My College Essay On The Horrid Officiating Of Superbowl XL

Now I know this topic has been talked over as many times as it can, but in my English class, this became a viable topic for our first rough draft of a major essay.

I was originally going to do it on expanding the content allowed in rated R movies (idea inspired after watching Tarintino's terrific Inglourious Basterd's). As ideas were tossed around in class this one clicked in my head, and many of the students wanted to see one done on the topic, so I went ahead and did it.

I already did not have any homework, so this would be a breeze, having to do very little research, here is my first draft of "The Ultimate Superbowl Fustercluck". 

This is not an attempt to piss one side off or the other, this is just a formal paper that the students in my class enjoyed so I thought I would share it on Bleacher Report.

Make sure to read the disclaimer! 

The Ultimate Superbowl Fustercluck

(Disclaimer, Steelers fans may not like the harsh reality and truth behind what is being divulged in this article, if you are one of these delusional characters who claim to have not had help from the officiating crew in the 2005 Superbowl en route to the biggest fustercluck in Superbowl history, please either discontinue reading now, or keep an open mind while you read through the points of contention discussed in this paper. Both the Seahawk’s calls, and Steelers calls will be examined in this essay.)

The Seattle Seahawk’s were at an all time high in 2005, a league best 13-3 record, an 11 game win streak, six Pro Bowl starters on offense alone, and owner of the NFL’s MVP in record setting touchdown machine (28 total) RB Shaun Alexander.

Having just beaten the Washington Redskins 21-10 in the Divisional playoff round (without the aforementioned MVP RB I might add), they were on their way to the NFC Championship game for the first time in 21 years.

In attendance, I got to watch my team throttle the Carolina Panthers 34-17, en route to our first Superbowl berth, our time had finally come. The memories of that game still give me Goosebumps, it was one of the greatest experiences of my life.

Maybe I would not have been so thrilled if I knew what was about to go down two weeks later.

I knew our matchup with the AFC representative, the Pittsburgh Steelers, would be tough, they had a great defense, and we had the leagues best offense, a great matchup indeed.

“I didn’t think we would have to play the guys in the striped shirts as well”

-Mike Holmgren, Seahawk’s rally, February 5th, 2005

The above statement could not have been said any better by anyone who watched the biggest robbery in Superbowl history. He surprisingly did not end up drawing a fine for the obvious “shot” at the referees, headlined by Bill Leavy.

Going into the game, we were definitely looking like the underdogs, we were not favored (minus 7 spread), 3/5 of the broadcasting crew picked the Steelers (good for you Chris Berman and Chris Carter). Because the game was in Detroit, Michigan, a five hour drive from Pittsburgh, it was obviously littered with far more black and yellow, then green and blue.

I always like being the underdogs, so this was of no concern, still, Seahawk’s fans had absolutely no clue what was about to smack them in the face.

First Quarter, 2:03 left: 

We moved the ball at will on this so called “Steel Curtain, Iron Curtain”, whatever you prefer, with our high-powered offense and drove to the redzone (inside the opponents 20 yard line). Pro Bowl QB Matt Hasselbeck flung a 16 pass to WR Darrell Jackson in the endzone for a TD, which would have put us up 7-0 going into the second quarter

This is the first point of contention.

He was guarded by Steelers S Chris Hope, both of whom were going for the ball. League rules state that if both players are jostling for position, both have an equal right to the ball. Jackson was flagged for Pass Interference pushing off of Hope, WITHOUT gaining any significant separation.

You are allowed to initiate contact like Jackson did if both are going for the ball at the same time and are not attempting to create significant separation in doing so.

Lets say Hope was looking away not going for the ball, and Jackson had shoved him out of the way, created separation, en route to the TD catch, then that would be grounds for a P/I call. This play was not that case, contact is allowed when going for the ball by both parties with the exception of pulling someone’s hands down, face masking, tackling, etc.

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?