Resident ESPN football know-it-all John Clayton just released his list of the top 10 plays in Super Bowl history, and while he ranked James Harrison's 100-yard interception touchdown #1, "The Professor" seems to have forgotten about a certain touchdown that happened at the end of that game in making his list. That's right, Ben-to-Santonio failed to get a spot in Clayton's top 10.
I know, I know, it's just one person's opinion, and really, who cares? But as another person, I have the right to my own opinion, and I can't believe that play not only isn't #1, but not even in the top 10. I guess I'll just have to get over the fact that I don't see everything eye-to-eye with John Clayton. Now I know how Sean Salisbury felt for all those years.
For the record, Clayton picked two other plays with connections to the Steelers: #3, Lynn Swann's catch in Super Bowl X against Dallas, and Larry Brown's interception of Neil O'Donnell with four minutes left in Super Bowl XXX, which he ranked ninth.
My top 10 Super Bowl plays [ESPN.com]
*By the way, there's a related feature today by ESPN called "Inside a Moment in Time" where they break down the Harrison play with interviews of the key players involved.
You can also re-rank Clayton's top 10, where David Tyree's catch in SB42 currently leads Harrison's TD by roughly 18,000 votes.
I know, I know, it's just one person's opinion, and really, who cares? But as another person, I have the right to my own opinion, and I can't believe that play not only isn't #1, but not even in the top 10. I guess I'll just have to get over the fact that I don't see everything eye-to-eye with John Clayton. Now I know how Sean Salisbury felt for all those years.
For the record, Clayton picked two other plays with connections to the Steelers: #3, Lynn Swann's catch in Super Bowl X against Dallas, and Larry Brown's interception of Neil O'Donnell with four minutes left in Super Bowl XXX, which he ranked ninth.
My top 10 Super Bowl plays [ESPN.com]
*By the way, there's a related feature today by ESPN called "Inside a Moment in Time" where they break down the Harrison play with interviews of the key players involved.
You can also re-rank Clayton's top 10, where David Tyree's catch in SB42 currently leads Harrison's TD by roughly 18,000 votes.
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7 comments:
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I agree that Clayton was wrong for leaving out the Ben to Holmes catch. As for the Tyree catch in XLII, I do not think that was the most meaningful play of the game. In my opinion, Burress's touchdown catch that brought down one of the most hated "dynasties" in league history is more notable. The fact that a former Steeler did it is more bang for my buck as well.
Tyree's catch was great, the play wasn't. If Tyree's catch was made in a regular season game, does anyone even remember it? It kept a drive alive and didn't win the game or even score points. It was probably about as amazing as the Heath Miller catch in the final drive of Super Bowl 43. In fact, the Tyree catch wasn't nearly as amazing as Eli's escape act that preceeded it. Yes, Holmes catch was also amazing and deserved to be on the list ahead of Tyree, simply because it won the game. Problem is, they can't include too many Steelers plays or everyone will think they are unfairly favored...not like they already don't think that.
I'd put Tyree's catch in the top 5. I can't lie, it was a one hell of a play.
Seriously though, what do you want him to do, fill the whole thing with Steelers plays?
We could have 4 of the top 10 from our last 2 Super Bowl appearances alone if he wanted to!
First off, he puts Marcus Allen running for a 74 yard record td. Not sure how that was a better play than Willie Parker breaking that record 20+ years later...
Also, Randle El's pass to Hines Ward in that same Super Bowl could conceivably make the list too.
But I understand that the guy just can't load the thing up with Steelers plays.
However, a toe-tapping td catch with under a minute in the Super Bowl probably should be on the list.
I recall watching a show on NFL Network around Christmas time that did the same thing, and they had both plays for XLIII in the top 5.
"In fact, the Tyree catch wasn't nearly as amazing as Eli's escape act that preceeded it."
I always thought the same thing. Tyree was lucky to make the catch. Eli Manning had a lot of skill to escape the sack. (Of course, you could say that the Immaculate Reception was a ridiculously lucky catch, too. True, but does it make it less impressive?)
"First off, he puts Marcus Allen running for a 74 yard record td. Not sure how that was a better play than Willie Parker breaking that record 20+ years later..."
Parker had the longer run, but Allen's play was better in my opinion. Parker went in entirely untouched after the line dominated the defense. Allen turned a completely broken play into a long TD.
As for the catch: I totally agree it should be on the list, but I would argue that Harrison's INT return was better. Holmes' catch was a game-winner at a crucial moment, so it was more "clutch," but Harrison's play was also important and was just fantastic.
I saw this yesterday and also noticed that a recent Maxim issue, which had Hines Ward and Lamarr Woodley commenting, did the same thing (included Harrison's play but not Santonio's). I suppose it's simply to keep the list from being dominated by Steelers or appearing too short-sighted, with so many plays from the last two years.
The thing that killed me was the Maxim list included Devin Hester's kickoff return TD in its top ten instead of Holmes' catch. A rather nondescript kick return, which resulted in some of Chicago's only points in a loss, were better than an amazing game-winning catch with seconds left in a back-and-forth Super Bowl?
Nate's right: The Marcus Allen run was more spectacular than Willie Parker's. Just because Parker ran for 1 yard more doesn't make his run better...Marcus made a great play.
I, too, would rank Harrison's INT return above Santonio's catch, even though Santonio's came at the end of the game.
I'll say this: It was fun to relive Harrison's play while clicking through that ESPN gallery. I also jumped to NFL.com right afterward to watch their breakdown of that play too (it's been a few weeks since we've had our Steelers fix).
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