A trip to Seahawks camp on Friday gave referee Bill Leavy a chance to get something off his chest that he’s probably wanted to say for a while.
“It was a tough thing for me,” Levy said in reference to his infamous performance in Pittsburgh’s 21-10 win over the Seahawks in Super Bowl XL. “I kicked two calls in the fourth quarter and I impacted the game and as an official you never want to do that. It left me with a lot of sleepless nights and I think about it constantly. I’ll go to my grave wishing that I’d been better.”
(It’s right about here Seahawks fans say: Only two? The Darrell Jackson pass interference in the first quarter and the upheld Ben Roethlisberger touchdown late in the first half also looked questionable.)
“I know that I did my best at that time, but it wasn’t good enough,” Leavy continued. “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.”
We’re not sure how Seahawks fans will feel about Leavy’s mea culpa, but we give him a lot of credit. The game clearly haunts him like it probably haunts Matt Hasselbeck, Mike Holmgren, and Seahawks fans.
Leavy owned up to his failings. Four years later, the city of Seattle may as well admit Leavy was just one of many reasons why their team lost.