When Ben Roethlisberger let go of the game-winning touchdown pass, he thought he had just lost the game.
Even though he had thrown the pass in just about the only spot it could have been thrown for a completion, Roethlisberger was worried that he had handed the Cardinals a win with an interception.
"I saw Santonio in the corner. As soon as I let go of it, I saw the defensive back going to get it. I thought it was intercepted. I thought I blew it," Roethlisberger said.
It's hard to say if Roethlisberger is just trying to be modest or really felt that way, since there really wasn't any Cardinal defensive back who had a shot at picking off that pass, but after throwing a crucial interception at the goal line in Super Bowl XL, it's understandable that Roethlisberger was worried about a repeat performance. Roethlisberger wasn't the funniest guest Letterman has ever had, and the rest of the interview is relatively bland, but it is available after the jump.
As soon as the Super Bowl MVP hoists the Lombardi Trophy, the NFL always has a commercial ready to tell fans how they can buy overpriced hats and t-shirts "that are just like the ones the champions are wearing." It's harmless, and hey, if you want to spend $22 on a t-shirt or $30 on a Super Bowl cap, knock yourselves out.
But this year, the NFL has gone a step further and added a product that no self-respecting Steelers fan would ever purchase. For $24.99 you can buy a genuine Super Bowl champion "trophy towel." It's a towel that has "SB XLIIII champions" printed on it. Considering how much a hand towel costs, that's a nice 1,500 percent markup at least, but worse than that, the towel is a horrendously odious knock-off of something Steelers fans consider sacred.
Ashley Madison -- the Web site for married folks that want to have a discreet romp with other married folk -- understood that a Super Bowl advertising spot could really boost their already huge (and still growing) list of members. That's why they made one. But NBC and the NFL decided to squash their dreams, rejecting the ad. Fortunately, it still ran on a local Houston station, and we scored a copy of it.
FanHouse's resident referee will chime in quasi-weekly with thoughts on major topics relating to officiating. We call it The Zebra Report. Matt Snyder is a high school official with eight years experience. While this is like a third-year resident critiquing the work of a world-renowned surgeon, it's still better than someone who has never worn the stripes.
First of all, congratulations to the Pittsburgh Steelers. That was one hell of a Super Bowl with a dramatic ending. The first thing I want to say about the officiating is that I believe it was a very well officiated game. We'll delve right into the alleged controversial calls and sort things out.
Each week in the NFL, there are players that impress and players that distress. One week a certain quarterback might toss four touchdowns and run around with his finger in the air while the next he's laying on his back, holding his facemask as the other team returns one of his three interceptions for the game-winning score. With that in mind, here's a special Super Bowl XLIII edition of Studs and Duds.
Ben Roethlisberger has started 82 games in his five-year career, winning close to 80 percent of them. Yet for most of the football-observing public not located in Western Pennsylvania, he's still nothing more than a game manager. A good quarterback who fell into a great situation and is just along for the ride.
If there's one thing I've learned in life, it's to never question the outcome of an EA Sports simulation, particularly one that happens in the Madden NFL video game.
Why? Because computers, folks, are smarter than we are. How else do you think Alec Baldwin and Hulu are taking over the world? Seriously, though, when you see the results of EA's simulation of the Super Bowl, you're going to be straight up impressed at how close real and fake life coexist. Or something like that.
Bruce Springsteen's Super Bowl halftime performance, as I noted last night, was fairly uninspiring. But at least, since the rest of the country couldn't see any crotch shots in the middle of the game, Bruce obliged on that count, doing his classic slide across stage. As you'll see in the video below, it resulted in a much-talked-about close-up.
Video via the Piler, and don't click that pop-up ad at the end for whatever reason.
TAMPA, Fla. --The friendly young man who took my bag at the rental car area of the Tampa airport guessed I had been in town for the Super Bowl and wanted to talk football.
"Man, I couldn't believe some of those calls," he told me. "It's the Super Bowl. How do you call that stuff?"
I wasn't really in the mood for a conversation about the finer points of NFL officiating, but if I had been, I would have asked, in all sincerity, "What stuff?"
TAMPA, Fla. -- The player I'll remember most from Super Bowl XLIII is Kurt Warner. From the way he patiently answered every single press question (and, unfortunately for those of us who need juicy quotes, was media savvy enough not to say anything the slightest bit controversial), to his being named the NFL's Man of the Year just before kickoff, to his brilliant performance on the field Sunday night, Warner dominated this Super Bowl, even in defeat.
When Ben Roethlisberger let go of the game-winning touchdown pass, he thought he had just lost the game.
As soon as the Super Bowl MVP hoists the Lombardi Trophy, the NFL always has a commercial ready to tell fans how they can buy overpriced hats and t-shirts "that are just like the ones the champions are wearing." It's harmless, and hey, if you want to spend $22 on a t-shirt or $30 on a Super Bowl cap, knock yourselves out.
FanHouse's resident referee will chime in quasi-weekly with thoughts on major topics relating to officiating. We call it The 
If there's one thing I've learned in life, it's to never question the outcome of an EA Sports simulation, particularly one that happens in the Madden NFL video game.
