Super Bowl XLIII gave fans of the Pittsburgh Steelers so many joyous moments, with Santonio Holmes providing arguably the best moment of all when he won the game with his miraculous toe-tap catch. No one was happier in that moment than Holmes himself. It isn’t often talked about, but the play before he cemented himself in history, Holmes dropped a very similar pass in the opposite corner of the end zone.
In a recent appearance on The 3 Point Conversion, Holmes explained that, on that particular play, he was so focused on getting his feet down that he forgot to catch the ball. On the bright side, Holmes got a do-over and was able to remember the second part of that equation. However, in the short time between his failure and his success, Holmes was feeling quite a bit of pressure, especially from quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.
“When he walked in that huddle and looked me in my face, he fuckin’ stared at me so hard. I felt something, and I couldn’t even look at him, but I was side-eyeing the hell out of him, Holmes said. “He’s staring at me so hard I didn’t even want to look in his face.”
It speaks to the level of trust Roethlisberger had in Holmes to give him another chance to win the game on a very similar play. At the height of their sport, in the biggest game in the world, and with all eyes on him, Holmes failed. In most scenarios, the story ends there, and all anyone remembers is a huge what-if. However, Holmes got his second chance, making an even more difficult catch in a situation with even more pressure.
At the time, many fans probably felt much like Roethlisberger, staring daggers at Holmes for his gaffe. Roethlisberger gave Holmes a second chance though, and one play later, they secured their status in Steelers’ history. From there, Holmes’ career didn’t pan out the way anyone anticipated, with several brushes with the law leading to Pittsburgh trading him to the Jets for a fifth-round draft pick.
As a result of his mental toughness though, Holmes is remembered fondly in Pittsburgh. It can be easy to beat a player down for a mistake, but it’s also important to be willing to not lose trust in them. The NFL is often an unforgiving business, but there’s usually a way to make any mistake on the field right. Unless that mistake is taking off your uniform mid-game and running across the field and out of the stadium.
