Detroit – Kelly Herndon had relished the past week in his travels from the Broncos to the Seahawks that had brought him to Super Bowl XL.
And he made a play that will become part of Super Bowl XL lore.
Pittsburgh held a 14-3 lead and was at the Seattle 7-yard line with about eight minutes left in the third quarter. A Pittsburgh field goal would have nicked the Seahawks.
A Pittsburgh touchdown would have buried them.
On a third-and-6 pass from the Seattle 7, Ben Roethlisberger looked for receiver Cedrick Wilson but instead found Herndon. He returned his interception a Super Bowl-record 76 yards to the Pittsburgh 20. That set up a Seattle touchdown that cut Pittsburgh’s lead to 14-10. For that moment, the Seahawks had renewed life.
“If you let them score there, it is either 17-3 or 21-3 and either way it looks bad for us,” Herndon said. “I just made a read on it, broke on it and was able to get it. The whole team was lifted. I thought it could change the whole game for us, the outcome. It could have been a play that sustained us. Unfortunately, it didn’t.
“When you get this far you want to win this game. But we kept having breakdowns and mistakes that cost us. I’m proud of our effort, not our results. Just a few more plays here and there could have changed everything. That’s the nature of football and the Super Bowl is no different.”
Herndon broke Oakland Raider Willie Brown’s interception- return record of 75 yards set in Super Bowl XI.
Ben’s mixed day
Statistically, Roethlisberger played his worst game on his biggest day. His 22.6 passer rating (9-for-21 for 123 yards and two interceptions) was so abysmal, it was the worst by a Super Bowl- winning quarterback. The interception he threw to Herndon almost cost coach Bill Cowher his first Super Bowl title.
“That was one where my mind was telling me to throw it over the top and my arm didn’t throw it over the top,” said Roethlisberger, who is the youngest quarterback (second season, 23 years old) to win a Super Bowl. “I read it right; I just didn’t throw it good.”
Food for thought
Now, the entire world knows how difficult it is catching a football with Joey Porter inside the head.
One drop, two drops, three drops by Seahawks tight end Jerramy Stevens.
“It doesn’t matter what they think, the bottom line is I didn’t get it done,” Stevens said.
Porter, the Steelers’ outspoken linebacker, ended his trash- talking embargo. The most notable insult Porter levied was his description of Stevens as a “soft” player. Stevens may have scored the Seahawks’ only touchdown, but he may have cost his team three others. His drops would have given Seattle first downs, and two would have been huge gainers deep in Pittsburgh territory.
Porter only had three tackles, and no sacks in this game. His greatest contribution, though, might have been his highly publicized verbal salvo with Stevens.
“If I did, I did,” Porter said. “Jerramy Stevens is a good player. He’s good enough to make it to the Super Bowl. He made a touchdown in the Super Bowl. For me to sit here and cherry-pick and talk bad about the guy, it ain’t going to happen.”
Denver flavor
Former Broncos stars John Elway and Terrell Davis participated in a pregame ceremony honoring the MVPs of past Super Bowls. Davis was the MVP in Super Bowl XXXII in a win over Green Bay. Elway earned Super Bowl XXXIII MVP honors in a win over Atlanta.
Staff writer Bill Williamson contributed to this report.
