Robert Alford Told New Teammate Malcolm Butler the Falcons Were Celebrating in the Locker Room at Halftime of Super Bowl LI

NESN — Alford made an admission to Butler that’s pretty incredible: The Falcons were celebrating in the locker room at halftime.

“I talked to him about (that Super Bowl), I asked him if he wanted his ring back,” Butler joked in an interview with 12 News’ Ryan Cody. “He told me a story, he said he was in the locker room at halftime, he told me he was about to pop a bottle and things like that, it was so funny. And we came back and beat them. 

“I’m just imagining him at halftime. Robert, he’s a funny guy, he’s got a lot of energy, tells a lot of jokes, and he told me at halftime they were in there dancing and hooraying, then we came back and beat them, so I think that was pretty funny.”

I didn't need this today. Have we not been through enough pain?

While I was in an apartment in Knoxville, Tennessee, begging my friends to stop congratulating me on a game that anyone who had ever watched Tom Brady or an Atlanta professional sports franchise should have known was not over, the Falcons were hootin' and hollerin' in the locker room like they had already won a ring. Sickening.

I do my best to just block that entire day out of my mind because if you allow yourself to think about it for too long, you'll go to a very dark place. And honestly, hearing this from Alford is the first time in several years I've actually gotten upset. That's the kind of thing you keep to yourself.

The biggest kick in the dick is that even with all that premature celebrating and lack of focus, the game should have been over after Julio Jones made the best catch of his career and the Falcons had 1st and 10 at the New England 22-yard line up eight points with less than five minutes to go in the game. And even then, Atlanta couldn't even get a field goal to put the game away.

But the play calling and lack of composure at the end of that drive becomes a lot more understandable when you consider it came from a coaching staff which was allowing its players to celebrate a Super Bowl victory at halftime.

Son of a bitch, now I'm mad online again. Fuck Dan Quinn forever.