NFL ref admits mistakes in Super Bowl 2006

[Romeo Delight]

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

RENTON, Wash. -- NFL referee Bill Leavy acknowledged he made mistakes in the Seattle Seahawks' 2006 Super Bowl loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

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

"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," said the veteran of 15 NFL seasons and two Super Bowls.

"It left me with a lot of sleepless nights, and I think about it constantly," Leavy said of the game in February 2006. "I'll go to my grave wishing that I'd been better."

Several calls went against the Seahawks in their 21-10 loss to the Steelers. It was Seattle's 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 day in Detroit.

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, in position for the go-ahead touchdown. After the penalty, Matt Hasselbeck threw an interception, and then was called for a 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 told 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 he's 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 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."

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."

Information from The Associated Press contributed to this report.


Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press

[Romeo Delight]

"I'll go to my grave wishing that I'd been better."

nuf said

[SilvioDante]

Yeah, Leavy totally missed his assignment on Willie Parker's RECORD SETTING 75 YRD. TOUCHDOWN RUN. And he blew his coverage on Ward on the 37 yard reception after a bogus pass interference call against Miller.

It's been 4 years now, can't we give this thing a rest. THAT WAS A HOLD ON LOCKLEAR FOR GOD SAKES. It may not been a "good enough" hold for some, but it WAS a hold. There is holding on every play in the NFL. It's not like the refs waited to see if there was a reception for a first down and THEN threw the flag. Then, to top it all off, Hasselback choked on the next play. He threw the ball right to Ike Taylor, who isn't exactly Rod Woodson. (When Ben was 3 and 28 earlier in the game, he MADE a play, see above). That WAS a low block on Hasselback on the interception, or atleast it was when Ben was called for that in the Colts game earlier that year.

There are bad calls for and against every team in every game. Some teams can overcome them, some can not. The only thing that made this SEEM worse than a normal game was the presence of notorious Steeler hater John Madden in the booth. His constant complaining about the officiating made it seem worse.

[POJO_Risin]

Was there ever any question about the blown calls?

[sadaist]

Wait. The Seahawks were in the Super Bowl? Shit. I already forgot all about that. No one remembers the losers of the game. (Except Buffalo 4 times in a row)

[chefcraig]

I've never been able to buy this "the refs cost us the game" nonsense. You want to be a champion? Beat the crap out of the other team by a score margin that never leaves the game in doubt. If your team is so unprepared that a blown call or two decides the game, then perhaps your entire season has been a fluke and you shouldn't have been there in the first place.

[Green Manalishi]

The imperfect human element of officiating in major sports events is quite a hot topic .

With the advent of high tech. being used in situational close calls in MLB , the NHL , and the NFL , it may be just a matter of time til human officiating is done away with altogether .

Seems like ESPN and even your local sports broadcasters can't go 5 minutes without disecting a close or questionable call .

I do believe most officials get most of the calls right most of the time . That is their job , and for the most part , only the best of the best make it to that level .

However , with seemingly more money tied up in sporting events , the escalation in the use of high tech. , the use of on field officials may be considered irrelevant in our lifetime .

Personally , I will never ever forget Don Deckingers more than obvious blown call in the '85 World Series between the Cardinals and the Royals . Hurts to this day .

[Seshmeister]

It's only a game, there is a lot of talk about this in proper football at the moment.

Sport is all about the talk around it and refereeing mistakes are part of the oxygen that fuels them.

Look how boring tennis is now with the Hawkeye thing, do you prefer that to a McEnroe going nuts?

[chefcraig]

It tells you how screwed up things are when the Little League World Series adopts instant replay and Major League Baseball refuses to do so. I don't believe it is needed on every play (turning a game into 4 hour plus marathons), yet would be practical for foul balls, even if it was only used in post season play. And don't even get me started on soccer. If the World Cup is only played every 4 years, why not attempt to get the offside calls correct?

[Va Beach VH Fan]

OK, let's repeat this one more time....

As I stated four fucking years ago:

"But there are some things that are being conveniently overlooked....

As I just said, the refs had nothing to do with the inability to defend the 3rd and 28 play....

The refs had nothing to do with the inability to lay a hand on Willie Parker for 75 yards....

The refs had nothing to do with the kicker missing two field goals....

The refs had nothing to do with all of the dropped passes.... In addition, I didn't see anyone complaining after Stevens CLEARLY fumbled the ball after a good 3 steps on one of his drops...

The refs had nothing to do with Rouen consistently whacking the ball into the endzone, while most of the time Gardocki was pinning them deep in their own zone...

The refs had nothing to do with D-JACK, or whatever the fuck his name is, nonchalantly not making an attempt to get both feet in bounds TWICE....

And most importantly, the refs had nothing to do with the Seahawks being suckered into the EXACT SAME GADGET PLAY that the Steelers ran against the Browns ONLY FOUR WEEKS EARLIER....

So yes, most of the calls went against Seattle, and that makes it unfortunate and that leaves a bad taste in their mouth....

But you have to admit, those things I listed are pretty cut and dry, and need to be looked at objectively.... "

[SilvioDante]

OK, let's repeat this one more time....

As I stated four fucking years ago:

"But there are some things that are being conveniently overlooked....

As I just said, the refs had nothing to do with the inability to defend the 3rd and 28 play....

The refs had nothing to do with the inability to lay a hand on Willie Parker for 75 yards....

The refs had nothing to do with the kicker missing two field goals....

The refs had nothing to do with all of the dropped passes.... In addition, I didn't see anyone complaining after Stevens CLEARLY fumbled the ball after a good 3 steps on one of his drops...

The refs had nothing to do with Rouen consistently whacking the ball into the endzone, while most of the time Gardocki was pinning them deep in their own zone...

The refs had nothing to do with D-JACK, or whatever the fuck his name is, nonchalantly not making an attempt to get both feet in bounds TWICE....

And most importantly, the refs had nothing to do with the Seahawks being suckered into the EXACT SAME GADGET PLAY that the Steelers ran against the Browns ONLY FOUR WEEKS EARLIER....

So yes, most of the calls went against Seattle, and that makes it unfortunate and that leaves a bad taste in their mouth....

But you have to admit, those things I listed are pretty cut and dry, and need to be looked at objectively.... "

I honestly blame John Madden, Al Michaels and ESPN for most of this. Madden still hates the Steelers and ESPN is always looking for a story. Their constant repeating of their OPINION that the game was being called against the Seahawks gave people the perception it was being called against the Seahawks. That game was called no worse than the average game. Like I said, its not the refs waited to see if there was a completion on the play before throwing the flag on Locklear.

I blame the rest on people and their jealousy of the SIX TIME SUPER BOWL CHAMPION PITTSBURGH STEELERS. I mean, was anyone annoyed when the refs overturned an obvious interception by Polamalu against the Chosen One and the Colts in their playoff game? Not really... Then again the Steelers did go on and win the game anyway.

[POJO_Risin]

The trophy is with the Steelers...period...end of story.

The real travesty isn't that there were blown calls in that game...

...but that there are actually Seahawks fans...

[POJO_Risin]

At least there's some sense here...

"I had a word with him and told him I really appreciated it," said defensive tackle Craig Terrill, a backup on that Super Bowl team. "I certainly don't have any hard feelings against him. There were plenty of things we did in that game that kept us from winning. He can't take responsibility for the mistakes we made, but I appreciated it."

[LoungeMachine]

The SeaHags could have left town with the Sonics, and used the Mariners as roadies for all I care about pro sports these days.....

My 15 year old son and I caught a little league game a few weeks ago, and saw some of the most inspiring play making and guts I've ever seen on a field.



Millionaires playing for billionaires while extorting tax payers and charging $12 for shitty warm beer?

Fuck You Pro Sports.

[POJO_Risin]

I 100% agree lunger...100% agree...

I'm all about the minor leagues at this point....

[redblkwht]

I love how a game from that long ago still hits a nerve between both partys..
such is life & its 2010..

[sonrisa salvaje]

I think it's probably the guys that lost their ass betting on the game who are still pissed about this. If i lost my house and was still avoiding the leg breakers, i would be pissed too.

[Romeo Delight]

I agree that you can't blame the ref for the game...but

It would take a pretty dominant team to overcome what happened in that game from an officiating perspective. The Chickenhawks weren't that.

The game hits a nerve because the league does such a great job in officiating in general, that to have that happen in the Super Bowl of all games was unusual to say the least.

Here's hoping there isn't any Donaghy-esque type of scandal that ever comes out here

[78/84 guy]

That game came to mind after the NFC championship game last year. I was happy for Cowher but the calls were horrible against Seattle !! At least they admit it years after the games are fixed by the ref's !! 40,000 in fine's on the Aints' after the game !! Thanks NFL !! Too fuckin' late !! Yah they were droping the ball all over the place but those missed call's changed that game.