clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

The greatest Steelers’ Super Bowl moment belongs to Santonio Holmes, not James Harrison

There have been many memorable moments for the Black-and-gold in Super Bowls, but my favorite still belongs to Santonio Holmes.

It might seem like picking your favorite child, but when asked to write a ‘Best Super Bowl Moment’ article, the first criteria I gave myself were Super Bowls which I witnessed. As a man who will turn 35 next month, I’ve seen the Steelers play in four Super Bowls, winning two of them.

Believe it or not, I have more plays to choose from than most NFL fan bases. But I decided to mentally run through the list of plays in my head, trying to rank them all in some type of order. This wasn’t easy.

Some of the plays which were considered:

  • Antwaan Randle El’s reverse touchdown pass to Hines Ward in Super Bowl XL
  • Willie Parker’s NFL record run vs. the Seahawks
  • James Harrison’s interception return for a touchdown in Super Bowl XLIII
  • Santonio Holmes’ game-winning touchdown catch vs. the Cardinals

There were others, but those were the finalists for me in this search. If I could, I would put Ben Roethlisberger’s entire final drive vs. the Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII as the best, but I had to pick just one moment.

When the dust settled, I chose Santonio Holmes’ game-winning touchdown catch. This isn’t to take away from Harrison’s return for a touchdown, it was remarkable, but Holmes’ catch was for the game.

Before you say it, I know Harrison’s play was essentially a 14-point swing, but Holmes’ grab, the way he caught it and the magnitude of the situation, has always stuck with me.

To this day, there are several Cardinals fans who don’t think Holmes got his feet down, but anyone who watched the game probably elevated into the air just as I did when the play occurred.

The drive, capped off by a tremendous pass from Roethlisberger into triple coverage where only Holmes could catch it, was truly remarkable. For that reason, I believe Holmes’ touchdown catch was the best Super Bowl moment for me.

As I was looking for the video of this catch, I stumbled upon the entire Steelers’ final offensive drive in Super Bowl 43. Take a minute, sit back, and just watch Roethlisberger dissect the Arizona defense one more time...

(If you can’t see the video below, click HERE.)

What say you? Obviously, if you were alive since those 1970s teams you have four more games to choose from, but which play would you put as the best in Steelers history? Let us know in the comment section below!