A day nine years too late for Seahawks fans is finally here: longtime NFL referee Bill Leavy is retiring. If you recall, Leavy was in charge of arguably the worst officiating performance in NFL history, Super Bowl XL, a 21-10 Steelers win that was littered with inexplicable penalties — all of which favored the eventual champions. Critics of Leavy’s performance were vindicated four years later when Leavy actually apologized for the god awful performance.
I kicked two calls in the fourth quarter and I impacted the game, and as an official you never want to do that. It left me with a lot of sleepless nights, and I think about it constantly. I’ll go to my grave wishing that I’d been better … I know that I did my best at that time, but it wasn’t good enough … When we make mistakes, you got to step up and own them. It’s something that all officials have to deal with, but unfortunately when you have to deal with it in the Super Bowl it’s difficult.
The Super Bowl aftertaste was so bitter that Leavy didn’t officiate another Seahawks game during Mike Holmgren’s tenure (you’ll remember that Holmgren called out the officials while addressing fans in Seattle after the game).
Leavy’s career was marred by other officiating snafus (many of which you can read here). He’ll remain involved in officiating as a regional supervisor for the officiating department, grading other officials on their performances. Sounds about right.
About John Ferensen