Superbowl XL ref comes clean - his errors cost Seattle the game...

[darin]

Wasn't sour grapes...even the guy responsible finally admits seattle got hosed.


http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=5444048


"I know that I did my best at that time, but it wasn't good enough," said the retired police officer and firefighter in San Jose, Calif., who became an NFL referee in 2001. "When we make mistakes, you got to step up and own them. It's something that all officials have to deal with, but unfortunately when you have to deal with it in the Super Bowl it's difficult."

[jimnyc]

Not sure he admitted that he lost the game, but he did admit he made errors that could have changed the complex of the game.

Here's another good article on his statements:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/Super-Bowl-XL-head-official-admits-to-blown-call?urn=nfl-260901

I think this paragraph puts it into better perspective than "he cost them the game" - because don't forget, there were a few crappy calls against the Steelers too.


Put simply, the Seahawks didn't play well enough to win Super Bowl XL. They made several crucial mistakes, but it's also correct to say that the Steelers didn't play well enough to win. Officiated correctly, XL probably would have been an ugly war of attrition; a barely-remembered close game that could have gone either way. But because of the calls made, the league's subsequent denial that anything was wrong with those calls, and Leavy's admission of guilt so much later, this game will never go away.
Lastly, a few of the plays he discusses, he wasn't even the ref who made the call.

Bad calls were made against both. There are debatable calls till this very day. But both received shoddy treatment from the refs that day and the losing times will always glare brighter.

[darin]

well...the seahawks played well-enough to win the game; they honestly did...when taken as a whole. The biased officiating drove them to desperation. At least a two touchdown swing would have had seattle win.

First - The non-holding-call which sent Parker 75 yards for a TD. The second, the phantom holding call which negated seattle's TD, coupled with calling a 'blocking penalty' on a f'ing TACKLE.

[jimnyc]

well...the seahawks played well-enough to win the game; they honestly did...when taken as a whole. The biased officiating drove them to desperation. At least a two touchdown swing would have had seattle win.

First - The non-holding-call which sent Parker 75 yards for a TD. The second, the phantom holding call which negated seattle's TD, coupled with calling a 'blocking penalty' on a f'ing TACKLE.

I would love to see a clear video of the hold when Parker made his run. I've seen still pictures, but they don't tell us squat. I've seen videos, but none precisely where the holding supposedly took place. Can you find one so we can debate it?

As for Hasselbeck's penalty - he had just thrown an interception, the ball was the Steelers legitimately anyway. Probably a shitty call here though, lame to make a wild call like that in a SB.

Look at the following video of Seattle's negated TD. Look beyond the title of the video and all comments - and seriously reply here that Jackson didn't push off the defender as he cut and caught the ball a split second later. Call it whatever you will, but when you push off the defender even slightly, in the end zone, that's offensive pass interference.

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[darin]

jackson didn't do ANYTHING 95% of WRs had done all year. It was 'technically' something to call, however it's nothing that had been called. It's two guys jostling.


The stills of the Willie Parker Run hold tell the complete story. The problem is, that wasn't called - yet Locklear's "hold" was called - and what locklear did was nothing any other OL had done all year - or continues to do.

:)

[jimnyc]

jackson didn't do ANYTHING 95% of WRs had done all year. It was 'technically' something to call, however it's nothing that had been called. It's two guys jostling.

That might be, but watch the video again and pay attention to the Steelers defenders feet when he gets pushed, both feet literally leave the ground going backwards. He had no chance on breaking up the pass after that, and IMO was more than enough to warrant a PI call. Like I said, watch his feet.


The stills of the Willie Parker Run hold tell the complete story. The problem is, that wasn't called - yet Locklear's "hold" was called - and what locklear did was nothing any other OL had done all year - or continues to do.

:)

A still photo cannot possibly tell the whole story. One needs to see the footage in order to see proof. I would imagine if the call was that horrible and debated that it would be all over the place. One can easily find the TD by Big Ben that was debated but you don't hear much about this missed holding call. From what I can see it looks like a Steeler player, way well away from the play where his opponent had no chance anyway, was blocking while the defensive lineman turned to go after Parker and thus the blocking appeared to have bowled him over from behind, when it was actually the player following through with a block to the side which bowled him over.

[Sweetchuck]

I'm a Steeler fan and a bona fide yinzer. Born in Pittsburgh, lived there for over 35 years.

As far as SBXL goes, my take is that you play the game under the conditions you can control and you can't get caught up in the shit you can't control - like officiating and weather.

I can go back and talk about how the Steelers got the short end of officiating that may have caused them a playoff berth or even a SB title but it's meaningless. All the bitching in the world isn't gong to change anything.

I can sympathize with Seahawks fans though, they don't get to the dance that often but at the end of the day you play the cards that are dealt.

That's my .02 for what it's worth.