Final Play Will Haunt Rob Gronkowski for Eternity

For every hero in the Super bowl, there is an equal goat, and unfortunately for the New England Patriots, that was their entire receiving corps.

With the chance to ice the game on their second-to-last drive, Tom Brady found Wes Welker open for a long bomb. The ball went through his hands and the Pats were forced to punt. After the Giants scored to go up 21-17, Brady and Co. had just under a minute remaining to pull off a miracle. Two dropped passes by Deion Branch and Aaron Hernandez later and New England had one final shot from midfield.

Brady was able to escape the heavy pressure to unleash an absolute bomb to the end zone. With Giant defenders all over the place, the ball was deflected, but instead of going straight down it popped up and there was a split second where it was there for the taking. The only person in the vicinity that could have made the catch was stud tight end Rob Gronkowski.

Gronk, who had one of the greatest statistical seasons ever for a tight end, was slow to react and dove just a little too late as the ball landed on the ground.

Game over.

It’s a replay that Patriot fans are not going to ever watch again because it was that close. Does Gronkowski catch the ball if he doesn’t have a high ankle sprain that limited him to two catches for 26 yards? It would have been one of the greatest plays ever, but I think he had a great shot at it.

Could you imagine if the Patriots won the Super Bowl on a Hail Mary like that? The world would have exploded.

Instead, fans are left wondering what could have been.

It wasn’t Brady’s fault the Pats lost; it was his teammates that had been so reliable for the entire season. For Gronkowski, he’ll surely replay that sequence in his head over-and-over again. And will do so until he has the opportunity to redeem himself in another Super Bowl…if he ever gets back.

Until then it’s nothing but what ifs.