You hate to re-open such a horrible wound, but Seattle Seahawks fans are again feeling the pain of Super Bowl XL.
Veteran NFL referee Bill Leavy, who is infamous for some of the worst calls the Super Bowl has ever seen, has apologized to no one in particular for some of those horribly bad calls.
“It was a tough thing for me. I kicked two calls in the fourth quarter and I impacted the game and as an official you never want to do that. It left me with a lot of sleepless nights and I think about it constantly. I’ll go to my grave wishing that I’d been better. I know that I did my best at that time, but it wasn’t good enough. 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.”
For all the flack the NBA catches for being fixed, no one really points to crucial times in the NFL when it just seems that one team is destined to win, no matter what. Super Bowl XL was one of those times.
The key plays Leavy was apologizing for were probably these:
- Seahawks receiver Darrell Jackson was called for offensive pass interference on a play that he scored a touchdown. Seattle was forced to kick a field goal instead.
- The Seahawks stopped Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger on his 1-yard line. Leavy upheld the touchdown call after a replay review.
- Early in the fourth quarter, tackle Sean Locklear was called for holding on a pass completion that would have put the Seahawks at the Pittsburgh 1-yard-line. There was no holding on the play. After the penalty, Hasselbeck threw an interception.
- Hasselbeck was called for an illegal low block and given a 15-yard penalty on the tackle after the interception.
While Pittsburgh fans were busy gloating, Seahawks fans were busy screaming CONSPIRACY from the top of the mountain. The media went crazy. The NFL had plenty of reasons to tilt this game in the Steelers direction. Let us not forget that NFL is a business like any other, and profits rule the day.
Most NFL fans, except for Steelers fans, would prefer to forget this game ever happened. The most memorable play was a holding penalty. Even some Steelers fans wish they would have won under different circumstances.
One puzzling thing is this apology was completely unprovoked. Before meeting with the Seattle media to discuss rule changes, for reason known only to him, he went off on this tangent. It is doubtful the Seattle media or anyone else really felt like reopening this gaping wound.
The apology is ringing hollow wish Seahwaks fans, though. As most who left comments here, are either telling him to shove it, or are pointing out the myriad of ways that this game was fixed.
► Read more articles written by Jp14.
Dear Dips**t –
Leavy said “I kicked two calls in the FORTH quarter”. Darrell Jackson’s pass interference happened at the 2:08 mark in the FIRST quarter, while Ben Roethlisberger’s touchdown came at the 2:00 mark of the SECOND quarter.
As for Sean Locklear’s holding penalty, he grabbed Clark Haggan’s right shoulder pad with enough force to twist Haggans sideways as he ran past Locklear. That’s the very definition of holding.
I will admit that Hasselbeck should not have been called for a low block, but it happened after the interception. The Steelers retain possession either way. As for the 15 yard penalty, do you really think it would have made a difference? Hines Ward was 10 yards behind the defender when he caught the TD pass. 15 yards would have just meant he was 15 yards further away when he crossed the goal line.
Seattle Whine is aging nicely.
nfl is fixed if refery leavy did not make those terrible calls he probably would have lost his job steelers won because of there german heritage the germans have to be number one in every thing.
The controversy was not that he was called for holding moron it was because the defender who was held was also clearly offside before the hold and the two penalties would have negated each other resulting in a touchdown. Also as for the pushoff offensive pass interference the defender pushed at the same time as Stevens pushed off taking away that touchdown also. Not one penalty was called on the Steelers in the entire second half. Do you really think they could have ever held up against the major momentum change and our powerful offense and shutdown defense? Any idiot knows bad calls f’d the game entirely for the hawks. The STEALERS didn’t win they also lost because they could not win without them
And suck my d#$k pansie
Not only that but on top of all that bulls**t worthlessburger goes on leno or lettermen or some other late night show and admits he did not make the touchdown she he was clearly down and moved the ball over the line. That was like a slap to the face when it was reviewed and confirmed by this asshole ref who apologizes for calls in the fourth quarter only not for looking directly at the play and lying to 100,000 people. If any other official refs the game stealers lose their asses 7-21
Right there with you, Hawk12.. If I were a Steelers fan I would be ashamed and embarrassed. It’s the ref’s fault, of course…but what a terrible way to “win”! I guess the “Pansie” is one of those folks who doesn’t CARE how their team wins..they think the trophy is just as pretty…pity.