Patriots attempt to play diabolical mind games with Seahawks

There is more buzz than expected surrounding the New England Patriots home opener this season following their shocking Week 1 win against the Cincinnati Bengals. Not many gave them a chance to win this game or even make it close, but the Patriots held the high-powered Bengals to just 10 points in Jerod Mayo's head coaching debut.

In an effort to keep the good vibes rolling, the Patriots are pulling out all of the stops. They're having Malcolm Butler be the “Keeper of the Light” ahead of their home opener against the Seattle Seahawks.

If the Patriots were playing 30 other teams, honoring Butler in his return to New England would be nice, but nothing too special. Doing this against the Seattle Seahawks in particular, though, is unreal trolling.

Patriots attempt to get under Seahawks skin with hilarious troll

For those unfamiliar, Butler recorded a game-saving interception in Super Bowl XLIX, clinching a victory for New England when it looked more than likely that the Seahawks were going to win.

Butler stepped in front of Ricardo Lockette to record perhaps the biggest and most famous interception in NFL history. He went from being signed as an undrafted free agent to a Super Bowl hero and one of the more beloved Patriots in franchise history.

From that moment on, Butler's career was interesting to follow. He was a Pro Bowler in 2015 but was benched in New England's Super Bowl LII loss for reasons still unknown. He signed a five-year deal to join the Tennessee Titans ahead of the 2018 campaign, playing three seasons before eventually hanging up the spikes.

Nobody from that Super Bowl team is still in Seattle with Pete Carroll stepping down from head coaching duties at the end of last season, but Seahawks fans have not fully gotten over the loss. Seeing Butler in attendance specifically to troll their team can't sit well with that passionate fan base. At least it's taking place across the country and most Seahawks fans can just look away from their televisions, right?

Expectations are low for New England even after their thrilling Week 1 win, but the excitement of any home opener combined with Butler's return against that team should make Sunday's game extremely interesting to follow. At the very least, this is some elite trolling by the Patriots organization and something for their fans to enjoy.