Since when is it OK to totally snub the winner of an NFL game, let alone the biggest game of the year, the Super Bowl? Well that's exactly what Mike Holmgren, the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks, did on Super Bowl Sunday after his team lost the game. Not only did he not meet Coach Cowher, the longest tenured coach in the NFL, on the 25 yard line for a congratulatory handshake as scheduled, it was actually Cowher who had to go out of his way to find Holmgren. The moment finally took place in the Seahawks locker room, so I can speculate on who pursued who. At a time when he should be enjoying his much deserved win, Coach Cowher was chasing down a sore loser, because Cowher knows how it works. The deal isn't done until the handshake. It's tradition, a tradition rooted in good sportsman ship. A tradition that Holmgren dismissed because he was angry. What a great example, what a wonderful role model he was to all of the kids watching.
In 1995, Cowher and the Steelers lost the Super Bowl to the Dallas Cowboy's under similar circumstances. Bad officiating, lot's of "if'y" calls, touch downs that really weren't. But when the clock expired and the game was over, Bill Cowher marched right into the center of the field and shook the victor's hand and offered a few kind words. He didn't slither out of the back door, he also didn't return to his teams host city and bad mouth the officiating. He did give a losing coaches interview in the locker room and was seen embracing his tear-soaked family, obviously broken hearted by the loss. Coach Cowher has given his respect, he has given his props, he has played by the rules, and yet, even though he is the longest tenured coach in the NFL, everyone in the media, on sportscenter, even the NFL itself refuses to admit that Holmgren snubbed Cowher because he was angry. I wonder if this story would have been bigger had it been Bill Belichick that got shafted?
Don't get me wrong, I didn't have any axe to grind with Mike Holmgren, not until he pulled this nonsense. I've always thought he was a stand up guy, I even pulled for him and his Super Bowl Champion Green Bay Packers in 97'. You see Mike has been around the block a few times. He's not some 35 year old hot-head who's never seen the inside of the Super Bowl. The man has been there twice not including this last appearance, walking away with one trophy and one heartache. For him to be such a veteran coach with so much big game experience makes this insult and lack of respect from him even harder to swallow.
The NFL is talking about fining him for the remarks he made to the home town crowd in Seattle, in which he insinuated that the referee's were responsible for their loss to the World Champion Pittsburgh Steelers. I sincerely hope they levy the largest fine possible on his plump "wallet". Because the statement is not true. The Seattle Seahawks had just as much chance to win that game as did the Pittsburgh Steelers, but it was a battle of coaching and Holmgren was definitely out coached by Cowher. In the waning minutes of both halves of the game, Holmgren was managing the clock like it was a pre-season contest, not the Super Bowl. Constant mistakes which ground away the clock and his teams chance to win. His kicker missed field goals, field goals that super bowl champ's MUST make, just ask the New England Patriots. His best receiver dropped nearly every pass thrown his way. His MVP of the league running back never saw the inside of the end zone. Holmgren started the game passing, yet when crunch time rolled around and the clock was going away, he thought it was a good time to start running the ball for 3 and 4 yard gains. Yet Holmgren takes the low road and calls the ref's out and points his finger of blame in their faces.
On the other side of the field Coach Cowher was planning his work and working his plan, devising plays that totally caught the Seahawks off guard, including the Rothlisberger TD that was subjected to review, even though the ball obviously grazed the goal line, the Willie Parker run that caught Seattle in the all-out blitz that gave Parker clear sailing once he cleared the line, the end-a-round from Randle El to Ward for the kill shot. All Bill Cowher calls, all at the perfect time, and all very very effective against an absolutey bewildered Seahawks defense.
I hope this piece winds up, somehow, in front of Mike Holmgren because I have something to say to him: "Mike, Mr. Holmgren, Coach, you lost the game not because of bad officiating, you lost the game because you are not as good of a Coach as Bill Cowher. He took you to school, so try to learn a few things from him instead of throwing a tantrum and disrespecting one of the greatest coaches in league history. I can only hope that one day someone shows you total disrespect at a time when you should be congratulated for a job well done. You lost. Live with it."
My congratulations go out to the World Champion Pittsburgh Steelers, but more than that, I want to extend my respect and admiration for a true class act, Coach Bill Cowher, a native of Pittsburgh, which has gotta make this all the more sweeter. Although I don't play football, or any sport for that matter, you will always be my head coach.
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