Unfortunately, the Pittsburgh Steelers won’t win the Super Bowl this year. They haven’t won a championship since Santonio Holmes made arguably the greatest catch in NFL history. He crushed the dreams of the Arizona Cardinals in 2008, and some people are still hesitant to agree that Holmes completed that catch. Former NFL defensive back Antrel Rolle was on the Cardinals that year, and he gave Holmes all the credit in the world.
“If you’re gonna lose, I’d rather lose like that,” Rolle said Thursday on Beyond the Narrative Sports. “It hurt like hell. But that was one of the best Super Bowls you can put down in history. The battling back and forth, the change of momentum back and forth. It was crazy.
“I take my hat off to Santonio [Holmes]. Whether it was a catch or not, who knows, but they called it one, and I’m calling it one because that’s what they called. Even if it wasn’t a catch, I would still take my ring off and give it to him because that’s a hell of a fucking play.”
It’s nice to hear Rolle so willing to accept the results from that game. It would be easy to understand if he was still angry. That was the only time the Cardinals have made the Super Bowl, and those players could’ve cemented themselves in immortality with a win.
He is correct that Super Bowl XLIII is arguably the greatest Super Bowl in NFL history. The game was filled with as many momentum swings as it could handle. The Steelers jumped out to an early lead, the Cardinals punched back, Pittsburgh counter-punched, Arizona refused to yield, and ultimately, it took an unbelievable catch by Holmes for the Steelers to win.
Rolle wasn’t covering Holmes on that play, which might help lift that weight off his shoulders. He also proceeded to win a Super Bowl with the New York Giants in 2011, so it’s not like he never captured a championship in his career. That has to help soothe the pain of losing.
It was a play for the ages, and being upset about it now won’t change anything. Holmes earned Super Bowl MVP honors with his fantastic performance in that game, not just for that play. He recorded nine catches for 131 yards and one touchdown. That final play was probably the best coverage the Cardinals had on him that day. Holmes just made a great play.
