Super Bowl XL* : Never Forget

I know we've been wrapped up in our issues with the team and their level of play and what's wrong with this guy and that guy, etc.

However, I feel like I'm not seeing enough talk about why this game was such a huge game when the schedules were released. This will be Ben Roethlisberger's first appearance in Seattle, ever, and of course it will be his first visit since Super Bowl XL. The night the NFL died a little bit in my heart.

Us east coasters are some pretty sick bastards, so I decided that I'm going to re-watch XL while I do my laundry this afternoon. I figured I'd leave it here in it's entirety, as well, seeing as how the entire game is available on Youtube.

I know, I know, some of you will think I'm a worthless pos for posting this, but I figure that there's gotta be some sickos out there that want to relive the pain in preparation for the game on Sunday. I want to feel that same hatred and rage that I felt for Pittsburgh and Ben "She Said No" Roethlisberger that I felt on February 5, 2006. The night a younger me, surrounded by all of his friends and some family, watched in horror as Bill Leavy and his crew gift wrapped Jerome Bettis and Bill Cowher their retirement presents from 345 Park Ave.

[youtube]e6TKp-c-YQA[/youtube]

I told myself that I would never forget, and I felt myself getting too wrapped up in the moment to realize that the Steelers day of reckoning for that day, is finally upon us! What a better way to spring board yet another amazing second half run to the playoffs, than with a massive win at home against Ben. If the season swings on that day, it would be an amazing sign from the football karma gods. Let's hope that it is so.

I'll leave you with this. My flight to Seattle on Saturday leaves from Newark, NJ (scene of the first Seahawks Super Bowl victory) and stops in Detroit, MI (scene of Seahawks first Super Bowl robbery, XL). I very rarely fly through Detroit. It seems so fitting that I would have to do so the weekend of this game. Also, I only have a 55 minute layover in Detroit before I board my plane to Seattle, so I picked a seat as close to the front of my first plane as possible. I was stuck with Row #11, a limited recline seat. I went for it anyway, and at the time, there wasn't a #11 on the 'Hawks roster. However, just hours later, the 'Hawks added BJ Daniels to the roster.

Wouldn't it be amazing if BJ pulled a Randle El in XL and threw for a touchdown pass on some form of a trick play? Maybe not quite the reverse TD pass, but maybe a screen pass behind the line of scrimmage into another pass over the top? That would truly restore balance to the universe.

Sorry for rambling, just thought I'd try to incite some passion, or a riot.

P.S. Cougs all day in the Apple Cup! Go Cougs!

Coug, you the man. I did not know this was on youtube. I have not watched it since that dreaded day as I was too busy working on getting my next life in order. I may just watch this before the Apple cup....and as you said "COUGS ALL DAY!!!!!"

Great post! Totally agree.. NEVER FORGET! This has been the game I've been looking forward to all season! I hope they show those clips on the screens at the stadium to get everyone fired up :stirthepot: lol

Don't just beat 'em...Make a statement!!

Have a blast at the game! Wish I could be there in person!

Go Hawks!!

Yo Dave, some payback would be freaking AWESOME but I gotta' say Woof:{)

jacobsod":2h4drypw said:

Great post! Totally agree.. NEVER FORGET! This has been the game I've been looking forward to all season! I hope they show those clips on the screens at the stadium to get everyone fired up :stirthepot: lol

Don't just beat 'em...Make a statement!!

Have a blast at the game! Wish I could be there in person!

Go Hawks!!

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Thanks, jacobsod, and Go Hawks!! You'll be there in spirit, as long as you're standing and yelling at your TV at home, while making your family uncomfortable.

I agree that this is a huge chance to make a statement for the 'Hawks. Not only do we need this game, but what better opponent to do it against?

So... I started watching and we should've known we were doomed from the beginning. The opening shot shows "terrible towels" waving furiously, towels that were handed out at the gates might I add. Shows you how little the NFL cared about creating a level playing field for that game from the outset.

In watching, man, DJack was really going off in the first quarter. I forgot how great of a quarter he had. I'm watching as if we actually have a chance to win! Ever do that when rewatching a loss? I have to keep reminding myself that things are going to go off the rails.

However, I'm getting the desired effect from watching. Having been to XLIX, I've still always felt that XL was worse than XLIX. XLIX was self-inflicted. It'll drive me crazy forever, but we did it to ourselves. However, XL was pure robbery. We never stood a chance.

No, Seahawksfan80, you da man! It was great seeing you at the Cowboys game. I had a feeling you would understand where I was coming from with this past. Personally, I hope that Peyton Bender DOES start the Apple Cup... and we destroy the Dawgs anyway! That would be sweet.

pmedic920":16uskzvg said:

Yo Dave, some payback would be freaking AWESOME but I gotta' say Woof:{)

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NOOOOOOO! Et tu, Lon?

No, this Apple Cup should be a great game. The Huskies have tons of talent all over the field. Browning and Gaskin are impressive, for sure. The defense is brimming with prospects as well. I'm expecting nothing but a really good game. Something that the state of Washington can be proud of when it comes to the Apple Cup. It hasn't always been like that in the recent past.

We're on the same page on the payback front though, my mustachioed compadre!

NYCoug":37mlyvbb said:

Never Forget

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I dunno. 48 had a lot to do with me caring much less about 40. At some point, a joe has move on for his own sake.

NY COUG-
you wrote

,"I've still always felt that XL was worse than XLIX. XLIX was self-inflicted"

Exactly right in my mind. Plus we won XLVIII the year before so that took a little bit of pain off.
XL will always be the worst and not just in our eyes. Ive spoken to people that all claim it was the worst football game ever played in history. just a disaster to watch for any fan.

I remember thinking- there are probably some good hearted steelers fan that felt that win wasnt earned and almost felt remorse for the Hawks

This most likely will be the only time you will see Big Ben playing in Seattle for the Steelers. 2003 was the last time Pittsburgh played here.

I wonder how many of their fans will be in the stadium? 15-20K? Them, the Packers, Cowboys and even Vikings fans seem to fill the stadium when they visit. Here's to them leaving disappointed.

I was in high school when the Seahawks played in XL. I literally got sick the day after the game and missed class for a few days. I honestly think that game ruined my immune system and caused me to get a fever. Really depressing. I went straight to my room after our SB party. Didn't talk with any friends or family. I remember the stress caused a really bad headache too.

XLIX obviously was disappointing too but an entirely different beast. I was still social after the game. I was just in disbelief. Like a bad dream. I drank myself to sleep that night.

At least we took down the greatest offense of all time in XLVIII. I truly believe no team would have beaten us that night. No Montana team, not the 85 bears, not the 90's Cowboys, not the 70's steelers. That was our night to be the greatest. Until a team goes 19-0, I will forever believe that.

Hard to believe they havent been here since 2003.
Tommy Maddox was QB, Burress and Ward were catching the ball.
i remember not much scoring until we pulled away in end.

Didnt that season end - "We're Gonna Win and We're Gonna Score?"

...

seahawksny":1y7rsmht said:

Hard to believe they havent been here since 2003.
Tommy Maddox was QB, Burress and Ward were catching the ball.
i remember not much scoring until we pulled away in end.

Didnt that season end - "We're Gonna Win and We're Gonna Score?"

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That was the only game I've seen in Seattle. Closer than it should have been, but a great experience.

seahawksny":prnuvx0y said:

Hard to believe they havent been here since 2003.
Tommy Maddox was QB, Burress and Ward were catching the ball.
i remember not much scoring until we pulled away in end.

Didnt that season end - "We're Gonna Win and We're Gonna Score?"

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Also the year of the Ravens game with the 4th timeout. What a cluster that game was:

http://www.nfl.com/schedules/2003/REG/SEAHAWKS

How could I forget this game. My beloved team FINALLY gets to the big one only to have the experienced utterly ruined by the NFL. I nearly quit watching pro football forever afterwards. Seriously.



I have never wanted the Hawks to curbstomp an opponent as badly as I want them to do so this Sunday. Unfortunately, I feel Seattle will be fortunate to win this game period.



Great post Coug. Thanks.

steelers converting that 3rd and 28 at the 50:00 mark... that was the turning point imo...

the 3rd and 6 at 45:30 was another conversion from big ben to #86 which led up to the huge play at 50 minutes.

used to think the 'pylon play' at 1:01:30 was a td, but looking at it today, jackson seems out of bounds. ymmv

this week's game could be epic. pittsburgh's first trip to seattle since prior to the controversial super bowl 40.

roethlisberger is a great qb. his pocket awareness/presence is 2nd to none. having stated that, it would be great to see big ben shut down by the seattle d on sunday. the key is to not let him slide around in the pocket; get to him with pressure. he sidesteps a lot of pass rushers. can't let him do that on sunday.

on offense, dude on the radio (millen?) was saying that last week's seahawk run game was more 'power-plays and counters, and not the zone blocking'. if that's the case, maybe they should stick with the 'power running scheme'.

anyway, the refs were bad for sb40, but the 'hawks could have won anyway. seahawks can win this one though!

drdiags":2uvpa9kb said:

seahawksny":2uvpa9kb said:

Hard to believe they havent been here since 2003.
Tommy Maddox was QB, Burress and Ward were catching the ball.
i remember not much scoring until we pulled away in end.

Didnt that season end - "We're Gonna Win and We're Gonna Score?"

Click to expand...

Also the year of the Ravens game with the 4th timeout. What a cluster that game was:

http://www.nfl.com/schedules/2003/REG/SEAHAWKS

Click to expand...

Still my least favorite regular season game of all time. That game was beyond frustrating. I have never been so angry after a regular season loss.

I think our SB victory got me over XL, but I'll never forget it. Even if it wasn't Pitt's fault, I'll forever hate that franchise for it. FYI, I admired them before it because I love good defense and they always play good defense (except the last 2 years). Just like I liked the Ravens for a few years, and they were my AFC team.

That said, this is a bigger deal to the fans. There aren't any players on our team that remember this, and it was a wrong done to the franchise before any of these guys were collecting pay checks.

That said, this won't be cathartic, and I caution folks who look for it to be. We don't match up well against the Stealers this year, and they're coming off of a bye, so the travel won't be a problem for them.

I will never watch the video but I agree I still have the seething hatred for Pittsburgh. I have rooted against them every game since that day.

The two times we have played Pitt since XL we have scored a total of ZERO points.

I want to destroy that team so bad on Sunday. It will feel good for so many reasons. I just hope the Hawks can pull it off - they have not beaten a good team yet this year. The LOB will have to return to form as the Pitt WRs are scary good. I'm sure the 12's will BRING IT Sunday - NYCoug you will hear me from NJ. Go Hawks!!!

The thing I remember about all this is if Manning wasn't a big choke artist or the Colts DB was more elusive to prevent from getting tackled by Big Ben on Bettis's fumble all of this would have been avoided. Denver losing the AFCCG at home with a shady Plummer(?) or the Bengals taking the gas pipe with the unfortunate loss of Palmer it just seems that the end result was just how it was supposed to be.

I don't go with the conspiracy angle but I still don't have a warm and fuzzy for the whole week leading up to the game. I wanted to slap the crap out of Rich Eisen after that blown-up J Stevens comment. I hate how the media can be like a bunch of instigators wanting to stir crap up for entertainment purposes.

Stevens probably could have deflected the obviously loaded question but come on, don't ask me about an opponent's last game in his home town for the biggest game in my life. What do you want me to do? "We don't have a shot so I am glad for Jerome?"

That and those trolls we had to live with before and after the game made me want to put a nail in my head(LOL!),

If I weren't a hater I would admit that it was pretty impressive to be a 9-7 team and beat Bengal, Colts, Broncos and Seahawks to get the trophy. Now we get to see "The Chin" get a bucket on his head for the rest of our lives. Yahoo!!!

Shoot me ... LOL!