Getty ImagesDeflated balls or no deflated balls, the New England Patriots are World Champions once again!
Quarterback Tom Brady led his team to beat Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks 28 to 24 in a stunning comeback effort. In the fourth quarter they were down by ten points, making them the first Super Bowl winner to overcome that large of a fourth quarter deficit.
"We never doubted each other. That's what it took. That was a great football team we beat. I'm just so happy for our team," Brady said while holding the Vince Lombardi trophy. "I want to thank my family and all my friends who supported me. All my teammates. I love you guys. This is for you guys."
This is the Patriots fourth Super Bowl championship in 14 years.
Patriots owner Bob Kraft was asked about Deflategate directly after the game, but he didn't seem too worried about the ongoing investigation into whether the team tampered with the balls before the AFC Championship game against the Indianapolis Colts.
"Well, we won [the AFC Championship] game 45 to 7. We win today 28 to 24. Our people didn't touch the balls," he said. "I love our team. I'm proud of our guys. And we're going to carry on and hopefully continue to do well."
NBC spoke to Seahawk's coach Pete Carroll following the heartbreaking loss, and he put the blame for the final interception on his shoulders.
"I told those guys, 'it's my fault totally,'" he said. "For all these guys that work so hard and do so much to get to this point, coaches and players and the [fans], they've done everything they could possibly do to make us champions again. And for it to come down to a play like that, I hate that we have to live with that because we did everything right to win the football game."
It was a strange call to not give the ball to Marshawn Lynch when the team was practically on the goal line. And apparently, Lynch agrees that the play call was bad:
The game (and the football season) ended on a pretty crazy note, with a fight breaking out on the field following the Patriot's big interception.
And as for all the football fans out there, we hope you manage to survive the months until the new season starts. It's going to be a looong road to August.