Ty Law looks back on Super Bowl play that started Patriots', Tom Brady's dynasty

As Ty Law dashed across the 50-yard line, everything around him froze.

All the western Pennsylvania native could see was the football sailing through the air and the open field in front of him. He couldn’t believe it. The opportunity almost seemed too good to be true. Too easy. He sprinted past midfield, the two seconds that ticked off the game clock feeling much longer to him than to anyone else on the field at the Louisiana Superdome on that Sunday night in February 2002.

Then, it happened: St. Louis Rams quarterback Kurt Warner’s pass nestled into Law’s hands.

“When it was coming out of his hand, I was like, ‘I know he ain’t just throw that,’” Law recently recalled to The Beaver County Times. “It was one of those balls that you probably would drop, because it was so easy. It was like a damn punt.”

With 8:55 left in the second quarter of Super Bowl XXXVI, Law, a New England Patriots cornerback at the time, intercepted Warner's pass and ran the ball 47 yards to the end zone to score the game’s first touchdown. The then-seventh-year pro etched his name in NFL history, as the Patriots wiped away the Rams’ early lead and ultimately held on to win 20-17. The play launched the Patriots toward the first of six Lombardi Trophies under head coach Bill Belichick and eventual seven-time Super Bowl champion quarterback Tom Brady. New England also became the second biggest underdog ever to win a Super Bowl, as it knocked off 14-point favorite St. Louis.

Wins sell: Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger among the highest-selling jerseys; Miles Sanders leads Birds

The world watched as Law made the play that catapulted his career into one that saw him add two more Super Bowl victories, five Pro Bowl selections and two first-team All-Pro honors to his resume en route to an induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2019. But, more importantly to Law, those back home in Aliquippa, Pa., were watching, too.

Once-booming steel town Aliquippa, which sits about 40 minutes northwest of Pittsburgh, has dealt with poverty, drugs and gang violence throughout the years. In the community perched on the edge of the Ohio River, many were packed nearly shoulder-to-shoulder inside a local sports bar. Most sported the red and black of Aliquippa High School — where Law starred in the late 1980s and early ‘90s — or Law’s No. 24 Patriots jersey.

“My God, when he scored, the whole town erupted,” said former Aliquippa head coach Frank Marocco, who coached Law on the school’s first state title team in 1991. “I don’t think there were two cars driving down the street during the game. Everybody was watching the game. Ty Law was on television.”

That night in New Orleans, Law joined an exclusive group of players from his hometown. He became the first player from Aliquippa to win a Super Bowl in 24 years. Prior to him, it was done by fellow Hall of Famers Mike Ditka in Super Bowl VI (1972) and Tony Dorsett, Law’s uncle, in Super Bowl XII (1978) — both accomplishing the feat with the Dallas Cowboys. There’s been only one addition to that list since, with Darrelle Revis having carved out his spot on Aliquippa’s Mount Rushmore in 2015 by winning Super Bowl XLIX with the Patriots.

Beaver Valley connections: The Beaver Valley and the big game: A look at the area's connections to Super Bowl history

Now, 20 years later, Law’s performance in that Super Bowl — specifically, his pick-six — still carries a special significance in Aliquippa. For a town that, at times, could use any form of hope to cling onto, it’s something residents can point to with a sense of pride.

“It meant so much to me, because for me, it was more than just about the Patriots,” Law said. “I took Aliquippa with me. I took Aliquippa with me in my heart everywhere.”

'Why can't I?'

For a few weeks every summer as a high schooler, Law was granted the escape from reality he so desperately needed.

The uptick in drug circulation and crime throughout Aliquippa in the late 1980s had an effect on his family. Law sought a consistent getaway. His yearly trip to Dallas to visit Dorsett, who’d recently retired after a 12-year NFL career at the time, provided him with just that.

Getting a glimpse of the lifestyle of Dorsett — who starred at nearby Hopewell High School before going on to win a Heisman Trophy and a national title at Pitt and a Super Bowl with the Cowboys — showed him the life he could provide for his family if he stayed on the right path. With his mother, Diane, battling her own demons and having only his grandfather, Ray, to look to as an example, Law wanted more.

“That’s the first time I had ever seen an in-ground pool at somebody’s house,” Law said. “I said, ‘Damn, he came from Aliquippa. He came from right on the same street as I did. He came through those rough streets. If he can do it, why can’t I?’”

And because Law lined up at running back as well as cornerback throughout his youth playing days, it was hard to stop people from drawing comparisons between him and Dorsett. It was always: The next Tony Dorsett. The next Tony Dorsett.

But Law just wanted to be the first Ty Law.

The trips to Dallas paid dividends for Law, though. Time spent gaining insight from Dorsett on how to best prepare for the collegiate level and beyond proved to be invaluable. So did the workouts with Dorsett’s son and Law’s cousin, Anthony Dorsett Jr. Those on the Aliquippa coaching staff took notice of Law’s increased focus after just one summer at the Dorsett residence.

“When he came back for high school, he was always ready,” said Dan “Peep” Short, Aliquippa’s longtime defensive coordinator who coached Law during his final three years of high school. “He was always, always, always asking questions. He was really locked in on trying to get better.”

Law continued to work while doing his best to avoid the distractions that could derail him on his journey to a better life.

Some of his peers sold drugs in hopes of changing their circumstances; Law sprinted up the hills in the Griffith Heights housing projects in hopes of changing his.

“Everything that I am, it stems from my upbringing right there in Aliquippa,” Law said. “The hardships — everything. The drugs ripped through Aliquippa; they ripped through my family. A lot of things happened. It’s one thing when you want to do something, and then it’s another thing when you need to do something.

“I needed to put my family in a better position. It was all on me.”

That motivation of playing for something bigger than himself, coupled with realizing his dream was attainable because of Dorsett’s example, pushed Law to have a senior season in 1991 in which he led Aliquippa to a state championship as a Parade All-American.

A three-year collegiate career at Michigan concluded with him being named a first-team All-American as a junior. Selected with the No. 23 overall pick in the 1995 NFL Draft, Law was one step closer to turning his dream of hoisting a Lombardi Trophy into a reality.

“His work ethic was out of this world,” said Byron “Book” Washington, Law’s close friend since childhood and former Aliquippa teammate. “And then to see it all come to life, it was surreal. It was like a dream come true.”

‘Us against the world’

Despite the early success Law found in the NFL, he relished playing the role of the underdog.

Even with being a starter in Super Bowl XXXI in 1997 — which the Patriots lost 35-21 to the Green Bay Packers — and making a Pro Bowl appearance in only his fourth year in the league, Law found ways to keep the same chip on his shoulder he’d grown so accustomed to carrying. Growing up in Aliquippa, nothing was handed to him. And he refused to give up the mentality he’d fostered from those experiences.

Perhaps that’s why the position he found himself in on that 2001-02 Patriots team was so fitting.

Though New England was the AFC’s No. 2 seed in that campaign's postseason, not many people gave the team a chance on the road against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC title game — let alone pegged the group to reach the Super Bowl. In fact, Law felt that the Steelers were overlooking them when a report surfaced that the team had met to “get their affairs in order for the Super Bowl” during the week of their matchup with the Patriots.

“It was pure disrespect before we even got to the Super Bowl,” Law said. “So it was basically us against the world.”

Then, after the Patriots came away with a 24-17 upset victory at Heinz Field, according to Law, a few Steelers fans threw glass bottles in the direction of his mother, his then-1-year-old daughter Taija and Taija’s mother as they walked back to their cars wearing Law’s New England jerseys. They weren't struck, but Law was infuriated by the incident.

It all led to a substantial amount of pent-up frustration for Law which he was ready to release in New Orleans.

Back in New England later that week, sparks flew inside one of the team meeting rooms at the Patriots’ practice facility. Then-defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel presented a Super Bowl game plan to defend the NFC champion Rams that Law thought looked too similar to the one the team employed in their 24-17 Week 10 loss to St. Louis earlier that season. Law recollected his thoughts and words from the moment.

Law: Nah, hell nah. We can’t do this. Let’s get up in their face and challenge them. I got Isaac Bruce. Wherever he goes, I’m on his ass!

Then, cornerback Otis Smith chimed in: Well, I got Torry Holt!

Cornerback Terrell Buckley: Well, I got Az-Zahir Hakim!

Law recalled that Crennel then literally balled up the piece of paper that featured his original defensive scheme as players in the room screamed at the top of their lungs in excitement.

He knew the Rams would be heavily favored heading into the contest, but Law was a bit taken aback by just how lopsided — with St. Louis projected to win by two touchdowns — oddsmakers forecasted the game to be. “Fourteen points. In the Super Bowl?! What is that?” he says now. Still, he was confident in the Patriots’ retooled strategy.

No matter how electric the Rams’ offense was, Law felt that he and his teammates would have a chance if they played a physical brand of football.

“They had all of (the hype), and rightfully so,” Law said. “They earned it. The Greatest Show on Turf. The Track Team. The fastest team, whatever … But the only way you beat speed is with force. And my quote at the time was, ‘I ain’t never seen nobody win a 100-meter dash with somebody standing in their lane.’

“‘We’re gonna stand in their lane.’”

‘On a mission’

Law knew it would come. He didn’t know when — he just knew it would.

Having made the decision to cover Rams second-leading receiver Isaac Bruce, Law was confident that the ball would be thrown in his vicinity at some point during the 60 minutes of game time. The Patriots’ first two opponents in that playoff run — the Oakland Raiders and the Steelers — seldom threw anywhere near Law, which was a large part of why he hadn’t registered a single postseason interception that year until the Super Bowl.

“There was no way you were going to go into a game like that and not throw it to Isaac Bruce,” Law said. “There was no way in hell.”

So when Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel broke through the Rams’ defensive line to get heavy pressure on Warner a little over six minutes into the second quarter, Law was ready for what came next — though, he still says he was surprised Warner decided to chuck the ball downfield. Sure enough, Warner’s pass floated behind Bruce, his intended target, and Law covered a good chunk of ground in a matter of seconds to grab it before it fell incomplete.

With about 15 of his family members and friends in attendance at the Louisiana Superdome, he put on a show.

“And then he put the emphasis on it when he scored the first touchdown,” said Washington, whose voice still speeds up in excitement when he recalls watching Law perform from his seat near midfield that night. “I knew there was no turning back. They were there on a mission to prove the world wrong.”

Along with Marocco, Short and current Aliquippa head coach Mike Warfield were among the several people who watched from back home in Aliquippa. Short, Warfield and a few of their friends had gathered in Warfield’s living room.

Warfield — who worked as a Pennsylvania state trooper at the time while coaching periodically under then-Aliquippa head coach Mike Zmijanac — couldn’t contain his excitement either as he watched Law snag that ball out of the air. To this day, he still gets chills when thinking about the play.

“All of Aliquippa, I think everybody, jumped up and ran that touchdown back with him,” said Warfield, a 1987 Aliquippa graduate. “I was so proud of him.”

Law bolted down the left sideline after intercepting the pass. In that race to the end zone, the lone player to keep up with him the entire way was his own teammate, defensive lineman Richard Seymour. The only thing Law can clearly recall seeing in the time between securing the football in his hands and crossing the goal line is the flashes of cameras from those taking pictures all around the stadium.

When he approached the 20-yard line, he threw his right hand in the air in celebration while running.

“It was just like, ‘We’re doing this. It’s over,’” Law recalled. “I don’t know if I’m putting my hand up to God, saying, ‘Thank you.’ I don’t know if I’m saying, ‘Bye bye. It’s over.’ It was a heat-of-the-moment type of thing.”

‘A sense of direction’

Hours after Adam Vinatieri drilled the game-winning field goal from 48 yards out as time expired to seal Super Bowl XXXVI for the Patriots, Law’s phone wouldn’t stop buzzing.

He received several text messages and calls from family and friends back home in Aliquippa all the way into the early hours of the morning, when he and his teammates were just concluding their night of celebration.

Sporting goods stores near Aliquippa and throughout some of the Greater Pittsburgh region were out of stock of Patriots No. 24 jerseys. Those who had gotten their hands on Law jerseys wore them as if they were a part of a dress code — to school, to work, to the grocery store. The energy around town was palpable.

“The pride comes out of you,” Marocco said. “They’re just proud. They’re proud of the fact that he’s from Aliquippa and he was in the Super Bowl — he won the Super Bowl.”

Two decades since that moment, and 12 years after Law retired in 2010, that feeling very much lives on in Aliquippa.

In 2019, Warfield decided to rename the field house next to Aliquippa’s Carl A. Aschman Memorial Stadium in honor of Law, Ditka, Revis and another Aliquippa legend in former NFL Pro Bowl defensive tackle Sean Gilbert. It's now called the “DGLR Field House.”

Warfield, coming off of his fourth season as Aliquippa’s head coach, often uses Law’s career and journey as an example for his players of what they can strive to one day achieve.

“That just gives a sense of direction for the kids, that if you put your mind to something and you continuously work for it, you’re going to have ups and downs, but if you keep at it, something positive will happen,” Warfield explained. “I’m proud of (Law) for that. Nothing was given to him. He earned it.”

And Law’s message to the next generation of Aliquippa football players is simple.

The 48-year-old Hall-of-Famer was molded by Aliquippa. He believes if kids from his hometown — those who are now going through the same struggles that he once went through — can take both the good and bad experiences from their environment and “bottle that and package it up” in themselves, they can have success in any endeavor they choose to pursue.

Law’s pick-six in Super Bowl XXXVI — and the win — was the signature moment that took his career to even greater heights. The performance helped put him “on the map,” he says.

It also allowed the Patriots to pull off the second-biggest upset in Super Bowl history while serving as the ignitor for one of the greatest runs by a quarterback-and-coach duo ever. Brady and Belichick, of course, went on to win five more Super Bowls together — two of those with Law and three after he had moved on from the organization.

Perhaps even more importantly, though, Law’s breakout moment on pro football’s biggest stage was, and still is, a point of pride for those in Aliquippa. And that’s something he’ll never take for granted.

“It wasn’t just a Super Bowl for me and the Patriots — it was a Super Bowl for Aliquippa,” Law said. “That’s when I became the next Tony Dorsett — my way. I brought another championship, another Super Bowl to Aliquippa.”

Contact Parth Upadhyaya at pupadhyaya@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @pupadhyaya_.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Super Bowl story: Ty Law recalls pick-six that paved way for Patriots win