The Most FIXED Super Bowl of All-Time The NFL Wants You to Forget 

Called a block below the waist on qb for tackling the guy who intercepted the ball. Literally makes my blood boil. One of the most disgusting games of my lifetime.

“We can only hope we’ll never see officiating this bad again” 2019 refs: hold my beer

I was not a fan of either team, but I remember watching that game. In the end, I realized that Pittsburgh should not have won and that the Seahawks had been robbed.

As a Seahawks fan, this game still hurts.

This Superbowl was a total fix.

I remember watching the game, rooting for my Seahawks. My father-in-law, a Steelers fan, looked over at me and said "You guys are getting screwed by the refs"

NFL officiating is such a joke.

When this happened I was a kid who didn’t know much about football, but watching it made me sick from the unfairness. Now I know a lot more about the game and it’s way worse than I remembered.

The Illegal Block call on Hasselbeck was arguably the most idiotic call ever. How do get called for a block.....WHEN YOU ARE TRYING TO MAKE A TACKLE?!?!?! ANYONE?

When the ref comes out and says he botched several calls, that lets you know something is fishy.

When John Madden says it's the worst officiated game he's ever seen, that's saying something!

Hahaha, I knew exactly what game it was. Three of the officials born and raised in Pittsburgh. That was the worst superbowl I have ever seen. Those officials should of been fired on the spot.

Holding calls is the biggest weapon a referee can use to manipulate the game.

We'll never see a worst officiated game than Super Bowl 40. 2019 nfc championship game officials Hold my flag.

Rest in heaven John Madden. Whether you know it or not, your voice was a huge part of my childhood. Be that watching the Packers games, or playing Madden on N64 and on. ❤

This is extremely accurate reporting unlike the officiating of that super bowl. When I saw this post I said it had to be the Pittsburgh Seattle super bowl and it was. Every time Seattle threaten to get back in the game the officials will throw some kind of flag with some ticky tack call or even a BS call. While the Steelers got away with everything.

Look, as a Seahawks fan, I’m not mad at the Steelers for this one, I’m mad at the officiating crew for this one. The Steelers reaped the benefits of bad calls, you can’t fault them for that. Every team has done that.

Super Bowl 40: There will NEVER be an NFL game with such terrible officiating again. Entire 2018 Season: Lol, bet.

When Holmgren, the Head of the Officiating Committee and Coach of Seattle says "I didn't know we were gonna have to play the guys in stripes as well" you know it was a terrible game by the Refs.

"But we can only hope that we'll never see officiating this bad ever again" Let me introduce you to the 2019-2020 NFL season.

mike holmgren said i didnt realise we had to play the refs too.

If you clicked on this as a hawks fan knowing it would be sb 40 hit that like button!

Don't forget, the climate of the entire season was a media love affair send off for Jerome Bettis, his last season. I recall that it seemed as though every show leading up to the game was the media fawning over Bettis. As a Hawks fan, at our first ever SB, I felt a sinking feeling days before the game as the media's focus was only on Pitt and Bettis and were dismissive of Seattle and seemed to be already awarding another SB to the Steelers before the game was ever played. If this game wasn't outright fixed, it was certainly "influenced" in the minds of the refs and the ridiculous calls showed that bias.

As soon as I got the notification, I thought, "this had better be Steelers vs Seahawks."

“This has gotta be about SB XL” - me as I’m clicking on it

Who was Commissioner during this? Vince McMahon????

This game makes me LIVID. And mainstream media NEVER acknowledges just how egregious the officiating was.

Ahhh the 2000's Seahawks.....the old feelings of bitterness this game brings back almost makes me nostalgic. How different the team is now

Every Seahawk fan clicked and knew it was this game!

The call on Seattle QB making a tackle is mind blowing

Seahawks fans generally have two games they’re mad about. Super Bowl XL Super Bowl XLIX They’re for different reasons, but for slightly older fans, XL just hurts more. XLIX was just a combo of bad play calling and a hall of fam-level defensive play when the win was on the line. Even though that game was a heartbreaker, fair and square from the eyes of a Seahawks fan.

I miss listening to John Madden instead of Chris Collinsworth

I remember this very well, thinking as a fan, this game is fixed.

Even as a Steelers fan I agree with you, I was pretty young during this game so I didn’t think to question these calls but seeing it again it’s pretty obvious the refs were favoring Pittsburgh. Why can’t we just play football?

7:07 What i found strange about the "block below the waste" was that is was called on the team that didn't have the ball. Why would a defender try to block? But wait it gets better at 7:36! Look at ben Roethlisberger making a block the same way that Hasselbeck made the "TACKLE below the waste"

I'm a Browns Fan living in New Mexico at the time. I was surrounded by Cowboys fans and they were yelling that this game was blatantly fixed.

I ain't even a seahawks fan and knew this was going to be the superbowl

Absolutely 💯% without a doubt!!! I literally couldn't believe what I was watching at the time. That was pitiful for the NFL.

I looked at the title and automatically knew it was super bowl 40

Before knowing who you were going to say I knew which SB it was.

I thought I was the only one who wasn't a Seahawks fan that said this was a huge fixed Super Bowl

If I'm trying to determine the absolute worst referee decision in that game I would say it was the non-call on the horse collar tackle.

As a 12 year old boy this broke my heart. I also lost $20

The call on the Seahawks QB while he was making a tackle let’s me know everything I needed to about if this game was fixed...

The league didn’t think the hawks had any rock star draw at that time

This makes me sad for the Seahawks players who worked so hard to this moment.

Before clicking this , I was already thinking Hawks vs Steelers SB

Matt Hasselback: We’re gon get the ball and we’re gon score

Last 3 New England Super Bowls?

This was absolutely the most ridiculously officiated game I’ve EVER seen! The NFL wanted SO badly to hand that trophy to the hone to win boy and nothing was going to change that outcome! Seahawks fans were robbed!

Everytime the Seahawks gained momentum, a blatant flag was suspiciously called on this game.

Man, I don't like either of these teams but Seattle was totally robbed that SB.

I was there with my Seahawks jersey completely surrounded by Steeler fans. At one point, they said they felt embarrassed and so bad for me, they bought me a beer. Nuff said!!

That game made me so frustrated. It was obvious the fix was in and there was nothing the Seahawks could do to win. Hasselbeck and Alexander do not get the respect they deserve to this day because of it.

As a niners fan this stuff makes me mad because the same thing happens to my kings against the lakers in the western conference finals

As a Seahawks fan, I can tell you that we will never get over this one. It's one thing to lose straight up like we did against the Pats, but to get screwed by the refs to the point where they ADMIT IT, WTF?!

Refs: Block below the waist. Qb: dude I was tackling him besides why would I block him when he is the ball carrier? Refs: Go Steelers.

If I remember correctly this was the First Super Bowl where the officials were chosen by being the best at their position instead of the best Team of officials. If that is correct, the lack of working together sure showed.

Hawks fan here and thanks for putting the officials on sight dequan

It's like watching the WWE, clearly they know who's supposed to win before the game starts

I know a lot of people don’t want to hear this, but the NFL went to court, and legally said themselves the NFL is not a sport. It is in fact an entertainment business. On par legally with the WWE. The difference of registering as a sport opposed to an entertainment business legally is you have the right to force outcomes or dictate winners prematurely. NCAA football is classified as a legal sport while the NFL is legally classified as an entertainment business? Why would that be? The NFL reserves the right to govern themselves as an independent entity. They are required to have rules set in place that promote fair play and honest competition. However them governing themselves means they are in charge of their own checks and balances. So if the fair play and honest competition aren’t being met no one can do anything about it except the NFL themselves. (That’s like if a judge was the judge of their own case) This also protects the league from gambling or bets because you are essentially betting the undertaker will beat stone cold Steve Austin next time you bet on the jets pats game lol these aren’t conspiracies these are legal documents. A lot of peoples thoughts on this are mainly denial as they don’t want to believe they are being manipulated. However a jets fan took them to court and found out the hard way Santa clause isn’t real. The judge found even though there was evidence of consumer fraud due to spygate it is believed that people would still attend Patriots game if they knew it was scripted. The ticket only provides you access to a show case dismissed.

As a die hard Seahawks fan, thanks for bring light to this situation. I was The saddest 11 year old that day..

I remember a perfectly executed pass play that they got Locklear on for holding. It was a 40 yr TD bomb toward the beginning of the game. When they called it back after showing the replay of him NOT HOLDING I knew the fix was in....

I watched the game with no dog in the fight (Chiefs fan), and I was definitely thinking that the fix was on

Madden has hated the Steelers since the immaculate reception.

I knew exactly what game you were talking about! Biggest rip off ever!!! I remember John Madden kept saying what are the referees seeing??? I heard the referee years later felt so bad for what he did he put a full page ad in the Seattle Times to apologize to every Seahawk fan!

Still pissed about this game. From that point I cannot trust the NFL

i remember watching this SB , and ever the Steelers fan were like " dang, we're getting all the calls. "

I saw a Mike Holmgren interview years later where he said he had mentioned to the head referee (Leavy), after an early questionable call in that game, that maybe the game was too big for him (and his crew). After that Holmgren said, it was all uphill for the Seahawks. All calls went against them after that.

Who’s here after the bucs won ⬇️

Top 10 nfl quarterbacks who had breakout seasons but missed the playoffs

Whenever the lions play the refs are cheating to make them lose.

I remember the horrible officiating in Super Bowl 40. I bet on that Seahawks in that game and I was pissed off!

As a Seahawks fan I knew what game this was before I even clicked on it

I had an opportunity to talk to Walter Jones once.... I asked him if that game was fixed. He said absolutely, straight up said yes!

They called hasslebeck for a low block when he made a low tackle that's 100% legal. How much more proof you need?

Heard a rumor that Holmgren invited the entire officiating crew to his house years later to rewatch the game

And steelers fans have the balls to claim new england's rings have asterisks on them....lmaooo

I love how he ends every sentence in a whisper.

I was fairly drunk watching this game, and I was shaking my head at all the calls.

The absolute worse call I've ever seen or even heard of was calling the QB for a block below the waist when he was actually tackling the ball carrier.

Who here after Detroit Lion vs Green Bay Packers game?

I remember my sister in law, visiting from South Africa, a rugby fan who never watched a game of American football in her life. Even SHE said " it seems like the officials threw that game". Sickening.

I have always tried to explain to people that professional sports, and now even NCAA, are a business. If you think about it from a business standpoint, you can always pick who will win the championship game by which team winning will make their leagues the most money. Usually when a great is retiring, the other team doesn't stand a chance.

Nice to see people finally admitting that the superbowl was given to the Steelers. Worst superbowl of all time.

I’d rather lose like this than throw on the one yard line...

Even before I clicked on this video, I knew you were talking about this game. I wasn't rooting for any team, just for some good football, it was painfully clear the game was rigged for the Steelers.

As I rabid Seahawks fan I was livid at the lead-up to the game, with the Steelers getting so much of the pre-game press hype, you really had to look hard to even know who the Steelers opponent was. There was literally nothing being said about the Seahawks. Here's something I've never heard anyway else mention but I knew something was very fishy when all during the first half of the game, when coming back from commercials, the network displayed beautiful black & white photographs of the most famous players. The only problem? Every single photograph was of a Pittsburg Steeler. I couldn't believe it, I was pulling my hair out, screaming foul! Then after half time when they were about to start the second half they again showed another beautiful Black & White photo and AGAIN it was of a Steeler. Finally, after the next commercial break they finally showed a photo of Matt Hasselbeck. Five photos of Steelers to one of a Seahawk. Now, even with all this, I don't believe the game was "fixed." I just believe there was so much hype for the Steelers the Refs were swayed by the pro-Steeler fever and made every possible call to make Pittsburg, and Jerome Bettis, and Dave Cower's dream come true. And, during the infamous goal line stand, where the line judge called Big Ben's QB sneak a TD, the line judge didn't call it a TD until he ran in to see where the ball was, and of course Ben had moved the ball forward. Also, the great Jerome Bettis was stuffed by the Seahawks defense on 1st and 2nd down during that series, so Bettis, for all the hype, didn't to squat to help his team win that game. But that ridiculous holding call on Sean Locklear and the illegal block called against Hasselbeck near the end of the game when Hasselbeck was tackling the Steeler running with the ball, it's just mind boggling. Were the refs paid off to fix the game, I don't think so, they just called it like a bunch of sissies. If they had called it for the Hawks they wouldn't have gotten out of that stadium alive. To this day I am still furious about the bad calls in that game and I remember the headline, top of the fold in The Seattle Times four years later from the lead Umpire, "We really blew that one!" What more needs to be said, the Seahawks won that game.

As a Seahawks fan I can't even watch this but let me tell you my favorite penalty. Matt Hasselbeck throw is an interception, and then tackles the guy shoulder shot above his knees and Below his waist and was called for an illegal tackle. How in the f*** can that be!

Who is watching this after the rigged superbowl game of the Buccaneers and Kansas City Chiefs

I agree. I was for the Steelers, but witnessed so many bad calls that hurt the Seahawks.

First time here. I will be back. This was like a really awesome minidoc. I like your style of reporting. Instasub!

Before I start this video it better be SUPER BOWL 40!

Have you ever watched a patriots game ?? 👀

When they called a 15 yard penalty on their QB (Hasselback) for a low block when he is trying to tackle the the guy who intercepted his pass, I knew it was fixed. Roethlisberger actually throw a low block after a hand off on an end around play by the Steelers soon after that in the video. No call.

This was most definitely not one of the NFL's finer games. Every one of the referees should have been suspended or fired.

Holmgren was fined for complaining about the officiating.

I remember watching this SB but i only remember 2 bad calls..... it was a boring game. I'm still pissed about my RAIDERS and the tuck rule 😐

I remember watching this game and being furious by the end of it. So many terrible calls.

I knew it was Pittsburgh and Seattle right away. The game was a scam.