Max Starks: Maybe Super Bowl ref should just retire

[hawaiiansteel]

Updated: August 8, 2010

Seahawks applaud ref's admission

ESPN.com news services





The Seattle Seahawks say they appreciate official Bill Leavy admitting he made two bad calls in their Super Bowl loss but are ready to move on. The Steelers, however, aren't ready to hand over their championship rings.

Nine players remain from the team's lone Super Bowl appearance in 2006, including quarterback Matt Hasselbeck. He was whistled for a low block on what appeared to be a legal tackle on an interception return in the fourth quarter of that loss to Pittsburgh.

The Steelers used the better field position from the penalty on Hasselbeck to score the clinching touchdown in Pittsburgh's 21-10 victory.

"It's a game. It's not a perfect science," Hasselbeck said Saturday, after Leavy again worked at the Seahawks' training camp practice. "There's a lot of human involvement there. I've played some games that I remember because I feel I did a good job and I remember some other games where I have regrets. That goes for any sport, any player. I'm sure coaching is no different. And I'm sure officiating is the same way."

Leavy and his crew have been at Seahawks camp the past several days as part of the NFL's summer tour of officials informing teams of new rules and interpretations.

Leavy told Seattle-area media Friday night that he "kicked two calls in the fourth quarter and I impacted the game." He said he will "go to my grave wishing I'd been better."

Steelers tackle Max Starks offered some advice to Leavy.

"He should go ahead and retire if he feels so bad about it," Starks said Saturday, according to the McKeesport (Pa.) Daily News. "Just do us all a favor and not referee anymore."

Steelers linebacker James Farrior was surprised to hear about Leavy's apology.

"We won a whole other Super Bowl after that, and they are still talking about the first one," he said according to the McKeesport (Pa.) Daily News.

Leavy also spoke to Seahawks players at a team meeting Friday with a similar message.

"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."

“
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.
”
-- Craig Terrill
Terrill said he has respect for Leavy, who became an NFL official in 1995.

"He's a good guy and good referee," Terrill said. "You have to think about his spot. You know if he's apologizing, he feels awful about it.

"Obviously it was something that was on his mind and on his heart. It was awesome of him as a person to come to Seattle and say that to us in an intimate place like a team meeting."

Jordan Babineaux, however, said Leavy waited too long to acknowledge his mistakes.

"To his credit he came out and did admit his faults, but it doesn't make me feel any better," Babineaux said, according to the Seattle Times. "You can't turn back the hands of time.

"I don't even wear my NFC championship ring. I appreciate it and I think we had a memorable season for the franchise, but I don't wear it because in my mind that season didn't end the way it was supposed to."

Cornerback Marcus Trufant said it's time for the Seahawks -- and all of Seattle, for that matter -- to put the game behind them.

"It's tough," Trufant said. "Anytime you're in the Super Bowl, that's the highest of the high. When things go bad, they always tell you not to worry about the refs and stuff like that. Things do happen. Nobody's perfect. It's just one of those things.

"Everybody I think has moved on. I've tried to move on. That's in the past. We're going to keep playing and we're trying to get back. That's the goal."

Leavy never worked another Seahawks game during the final three years of Mike Holmgren's coaching tenure, but was assigned Seattle's matchup last season at San Francisco, after Jim Mora had replaced Holmgren.

Hasselbeck said he spoke with Leavy during that game, but this week's extended camp session has been much better in allowing things to be said and issues to be buried.

"It was probably a good thing that we talked," Hasselbeck said. "Because I think just like Seahawk fans, I myself had to get to the point where I could kind of get past everything. And he's a great guy and actually a really, really good official."

But will the quarterback ever truly get over that game?

"I'm still a little upset about losing my high school state championship game," Hasselbeck said. "There are just some games you're never going to forget. Put it on the list."

[url="http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/trainingcamp10/news/story?id=5447132"]http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/trainingc ... id=5447132[/url]

[rpmpit]

Actually, the one thing this does do is put to rest all the conspiracy theories that the NFL wanted us to win SBXL and handed us the game. If that was true, they'd never allow this moron to come out with statements like this. They'd want the game forgotten about as soon as possible.

[Kid]

It sounds to me like this guy is not mentaly capable of doing his job anymore and is an easy mark to throw games in favor of seattle or against pittsburgh from now on........or already has been for 5 years.

[grotonsteel]

Well said Max Starks..

[Eddie Spaghetti]

i would bet my mortgage that matt hassleback sits down when he takes a piss.

[fezziwig]

I thought refs were not permitted to give interviews or discuss their jobs or what have you ? The guys doesn't seem proffesional at all and seems like the job is too much for him. I wonder if the NFL or his boss will talk to him about the can of worms he opened after five years ?

We won, look at the tapes, watch it in slow motion if you like. All the calls were correct less that Matt Hasselback one but, we still picked him off.

The Hawks should blame their TE and field goal kicker too if they want to point fingers.

[papillon]

I thought refs were not permitted to give interviews or discuss their jobs or what have you ? The guys doesn't seem proffesional at all and seems like the job is too much for him. I wonder if the NFL or his boss will talk to him about the can of worms he opened after five years ?

We won, look at the tapes, watch it in slow motion if you like. All the calls were correct less that Matt Hasselback one but, we still picked him off.

The Hawks should blame their TE and field goal kicker too if they want to point fingers.

The Seahawks would actually have to accept accountability to do this and that simply won't happen in this day and age. It's always easier to blame someone else. You can add Holmgren to that list of players/coaches who should accept some blame; his management of the clock cost the Seahawks opportunities at points a couple times.

Pappy

[fezziwig]

I forgot about the clock issues they had

[hawaiiansteel]

Mike Pereira: Bill Leavy didn't hand the Steelers the Super Bowl

Posted by Michael David Smith on August 10, 2010



Bill Leavy, the referee at Super Bowl XL, apologized to the Seahawks last week for mistakes that helped the Steelers.

But Mike Pereira, the former head of officiating who was Leavy's boss at the time, insists that Leavy isn't the reason the Steelers won the Super Bowl.

"Did Leavy's calls determine the winner of Super Bowl XL? Absolutely not!" Pereira writes at FoxSports.com. "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."

Pereira goes on to write that "The officials also did not have a great game," but he thinks Leavy is actually wrong about one of the "kicked calls" he owned up to. Leavy regrets flagging offensive tackle Sean Locklear for a holding penalty that negated a big play for the Seahawks, but Pereira says Leavy actually got that call right.

Ultimately, two things stand out from Pereira's perspective: "Bill is one of the best referees we have in the NFL," Pereira writes, and "the team that deserved to win won."

[RuthlessBurgher]

Mike Pereira: Bill Leavy didn't hand the Steelers the Super Bowl

Posted by Michael David Smith on August 10, 2010



Bill Leavy, the referee at Super Bowl XL, apologized to the Seahawks last week for mistakes that helped the Steelers.

But Mike Pereira, the former head of officiating who was Leavy's boss at the time, insists that Leavy isn't the reason the Steelers won the Super Bowl.

"Did Leavy's calls determine the winner of Super Bowl XL? Absolutely not!" Pereira writes at FoxSports.com. "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."

Pereira goes on to write that "The officials also did not have a great game," but he thinks Leavy is actually wrong about one of the "kicked calls" he owned up to. Leavy regrets flagging offensive tackle Sean Locklear for a holding penalty that negated a big play for the Seahawks, but Pereira says Leavy actually got that call right.

Ultimately, two things stand out from Pereira's perspective: "Bill is one of the best referees we have in the NFL," Pereira writes, and "the team that deserved to win won."