National Football League

Ref taking Super mistakes too hard

Published Aug. 9, 2010 8:19 p.m. ET

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The recent remarks by referee Bill Leavy admitting to the Seattle Seahawks that he made two bad calls during their Super Bowl XL loss have rekindled the strong emotions of so many: those who are Seattle Seahawks fans, those who don't like the Pittsburgh Steelers, and even many Steelers fans and Steelers players who are insulted that Leavy's calls may have tainted their Super Bowl victory.

I have to admit that I was bit surprised when I read that Leavy addressed the calls with the media. Surprised, but not shocked.

Bill is one of the best referees we have in the NFL. He is a great communicator with players and coaches and has always been very accurate in his decision making. Ask most all of the coaches in the league and they will tell you they respect him. Even Mike Holmgren liked him before Super Bowl XL.

Like the other referees in the NFL, Leavy hates it when he makes a mistake and to make one in the Super Bowl makes it worse. It has been eating at him for four years. He wasn't kidding when he said he lost sleep and was miserable. We had many conversations about this. You live with that negative feeling as an official and it is hard to shake. Last week in Seattle, he found an opportunity to get it off his chest and admit that he had made mistakes. In my opinion, he was too hard on himself.

First, he didn't "kick" two calls in the fourth quarter. He was clearly incorrect when he called Matt Hasselbeck for a low block after the interception when Hasselbeck attempted to go low through a blocker in an attempt to make the tackle. It would only have been a foul if Matt would have made contact with the blocker, but he didn't, so it should not have been called.

Leavy piled on himself by saying that his holding call on Sean Locklear was incorrect. That is not true. It was a hold and should have been called. If anything, you could have made a case that the Steelers were offside and, if the play had been officiated correctly, the penalties would have offset and the down replayed. In any case, the reception would not have been allowed to stand.

Did Leavy's calls and the officiating, in general, have an impact in that game? Sure they did. Officiating has an impact in every game that is played, whether calls are made or not made, whether they are correct or incorrect.

Did Leavy's calls determine the winner of Super Bowl XL? Absolutely not! In truth, there were missed calls that went against both teams. Let's all put aside our allegiances and go back four years and look at the game objectively. If we do, we will see that the Seahawks did not play well and neither, actually, did the Steelers.

The officials also did not have a great game. In the end, however, the team that deserved to win won. That, in my opinion, is the bottom line.
 

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