Super Bowl XLIII had a plethora of huge plays. When remembering that Super Bowl, James Harrison’s 100-yard pick-six, Santonio Holmes’ toe tap, and Larry Fitzgerald’s 64-yard catch-and-run touchdown all spring to mind. Due to these legendary moments, we forget about the play that clinched the game: a strip sack by Steelers OLB LaMarr Woodley. Not often would a game-ending strip-sack to win clinch the Super Bowl be forgotten, but in Super Bowl XLIII, Woodley’s strip-sack is often an afterthought.
Earlier this week, Lamarr Woodley joined Cameron Heyward on his Not Just Football podcast and discussed his game-clinching play.
“It was like a movie moment,” recalled Woodley. “Because, you know, it’s like however much time left on the clock, you go to the sideline and coach Tomlin over there talking to me like, ‘Wood, we need a big play. We need a big play.’ He got his hand on my helmet, and you know, any player, you go like ‘Yeah, coach, I got you!'”
The Steelers had to hold the Arizona Cardinals with just 29 seconds after Holmes gave the Steelers the lead, but a Steelers defense that had already allowed 14 fourth-quarter points was shell-shocked. On two quick plays, the Cardinals moved the ball from the Arizona 23-yard line to the Pittsburgh 44-yard line, setting up a Hail Mary opportunity for the QB Kurt Warner and the Cardinals. However, because of Lamarr Woodley, that Hail Mary never got off.
What a LaMarr Woodley moment !!! 🙏#Steelers #NFL pic.twitter.com/a6klAu0YgF
— Steelers Depot 7⃣ (@Steelersdepot) February 5, 2023
“The ball [is] snapped, and I’m just watching Kurt Warner,” said Woodley. “I’m coming off, and I’m rushing. He got his eyes on me, ’cause that’s the one thing about rushing from the right side, like the fucking quarterback can see you, bro. It’s hard a little bit sometimes on that right side. You gotta get a little creative on the right side. And I was able to get creative enough. The secondary did a great job of holding up, and when I seen Kurt pulling that ball back, I kinda like Superman knocked the ball loose.”
While the secondary was holding up, according to former Steelers and Cardinals offensive coordinator Todd Haley, Steelers safety Troy Polamalu said that if the throw got off, Fitzgerald had a great chance of making a game-winning catch.
The throw didn’t get off, though, as Lamarr Woodley made a Superman leap to force a fumble. As you can see in the video above, Warner had a lot of time, but Woodley was able to do enough to get around the Cardinals’ offensive line and get to Warner just before he got the ball off.
It was an incredible play by Woodley to leap in the air the way he did to get the strip-sack, and in almost any other Super Bowl, that would be remembered as one of the plays of the game. However, simply because of how many other iconic moments in Super Bowl XLIII, Woodley’s game-clincher isn’t even a top-three most memorable moment. Yet, it is one of the most important, as it clinched Pittsburgh’s sixth Lombardi Trophy.
