Bill Leavy returns to Seattle, no one slashes his tires

With all of the controversy swirling the last few months in pro sports because of poor officiating (NBA referees, Jim Joyce, Bob Davidson), controversies of the past tend to get swept under the rug, except, of course, in the cities that feel they were victimized by the stripes(Richie Garcia I’m looking at you). One of those controversies was revived Friday in Seattle, 1,644 days after Super Bowl 40, because NFL referee Bill Leavy made a (not so) triumphant return to Seahawks training camp!

And what did Leavy say about the game that night in Detroit?

"It was a tough thing for me. I kicked two calls in the fourth quarter and I impacted the game, and as an official you never want to do that," said the veteran of 15 NFL seasons and two Super Bowls.

"It left me with a lot of sleepless nights, and I think about it constantly," Leavy said of the game in February 2006. "I'll go to my grave wishing that I'd been better."

Look, if you’ve followed my comments on this blog, you know that I’m no fan of the Steelers. But even John Madden had to concede that the holding call on Sean Locklear was terrible. "I didn't see holding," Madden said after seeing the replay. "There may have been holding, but it wasn't in that picture." And I’m still trying to figure out how a chop block can be called on a QB after he throws an interception. Just 2 of several mystery calls that helped the Steelers win their 5^th Super Bowl.

Still, this is a good reminder the officials are human, and that Leavy acutely felt the pain of having made bad calls for months after that night. I’m just not expecting diehard Seahawks fans to be sending him cookies and holiday cards anytime soon.