Edit: I had to fix the link for the video, apparently the old link took you to a slideshow of the Super Bowl winning Steelers. That certainly wasn't my intent.
For part 2 in this series, we’re going to stay with Super Bowl XL, but backtrack to the second quarter. Three plays ago, Pittsburgh converted a 3rd and 28 into a 1st and goal situation. Seattle’s linebacker of a safety, Michael Boulware let the only receiving threat for Pittsburgh get open while Ben Roethlisberger scrambled around in the backfield, but that’s a story for another time. After 2 Jerome Bettis runs, Pittsburgh faced 3rd and goal from the 1 yard line at the 2 minute warning.
The play call was a fake handoff to Bettis, and Roethlisberger rolled left and dove for the end zone line, hit by Seattle’s linebacker D.D. Lewis right at the goal line. The call on the field was touchdown, and the play was reviewed and upheld, much to the chagrin of Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren.
Now, I do not believe Roethlisberger crossed the goal line, but having watched the replay countless times (I am a masochist), I honestly cannot tell whether he did or not. I do agree with the decision to not overturn the call after replay review, because I do not believe you can make a clear case either way. Whatever the call was on the field, it should have stood after the replay review. I should say, whatever the first call was on the field, because this is where I take issue.
Once again, I ask you to watch a short video. The first highlight shown is Roethlisberger’s TD run. I ask you not to watch Big Ben, though, but to watch Mark Hittner the top of your screen. Don’t worry if you’ve never heard of him. He’s the head linesman official from Super Bowl XL, and he makes the call on this play.
Watch him come running in. He has one arm raised in the air running down the goal line towards the play. This is basic mechanics for a linesman, but it is basic mechanics when a player is down short of the end zone. One hand raised is the classic sign for “player is down, play is dead, short of the end zone.” See, if the official believes the play is dead and the player has crossed the goal line, he will run down with 2 arms raised. If you’re not sure (which happens sometimes, as a player on the ground near the goal line tends to end up the loser in a giant game of pig-pile) you are supposed to run in and give no signal until you determine where the ball should be spotted. If you’ve watched the video, you’ll notice that about 12 yards in from the sideline, good ol’ Mark’s second arm rises to signal touchdown, indicating he changed his mind as he was running toward Ben.
If you keep watching this video, you’ll see the video replay showing how close Ben got to the line. Maybe you think he got in, maybe you don’t. Either way, watch what he does once he hits the ground. He pushes the ball across the goal line after he is clearly down on the ground. Of course he did, this is Football 101, try to influence the referee’s spot of the ball any way you can. The thing is, a pop warner league official knows about this strategy, so they ignore it. And if a pop warner official is wise to this, you would expect an NFL official to be wise to it as well.
I'll never know what happened on this play, but I believe it to be one of two things:
1) Mark had a brain fart on his basic mechanics in the biggest game of the year. A game he was selected to officiate in because he was the best head linesman in the league that season, and he blew the basic mechanics of this call.
2) Mark was influenced by Ben’s shenanigans as to the spot of the ball. The best head linesman in the league fell for a trick a pop warner official would see coming and disregard.
Either way, it is a travesty that in the biggest game of the year, a head linesman forgot how to do his job.
When it happened, I knew that the replay wouldn’t bring a reversal, and I was pretty sure that my team, despite outplaying Pittsburgh for the entire first half, was going to go into halftime down 7-3. When I spoke to my friend Dave at halftime I said, “Either Seattle has just had the kitchen sink thrown at them and will come out firing in the 2nd half, or Pittsburgh is finally going to wake up and Seattle has blown their chance.” It ended up being the latter, as 2 plays into the 2nd half Willie Parker set the Super Bowl record for the longest rushing touchdown from scrimmage and Seattle never got closer than the 4 point deficit staring them in the face after the touchdown that wasn’t and then was.
Anti-Quality of call: 5/10
Effect on game situation: 6/10
Effect on my mood: 4/10
And 6 “bonus” points for the official forgetting how to do his job
Just to twist the knife a little more, in Super Bowl 43, Big Ben rolled to his right and dove for the goal line. This time, the linesman signaled touchdown right away. Again the play looked very close on replay. But this time? The referee overturned the play. And Holmgren was in the building for it, as a guest broadcaster for NBC. Unreal.
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