Thrill of the chase recalled

The Patriots tight end sprinted the length of Invesco Field, covering as much as 120 yards on a diagonal route, to tackle Champ Bailey from behind at the New England 1-yard line during the third quarter of a 27-13 loss to the Broncos in a playoff game Jan. 14, 2006.

Watson provided the lone highlight in an otherwise dismal affair for the Patriots by thwarting Bailey from scoring after the cornerback stepped in front of a Tom Brady pass intended for Troy Brown in the end zone and returned it 100 yards. Someone who runs that far on an interception return usually scores, but Watson denied Bailey.

It was one of the more memorable “effort’’ plays in NFL history, one Watson never imagined would get more than 35,000 hits on YouTube and inspire his father, a pastor, to sermonize about it as an example of someone giving maximum effort.

But, as Watson recalled before today’s matchup of the 3-1 Patriots and the 4-0 Broncos, he wasn’t alone in his pursuit of Bailey.

“If you look back at the film, I wasn’t the only guy who was chasing him,’’ Watson said. “I was just the guy who caught him. Everybody else tried to get him, too, so it wasn’t like I was the only one.’’

Brown gave initial chase, but Bailey already had a 5-yard head start. Offensive lineman Stephen Neal joined the chase but was unable to keep pace. Running back Kevin Faulk came steaming from behind, closing in at the Broncos’ 40 with the intention of stripping the ball from Bailey. But Faulk missed the strip and was unable to impede Bailey, who gained momentum when he picked up three blockers at midfield.

Brady, too, tried to give chase, but it appeared to be a token attempt.

“When he took off, I think I kind of hesitated for a moment like, ‘Somebody get him,’ ’’ Watson recalled. “Then I just saw him running, so I had to run all the way across the field. I don’t know how far it was, because I wasn’t counting my steps, but it was pretty far.’’

Watson barely avoided a collision with a referee at midfield.

“Aw, man, he killed me,’’ Watson said, laughing. “I definitely could’ve run over the referee, but I had to dodge the obstacle.’’

Watson eventually caught the sputtering Bailey and blasted him from behind, knocking him out of bounds - and the ball out of his hands - at the 1. That resulted in the eight-time Pro Bowler being unmercifully teased by teammates.

“I still hear about it - to this day,’’ Bailey said recently. “Nobody has ever let me live that one down.

“The crazy thing is that we both went to Georgia, so I’m thinking to myself, ‘Why can’t he just let an old Georgia boy score on that play?’

“But he just shows what type of player he is on that play. I think that even [Bill] Belichick said that was one of the greatest plays he’s ever seen, even in a loss.

“Definitely one of the greatest to me, too. I just wish I wasn’t in there when that happened.’’

When Belichick recalled the play, he seemed perturbed that his challenge on the play, trying to get the lost ball ruled a turnover, was denied.

“I mean, it was a great effort play by Ben - don’t get me wrong, it was a tremendous play,’’ Belichick said. “The play wasn’t overturned. We challenged it and it wasn’t overturned. It was the infamous, ‘We don’t have a good look at it,’ play, so in the end it’s hard for me to be doing handsprings when I think about plays like that.’’

It wasn’t the first time Watson had come from such a great distance to run down an opponent from behind for a touchdown-saving tackle. He did it in college, too. But it was only after he and several of his Georgia teammates were punished by coach Mark Richt for not giving maximum effort to tackle a Clemson defender who recovered a fumble and ran it back for a TD.

“Nobody on offense really chased the guy,’’ Watson said. “The next day in practice, Coach Richt made us run and run and run because we didn’t chase him. He said, ‘Any time something like that happens, no matter what, you try to catch whoever has the ball.’ ’’

It left an indelible impression upon Watson.

“A few weeks later, we were playing Alabama and the same thing happened,’’ he said. “There was an interception and I ended up catching the guy like on the 1-yard line. So, yeah, I’ve definitely done it twice, once in college and then the same type of play happened in Denver.’’

Watson, a first-round pick (32d overall) in the 2004 draft, added to his portfolio of memorable plays this season with a pair of touchdown grabs in the final 2:06 of the Patriots’ 25-24 season-opening victory over the Bills.

“Any time you’re able to make a good play that people remember, and that leads to a win, it’s gratifying,’’ Watson said. “That’s why we go through all the two-a-days, and minicamps, and offseason workouts, all that stuff that we have to do in order to perform on Sunday.

“That’s why we go through all that stuff; it’s the chance to make a play. It’s definitely gratifying any time you can make a play.’’

Michael Vega can be reached at vega@globe.com.