R.I.P. Super Bowl XL

[swissvale72]

My brother passed on before his time shortly after the 2011 season. XLVIII is pretty melancholy for me. I'll never forgive for XL, the NFL has been missing my money. I've bought nothing of their brand save for 1 solitary jersey in 8 years, and that was a present.

Nice post and my sentiments exactly. Yesterday I was jumping through the roof with excitement, replying to texts from like minded 12s and literally, I'm not embarrassed to admit, shedding the occasional tear of joy.

Suddenly, from my ex wife came a msg that read "your grandfather and Scott are smiling somewhere right now". My tears of joy were instantly replaced with tears of sadness (fortunately it was halftime). My religious beliefs differ from hers. I have no reason to believe these men are smiling anywhere, I only know they died after seeing this team they loved and helped build get RIPPED OFF in XL.

To you supposed fans that feel we did not get ripped off in XL, you are either posing as Hawk fans or are clueless. Take your pick, unless you're both.

Yes we could have played better in XL. We could have played better yesterday too. The point is we played well enough in XL to win. It was the ONLY time in SB history that the losing team won in every important statistical category. The league wrote us a letter of apology and one official said he'd "lost sleep over the years because of the mistakes made in officiating SB XL". A game HE FELT we "should have won by 14 pts had the game been called correctly".

In closing. Some of us are not as selfish as some of you. I get the impression several of you are from the school of "Hey, I got mine and that's all I care about". Good for you. I am also happy for myself and the (real) 12s that stuck with this team through thick and thin. Yesterday was OUR day. But I am not the sort that says "hey, I got mine and that's all I care about" and I feel for those that did not have their day, yesterday. Caring about others is likely why I have as much as I do in this life. YMMV.

That's a good story, Hawk....too bad the part about the letter of apology just isn't true.

 

[HawkWow]

Prove it.

 

[swissvale72]

Prove it.

You're the one that's presented this myth. You should be able to come up with a link to support the story, yes?

 

[VivaEfrenHerrera]

Is the Stealer fan banned, yet?

This is a reasonable question. I think 12 utterly valueless posts is enough of a track record. Mods?

 

[LazerLargent78]

Hey wait, Hawk, are you referring to this letter or apology from the ref Leavy?

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d8 ... d-the-game

RENTON, Wash. -- Saying "I'll go to my grave" with regret, NFL referee Bill Leavy reopened a Seattle Seahawks wound that won't heal by acknowledging he made mistakes in the team's disputed Super Bowl XL loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers four years ago.

The veteran official began an annual training-camp rules interpretation session with the Seattle media after practice Friday by bringing up the sore subject without being asked.








"It was a tough thing for me," said Leavy, a veteran of 15 NFL seasons and two Super Bowls. "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," Leavy said of the February 2006 game. "I'll go to my grave wishing that I'd been better."

Though Seattle played one of its poorest games of an otherwise wondrous season that day, several key calls went against the team in its 21-10 loss. It remains the Seahawks' only Super Bowl appearance.

This week is the first time since that game Leavy has been in Seattle with the Seahawks. He and a mini-crew arrived Thursday to help with the team's practices and give it a rules presentation.

Leavy didn't specify which plays he "kicked" that big day in Detroit. But there are two late ones that people still talk about in Seattle -- with disdain they usually reserve for cold, weak coffee.

Early in the fourth quarter, tackle Sean Locklear was called for holding on a pass completion that would have put the Seahawks at the Steelers' 1-yard line, poised for the potential tying touchdown. After the penalty, Matt Hasselbeck threw an interception, then was called for a mysterious low block on a play that ended with him tackling Pittsburgh's Ike Taylor on the defensive back's return.

The penalty moved the Steelers from their 29 to the 44. Pittsburgh used its better field position to score the clinching touchdown four plays later.

The next day, then-Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren stoked Seattle's angry fire when he addressed fans upon the team landing back home. Holmgren told frustrated fans at a civic gathering at Qwest Field, "I knew it was going to be tough going up against the Pittsburgh Steelers. I didn't know we were going to have to play the guys in the striped shirts, as well."

Holmgren, now a top executive with the Cleveland Browns, has since said that he has gotten over that game.

But Leavy hasn't.

"I know that I did my best at that time, but it wasn't good enough," said Leavy, a 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."

When high-profile referee Ed Hochuli visited the Seahawks' training camp in the months after that Super Bowl, he and his crew took good-natured ribbing from players.

"The Super Bowl was one of those games where it seemed the big calls went against Seattle," Hochuli said in August 2006. "And that was just fortuitous -- bad fortuitous for Seattle.

"The league felt, actually, that the Super Bowl was well officiated. Now, that doesn't mean there were no mistakes. There are always mistakes, but it was a well-officiated game."

Leavy was not descript when he couldn't remember which plays, on the whole we didn't execute. It's not like a score was taken away. Hasselbeck threw the killer INT, no one stopped Parker on the 75 yrd run. I'm tired of all this we were jobbed. Leavy is a terrible official, how is he still out there? Did anyone see what he did in week 17 to let SD into the playoffs? That was worse than anything done in XL. Hey we are the champions my friends, we keep fighting to the end, WE ARE CHAMPS. Stop the whining!!

 

[MidwestHawker]

Leavy was not descript when he couldn't remember which plays, on the whole we didn't execute. It's not like a score was taken away. Hasselbeck threw the killer INT, no one stopped Parker on the 75 yrd run. I'm tired of all this we were jobbed. Leavy is a terrible official, how is he still out there? Did anyone see what he did in week 17 to let SD into the playoffs? That was worse than anything done in XL. Hey we are the champions my friends, we keep fighting to the end, WE ARE CHAMPS. Stop the whining!!

Do you now consider yourself to be the MVP of this thread?

Neither you, nor the OP, nor anyone else scolding those "whining" are nearly as enlightened as you think you are. Go to bed.

 

[HawkWow]

Prove it.

You're the one that's presented this myth. You should be able to come up with a link to support the story, yes?

I don't need to "come up" with anything. IF you felt we were not robbed in XL, despite the overwhelming evidence we were, including admission from that game's head official (Bill Leavy) and a bevy of glaring statistics supporting the fact, you are delusional but free to believe whatever you want to believe. Do you actually think I seek your validation or approval? Like I said...delusional.

 

[hawk45]

I dislike bringing up XL although I get why someone would feel the urge. It's divisive at a time when we're all basking in the afterglow of the victory.

No, 1 ring doesn't make up for the one that was stolen. Makes us all feel better about football in general, sure, especially since the refereeing was evenhanded and we got to play our game. But it shouldn't take a farce of a Superbowl game in the past for the NFL not to piss all over a team with an awful trophy theft.

Back to being happy now and letting this genius of an ill-timed thread die without me.

 

[LazerLargent78]

Leavy was not descript when he couldn't remember which plays, on the whole we didn't execute. It's not like a score was taken away. Hasselbeck threw the killer INT, no one stopped Parker on the 75 yrd run. I'm tired of all this we were jobbed. Leavy is a terrible official, how is he still out there? Did anyone see what he did in week 17 to let SD into the playoffs? That was worse than anything done in XL. Hey we are the champions my friends, we keep fighting to the end, WE ARE CHAMPS. Stop the whining!!

Do you now consider yourself to be the MVP of this thread?

Neither you, nor the OP, nor anyone else scolding those "whining" are nearly as enlightened as you think you are. Go to bed.

Excuse me, but i saw the game replayed a 100 times, we had a few calls, they did too. They also made more plays when it mattered to ours.... We lost!!

Guess what we won last night in stellar fashion.

 

[Zorn76]

I quit caring about XL the same year it happened.

And if I thought there was some pre game conspiracy like others have, I woulda quit following football 8 yrs ago.

I couldn't waste anytime lamenting crap like that, so I chose not to.

I'm just happy that we're Super Bowl XLIII Champions.

GO HAWKS!!!

 

[WilsonsUserManual]

Come on guys. Please don't tell me you are actually calling XL an "injustice" and that we were the rightful champions that year. It's not like you can point to one call at the end of the game that decided who won. It was a 2 possession game.

You guys want someone to be mad at for XL? How about Jerramy Stevens. Talk trash the week before and then have the worst game of your life? Worst Seahawk ever. I blame him much more than I blame the refs.

 

[drdiags]

To me it is in the past. The whole experience was a nightmare and the fall-out has continued to this day. It is a hot-button issue to assume some folks will look at the current fortunes of the team to ease the results of XL.

I think the refs kept the country from watching a great game, but Matt mentions that he let the Locklear hold affect him with the following interception. Stevens could have had a legendary game if not for his drops.

I feel for those who passed without the chance to see this organization with the ultimate prize. Holmgren could have made history by taking a second franchise to a title. The players on the team like Walter Jones, Matt, Mack Strong and others came close to having their own legacy.

Then I think about the Vikings and Bills, having gone to 4 each and not have a victory.

I have my own peace with the game. The OP was being wishful thinking ths would allow folks to temper their disgust and should be able to see now that isn't the case with some folks.

 

[LazerLargent78]

Come on guys. Please don't tell me you are actually calling XL an "injustice" and that we were the rightful champions that year. It's not like you can point to one call at the end of the game that decided who won. It was a 2 possession game.

You guys want someone to be mad at for XL? How about Jerramy Stevens. Talk trash the week before and then have the worst game of your life? Worst Seahawk ever. I blame him much more than I blame the refs.

I despise that POS to this day, his big mouth was just a nightmare.

 

[Optimus25]

Super Bowl XL can rest in peace.......but do i hope we get to play the Steelers next year???and all the better, in super bowl 49??? HELL. YES. so is that truly letting go? i guess i just don't know... edit. dang it, looks like we get afc west next year. oh well, hopefully we do meet big ben in the super bowl then. hmmm, that's interesting, we might start the year hosting the broncos?

 

[swissvale72]

Prove it.

You're the one that's presented this myth. You should be able to come up with a link to support the story, yes?

I don't need to "come up" with anything. IF you felt we were not robbed in XL, despite the overwhelming evidence we were, including admission from that game's head official (Bill Leavy) and a bevy of glaring statistics supporting the fact, you are delusional but free to believe whatever you want to believe. Do you actually think I seek your validation or approval? Like I said...delusional.

Right Hawk....you make up an apology letter from the NFL, something that never happened, but it's me that's delusional?? Nice try. Again....
*Did Darrell Jackson NOT extend his arm right in front of the official?
*Did Sean Lochlear NOT hold Clark Haggens?
*Was there clear video evidence that Ben Roethlisberger did NOT pierce the goal line while airborne?

Doesn't much matter what John Madden said the night of the game, or what the dimwit Bill Leavy said four years later. Look at it again, Hawk....with your own eyes...and let me know when you find that letter from the NFL.

 

[MidwestHawker]

Okay, seriously get rid of this guy. No Steeler fan is allowed to feel okay about what happened that day. If one even attempts to try he should have a lead pipe shoved up his ass so far that he can no longer digest food properly.

 

[Seahawk Sailor]

Again, enough of this. We don't need a bunch of "Seahawks fans" posting from Pennsylvania and New Hampshire, telling us what to think about this topic.