Super Bowl XL
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Super Bowl XL was an
American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...
game between the
National Football Conference The National Football Conference (NFC) is a conference of the National Football League (NFL), the highest level of professional American football in the United States. The NFC and its counterpart, the American Football Conference (AFC), each h ...
(NFC) champion
Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...
and the
American Football Conference The American Football Conference (AFC) is one of the two conferences of the National Football League (NFL), the highest level of professional American football in the United States. The AFC and its counterpart, the National Football Conference ...
(AFC) champion
Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...
to decide the
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...
(NFL) champion for the 2005 season. The Steelers defeated the Seahawks by the score of 21–10. The game was played on February 5, 2006, at
Ford Field Ford Field is a domed American football stadium located in Downtown Detroit. It primarily serves as the home of the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL), the Michigan Panthers of the United Football League (UFL), the Mid-Americ ...
in
Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...
. It is the most recent Super Bowl broadcast on ABC who lost the rights to broadcast Super Bowl games in the next NFL television contract (though under a new contract the network is scheduled to broadcast Super Bowl LXI) and the first where all aspects of the game itself were aired in HD. This was the last of 10 straight Super Bowls to feature a team seeking its first win. With the win, the Steelers tied the
San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...
and the
Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...
with the then-record five Super Bowl victories (a record the Steelers themselves would break three years later). The Steelers' victory was their first Super Bowl victory since
Super Bowl XIV Super Bowl XIV was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion 1979 Los Angeles Rams season, Los Angeles Rams and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion 1979 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Pittsburgh S ...
. Pittsburgh, who finished the regular season with an 11–5 record, also became the fourth wild card team, the third in nine years, and the first ever number 6 seed in the
NFL playoffs The National Football League (NFL) playoffs is the annual single-elimination tournament held to determine the National Football League, league champion. The four-round tournament is held after the league's regular season. Since the 2020 NFL seaso ...
, to win a Super Bowl. The Seahawks, on the other hand, in their 30th season, were making their first ever Super Bowl appearance after posting an NFC-best 13–3 regular season record. Pittsburgh capitalized on two big plays that were converted into touchdowns. The Steelers jumped to a 14–3 lead early in the third quarter with running back Willie Parker's Super Bowl record 75-yard touchdown run. Seahawks defensive back Kelly Herndon's then-Super Bowl record 76-yard interception return set up a Seattle touchdown to cut the lead 14–10. But Pittsburgh responded with
Antwaan Randle El Antwaan Randle El (; born August 17, 1979) is an American professional American football, football coach and former player who currently serves as the wide receivers coach and assistant head coach for the Chicago Bears of the National Football L ...
's 43-yard touchdown pass to
Hines Ward Hines Edward Ward Jr. (born March 8, 1976) is an American American football, football coach and former player who is the wide receivers coach for Arizona State Sun Devils football, Arizona State. He played as a wide receiver in the National Foo ...
, the first time a wide receiver threw a touchdown pass in a Super Bowl, to clinch the game in the fourth quarter. Ward, who caught 5 passes for 123 yards and a touchdown, while also rushing for 18 yards, was named Super Bowl MVP. The officiating in Super Bowl XL was met with criticism from members of the media soon after the game, leading
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to rank it as one of the top ten controversial calls of all time.


Background


Host selection process

NFL owners voted to award Super Bowl XL to
Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...
during their November 1, 2000, meeting held in
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
. It marked the second Super Bowl held in the Detroit area, the first was XVI played at the
Pontiac Silverdome The Pontiac Silverdome (also known as the Silverdome) was a stadium in Pontiac, Michigan. It opened in 1975 and sat on 199 acres (51 ha) of land. When the stadium opened, it featured a fiberglass fabric roof held up by air pressure, the fi ...
in the
Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...
suburb of Pontiac. Three Super Bowls host sites were selected during the meeting, XXXVIII, XXXIX, and XL. However, XXXIX was the only one of the three that involved a competitive voting process. The vote for XL was mostly a formality, as Detroit had been tentatively preselected for the game, as a reward for constructing a new stadium. The host duties, however, were contingent on satisfying a series of basic requirements. No other cities were considered for XL. On August 20, 1996, the Lions announced their intentions to build a new stadium in downtown Detroit. NFL commissioner
Paul Tagliabue Paul John Tagliabue (; born November 24, 1940) is an American lawyer who was the National Football League Commissioner, commissioner of the National Football League (NFL). He took the position in 1989 NFL season, 1989 and served until September ...
helped lobby support for the project, announcing that the city of Detroit was positioned to host a Super Bowl if the stadium plans were to go forward. Despite some early mixed polls, on November 5, 1996, voters approved a tax referendum to fund the stadium construction in a
landslide Landslides, also known as landslips, rockslips or rockslides, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, mudflows, shallow or deep-seated slope failures and debris flows. Landslides ...
. Groundbreaking occurred three years later on November 16, 1999. With stadium construction underway, the NFL reaffirmed their commitment to awarding the facility a Super Bowl. By that time, host cities had been awarded, or tentatively assigned, through XXXVIII. With stiff competition from
Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
,
Jacksonville Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...
, and possibly
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
for XXXIX, Detroit set their sights on XL (February 2006). That more than satisfied the NFL's rule that required new stadiums to wait until at least their second year of operation before hosting a Super Bowl, in order to iron out any logistical issues or construction delays. The Detroit host committee made their initial presentation on March 29, 2000, at the NFL owners meeting in Palm Beach. No other cities submitted bids for XL. The presentation was met with positive reviews. However, they had yet to secure the required number of hotel rooms, had not yet booked the venues needed for various ancillary events, and would need to install temporary seating at still-under construction
Ford Field Ford Field is a domed American football stadium located in Downtown Detroit. It primarily serves as the home of the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL), the Michigan Panthers of the United Football League (UFL), the Mid-Americ ...
in order to meet minimum capacity. In addition, the Detroit area's previous Super Bowl ( XVI), while praised for its hospitality, suffered from extreme frigid temperatures and traffic jams. Complicating the situation was the possibility of needing to utilize three casino hotels in order to achieve the required number of hotel rooms. At the time, the NFL strongly avoided any associations with
gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of Value (economics), value ("the stakes") on a Event (probability theory), random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy (ga ...
, however,
Paul Tagliabue Paul John Tagliabue (; born November 24, 1940) is an American lawyer who was the National Football League Commissioner, commissioner of the National Football League (NFL). He took the position in 1989 NFL season, 1989 and served until September ...
seemed willing to overlook that concern. The city was also saddled with a longstanding reputation of decline, urban decay, and
crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...
– an image the city was eagerly trying to shed. Auto racing legend and business magnate
Roger Penske Roger Searle Penske (born February 20, 1937), also known as "the Captain", is an American auto racing team owner, businessman, and former professional driver. Penske is the owner of Team Penske, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, IndyCar, and ...
was hired to serve as chairman of the host committee, and he made an aggressive push over the summer of 2000 to firm up Detroit's bid. With doubts still hovering over Detroit's chances, Penske,
mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...
Dennis Archer, and other key members of the committee held a private meeting with the NFL owners advisory committee on September 27 to make a follow-up pitch. The league set a deadline of October 11 for the final bid package submittal, or they were likely to re-open the bidding. A last-minute push resolved all of the remaining hurdles. On November 1, the host committee made their final presentation at the owners' meeting
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
, and Detroit was overwhelmingly approved as the host for Super Bowl XL.
Jerry Jones Jerral Wayne Jones Sr. (born October 13, 1942) is an American billionaire businessman who is the owner, president, and General manager (American football), general manager of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He bought t ...
called it "outstanding...one of the best presentations that I've ever seen." Wayne Huizenga characterized it as a "slam-dunk", and Bud Adams said Detroit "deserves a Super Bowl."
Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
was awarded XXXVIII, and
Jacksonville Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...
won the vote for XXXIX. This would be the first Super Bowl played on the newer FieldTurf surface; each of the previous Super Bowls had been played either on natural grass or on the first-generation
AstroTurf AstroTurf is an American subsidiary of SportGroup that produces artificial turf for pitch (sports field), playing surfaces in sports. The original AstroTurf product was a pile (textile), short-pile synthetic turf invented in 1965 by Monsanto. Si ...
.


Teams


Seattle Seahawks

The Seahawks entered Super Bowl XL after finishing the regular season with an NFC-best 13–3 record. After a rocky 2–2 start, they won 11 consecutive games before losing to the
Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...
to finish the season. The 13–3 record and 11-game winning streak set new team records. This was Seattle's first Super Bowl appearance in the team's 30-year history. The Seahawks had been mediocre for much of the 1990s, recording eight consecutive non-winning seasons from
1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...
through
1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...
. The team hit a low point in
1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...
, when then-owner Ken Behring announced his intention to move the team to the Los Angeles area. The team's fortunes began to turn in
1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...
, when
Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...
co-founder
Paul Allen Paul Gardner Allen (January 21, 1953 – October 15, 2018) was an American businessman, computer programmer, and investor. He co-founded Microsoft, Microsoft Corporation with his childhood friend Bill Gates in 1975, which was followed by the ...
bought the team and brokered a deal to build a new football stadium, Qwest Field (now Lumen Field), to replace the aging
Kingdome The Kingdome (officially the King County Stadium) was a multi-purpose stadium located in the Industrial District, Seattle, Industrial District (later SoDo, Seattle, SoDo) neighborhood of Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, United States. O ...
.
Mike Holmgren Michael George Holmgren (born June 15, 1948) is an American former American football, football coach and executive in the National Football League (NFL). He began his NFL career as a quarterbacks' coach and later as an offensive coordinator wit ...
, who had led the
Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...
to Super Bowls XXXI and XXXII, became head coach in 1999. He became the fifth coach to take two franchises to the Super Bowl. Joe Jurevicius became the sixth player to play in a Super Bowl with three teams, having previously played in Super Bowl XXXV with the Giants and in Super Bowl XXXVII with the Buccaneers. Behind running back Shaun Alexander, Seattle finished the 2005 season as the league's top offense, scoring 452 points. Meanwhile, quarterback
Matt Hasselbeck Matthew Michael Hasselbeck (born September 25, 1975) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons, primarily with the Seattle Seahawks. He played college football for t ...
completed 65.5 percent of his passes for 3,455 yards 24 touchdowns and nine interceptions, and added 124 yards and one touchdown on the ground. Alexander, who had scored at least 16 touchdowns in each of the previous four seasons, had the best campaign of his career, leading the league with 1,880 rushing yards and scoring an NFL-record 28 touchdowns, for which he was rewarded with the NFL Most Valuable Player Award. Although the Seahawks suffered injuries to starting wide receivers Darrell Jackson and Bobby Engram throughout the season, the passing game proved potent, as Engram managed for 778 receiving yards. Joe Jurevicius, a backup when the season began, started eleven games and had for 694 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns; tight end
Jerramy Stevens Jerramy Ryan Stevens (born November 13, 1979) is an American former professional football player who was a tight end in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Washington Huskies and was selected by the Seattle ...
also emerged as a Hasselbeck target with 554 receiving yards and five touchdowns. Hasselbeck was protected and Alexander was given time to run by a stout offensive line, led by Pro Bowl offensive tackle Walter Jones, guard Steve Hutchinson, and center
Robbie Tobeck Robert Lee Tobeck (; born March 6, 1970) is an American former professional football player who was a center for fourteen seasons in the National Football League (NFL). Tobeck played seven seasons for the Seattle Seahawks after being acquired ...
, and by Pro Bowl fullback Mack Strong. Though rookie middle linebacker Lofa Tatupu was the Seahawks' only defensive Pro Bowl selection, the Seahawks' defense recorded 50 quarterback sacks, leading the NFL in that category;
defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...
Bryce Fisher led the Seahawks with 9 sacks, while
defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that typically lines up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the Guard (American football), offensive guards; however, he may also line up opposite one of the offensive Tackle (gridir ...
Rocky Bernard added 8.5 and veteran defensive end Grant Wistrom recorded 4. Despite starting two rookies at linebacker for most of the year, the Seattle linebacking corps played well, led by Tatupu, who topped the team with 104 tackles and added 4 sacks, three interceptions, and one fumble recovery. From his strong safety position, Michael Boulware led the team with four interceptions and also tallied 2 sacks and one fumble recovery. The Seattle secondary suffered injuries throughout the year, notably to free safety Ken Hamlin; second-year
cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...
Jordan Babineaux played well as he appeared in all 16 games for Seattle, intercepting three passes and making 61 tackles. For the year, the defense surrendered just 271 points, 181 fewer than the Seahawks offense scored.


Pittsburgh Steelers

After a 7–5 start, the Steelers won their final four games to qualify for the playoffs with an 11–5 record. They also became the first team ever to defeat the top three seeded teams on the road in the playoffs (#3 Cincinnati, #1 Indianapolis and #2 Denver). In addition, the team became the first sixth-seeded team to reach both a conference championship game and the Super Bowl since the NFL expanded to a 12-team playoff format in
1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...
. Under Bill Cowher's reign as head coach since
1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...
, the Steelers had been one of the top teams in the NFL, making the playoffs in 10 out of his 14 seasons, advancing to the
AFC Championship Game The AFC Championship Game is the annual championship game of the American Football Conference (AFC) and one of the two semifinal NFL playoffs, playoff games of the National Football League (NFL), the largest professional American football lea ...
six times, and making an appearance in
Super Bowl XXX Super Bowl XXX was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Dallas Cowboys and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion fo ...
, losing to the
Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...
27–17. After having finished the 2003 season with a 6–10 record and after splitting its first two games to open
2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...
, Pittsburgh lost starting
quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...
Tommy Maddox to injury. Maddox was replaced by rookie quarterback
Ben Roethlisberger Benjamin Todd Roethlisberger Sr. ( ; born March 2, 1982), nicknamed "Big Ben", is an American former professional American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons with the Pittsburgh Ste ...
, who was drafted with the 11th pick in the 2004 NFL draft but was not expected to play during his rookie season. Nevertheless, Roethlisberger led the Steelers to victory in all of the team's 14 remaining regular season games, giving Pittsburgh a 15–1 record and making the Steelers the first AFC team ever to win 15 games. However, the Steelers lost to eventual Super Bowl champion
New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...
in the AFC Championship Game. Pittsburgh began the 2005 season by winning seven of its first nine games, but suffered a major setback when both Roethlisberger and his backup, Charlie Batch, went down with injuries. With Maddox back as the starter, the team was defeated by
Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...
and dropped two more games after Roethlisberger's return, falling to then-undefeated Indianapolis, and division rival
Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
. The postseason hopes of the Steelers were in peril, but the team recovered to win its final four regular season games and to claim the 6-seed in the AFC playoffs. Roethlisberger was efficient in his 12 regular season games, throwing for 2,385 yards and seventeen touchdowns with nine interceptions, while adding three rushing touchdowns. The Steelers' main receiving threat was
wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...
Hines Ward, who led the team with 975 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns. On the other side of the field, speedy wide receiver
Antwaan Randle El Antwaan Randle El (; born August 17, 1979) is an American professional American football, football coach and former player who currently serves as the wide receivers coach and assistant head coach for the Chicago Bears of the National Football L ...
was a constant breakaway threat with 558 receiving yards, while gaining 448 yards and two touchdowns on punt returns. Rookie
tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...
Heath Miller also recorded for 459 receiving yards and six touchdowns. Pittsburgh's main strength on offense, however, was its running game.
Running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...
Willie Parker was the team's leading rusher with 1,202 yards, while also recording 218 receiving yards and scoring five touchdowns. In short-yardage situations, the team relied on running back Jerome Bettis, who rushed for 368 yards and scored nine touchdowns. The 33-year-old Bettis finished his 13th NFL season as the league's fifth all-time leading rusher (13,662 yards and 91 touchdowns), but until this point he had never played in a Super Bowl. The Steelers rushing attack was powered by an offensive line led by
Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (since 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's All-star, star players. The format has changed ...
guard Alan Faneca and Pro Bowl reserve center Jeff Hartings. The Steelers defense ranked fourth in the NFL, giving up 284.0 total yards per game. The Pittsburgh defense was led by its linebacking corps: Joey Porter, James Farrior, Clark Haggans, and Larry Foote. Porter led all NFL linebackers with 10.5
quarterback sack In gridiron football, a sack occurs when the quarterback (or another offensive player acting as a passer) is tackle (football move), tackled behind the line of scrimmage before throwing a forward pass, when the quarterback is tackled behind the l ...
s and also recorded two interceptions and a fumble recovery. Haggans tallied 9 sacks and 40 tackles, while Farrior added a team-high 119 tackles to go with his 2 sacks and one fumble recovery. In the secondary, free safety Chris Hope led the team with three interceptions, while Pro Bowl safety Troy Polamalu, the team's top threat in the defensive backfield, notched 91 tackles, 3 sacks, two fumble recoveries, and two interceptions. The Steelers became just the third team to win the Super Bowl despite not playing a single home game in the playoffs. The
Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...
, who won
Super Bowl I The first AFL–NFL World Championship Game (known retroactively as Super BowlI and referred to in contemporaneous reports, including the game's radio broadcast, as the Super Bowl) was an American football game played on January 15, 1967, at th ...
(against the
Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...
), and the
Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...
, who won Super Bowl IV (against the
Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...
), also accomplished the feat. The Steelers, however, had to win four games to accomplish the feat, while the Chiefs won three and Packers won two games. Of a "bridging the eras" moment, Steelers
cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...
Willie Williams was the last remaining player to have been on the Steelers last Super Bowl team, their
Super Bowl XXX Super Bowl XXX was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Dallas Cowboys and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion fo ...
loss to the Dallas Cowboys following the 1995 season. (Defensive backs coach Darren Perry was also a player on the Super Bowl XXX team. Both were starters in that game.) Ironically, Williams, who was in his second stint with the Steelers at the time, played with Seattle from 1997 to 2003. He was inactive for Super Bowl XL, which, like Bettis, turned out to be his final NFL game before retiring that offseason.


Statistical comparison

The chart below provides a comparison of regular season statistics in key categories (overall rank amongst 32 teams in parentheses).


Playoffs

The Seahawks became the first team to advance to the Super Bowl without playing a division champion in the playoffs (later matched by the Colts in 2009, Steelers in 2010, and the Seahawks again in 2013, with the 2013 Seahawks being the only one of the four to win the Super Bowl). Off a first-round bye, Seattle defeated the sixth-seeded
Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...
, 20–10, before eliminating the fifth-seeded
Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...
, 34–14, in the
NFC Championship Game The NFC Championship Game is the annual championship game of the National Football Conference (NFC) and one of the two semifinal National Football League playoffs, playoff games of the National Football League (NFL), the largest professional Ame ...
. These were Seattle's first playoff victories since the 1984 season when they defeated the Los Angeles Raiders 13–7, when the team was still in the AFC (the Seahawks were in that conference from 1977 to 2001). The Steelers became the second team after the 1985 New England Patriots to win three road playoff games to reach the Super Bowl. Pittsburgh defeated the third-seeded
Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...
, 31–17; the top-seeded
Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...
, 21–18 in the '' Immaculate Redemption/Tackle II'' game; and the second-seeded
Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...
, 34–17, in the
AFC Championship Game The AFC Championship Game is the annual championship game of the American Football Conference (AFC) and one of the two semifinal NFL playoffs, playoff games of the National Football League (NFL), the largest professional American football lea ...
. The Steelers also became the eighth wild-card team to go to the Super Bowl and the fourth in nine seasons. The Steelers' catchphrase for the playoffs was "One for the Thumb", a phrase originally made popular by
Joe Greene Charles Edward Greene (born September 24, 1946), better known as "Mean" Joe Greene, is an American former professional football defensive tackle who played for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL) from 1969 to 1981. A ...
as an allusion to a fifth Super Bowl ring.


Practice venues


Seahawks

The Seahawks practiced at the
Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...
' practice facility in Allen Park.


Steelers

The Steelers practiced at the Silverdome in Pontiac (site of
Super Bowl XVI Super Bowl XVI was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Cincinnati Bengals to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...
). Since the Silverdome featured
Astroturf AstroTurf is an American subsidiary of SportGroup that produces artificial turf for pitch (sports field), playing surfaces in sports. The original AstroTurf product was a pile (textile), short-pile synthetic turf invented in 1965 by Monsanto. Si ...
, a FieldTurf surface was temporarily installed at the venue specifically for these practices. After the Super Bowl the playing surface used for these practices was donated by the manufacturers of FieldTurf for use at Wisner Stadium, a public sports stadium in Pontiac.


Promotion

The NFL promoted this Super Bowl under the slogan "The Road to Forty." The slogan not only honored the 40-year history of the game, but was a nod to Detroit's traditional role as the center of the U.S.
automotive industry The automotive industry comprises a wide range of company, companies and organizations involved in the design, Business development, development, manufacturing, marketing, selling, Maintenance, repairing, and Custom car, modification of motor ve ...
. In a related note,
Roger Penske Roger Searle Penske (born February 20, 1937), also known as "the Captain", is an American auto racing team owner, businessman, and former professional driver. Penske is the owner of Team Penske, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, IndyCar, and ...
, owner of a car dealership, racing team, and other related companies, headed the Super Bowl XL host committee. The Seahawks became the first team to have their full team name painted in their end zone for a
Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...
, as their geographic location name (Seattle) was painted above the team nickname (Seahawks). In
Super Bowl XLIII Super Bowl XLIII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champions Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champions Arizona Cardinals to decide the National Football League (NFL) champ ...
, coincidentally also against the Steelers, the
Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...
became the second team to have their full team name painted in their end zone, as their geographic location name (Arizona) was painted above the team nickname (Cardinals). For all other
Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...
teams, end zones have featured only the team nickname.


Broadcasting


United States

Super Bowl XL was televised by ABC. This was ABC's final NFL telecast before the ABC Sports division merged with sister network ESPN in September 2006 to form
ESPN on ABC ESPN on ABC (formerly known as ABC Sports from 1961 to 2006) is the branding used for sports event and documentary programming televised by American Broadcasting Company, ABC in the United States. Officially, the terrestrial television, broadca ...
. And under the league's new television contracts beginning in the 2006 season, ESPN took over ''
Monday Night Football ''Monday Night Football'' (often abbreviated as ''MNF'') is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games that air on Monday nights. It originally ran on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from 1970 NFL season, 1970 t ...
'' from ABC, and NBC took over '' Sunday Night Football'' from ESPN. The NFL was then reluctant to add ESPN to the Super Bowl rotation because of the potential decrease in viewership due to the relatively limited access to
cable television Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with bro ...
compared to that of an over-the-air network. The league would then allow ABC to simulcast all future ESPN-produced playoff games starting in January 2016, and select Monday Night games starting in 2020. ESPN/ABC simulcasts would finally be added to the Super Bowl rotation in 2021, with the Super Bowls in 2027 and 2031. The telecast featured play-by-play announcer
Al Michaels Alan Richard Michaels (born November 12, 1944) is an American television play-by-play sportscaster for '' Thursday Night Football'' on Amazon Prime Video and in an emeritus role for NBC Sports. He has worked on network sports television sin ...
,
color commentator A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The person may also be referred to as a summariser (outside North America) ...
John Madden, who was named the day before to the Class of 2006 by the
Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional football (gridiron), professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, 1963, the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of profes ...
, sideline reporters
Michele Tafoya Michele Tafoya (born 1964/1965) is an American reporter and retired sports broadcaster for CBS and NBC. Most notably, from 2011 to 2022, she worked primarily as a sideline reporter for ''NBC Sunday Night Football''. Over the course of her career ...
(Steelers sideline) and Suzy Kolber (Seahawks sideline). This was the sixth Super Bowl telecast for Michaels, and the tenth for Madden (whose first was
Super Bowl XVI Super Bowl XVI was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Cincinnati Bengals to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...
, also played in Michigan). This was also the second Super Bowl broadcast for the Michaels-Madden pairing after they had called Super Bowl XXXVII for ABC three years earlier. Madden had already signed with NBC to broadcast games for them beginning in the 2006 season; several days later Michaels, who was still under contract to ABC and ESPN, joined him in exchange for ESPN gaining partial coverage of the
Ryder Cup The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States, with hosting duties alternating between venues in Europe and the United States for each edition. The cup is named after the English businessman S ...
golf tournament and
The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...
, ABC's parent, gaining all intellectual property rights to
Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (also known as Oswald the Rabbit, Oswald Rabbit, and Ozzie) is an animated series, animated cartoon character created in 1927 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks for Universal Pictures. He starred in several animated short film ...
, a cartoon character that
Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...
had created for
Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...
(NBC's corporate sibling) in the 1920s. Michaels and Madden would go on to call one more Super Bowl together,
Super Bowl XLIII Super Bowl XLIII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champions Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champions Arizona Cardinals to decide the National Football League (NFL) champ ...
, after which Madden retired from broadcasting altogether. Chris Berman, from
Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...
-owned corporate sibling ESPN, returned to host ABC's pregame show, as he had done for ABC's coverage of Super Bowls XXXIV and XXXVII. Berman was joined by his fellow analysts from ESPN's '' Sunday NFL Countdown'' pregame show: Michael Irvin, Tom Jackson, and Steve Young, along with co-host
Mike Tirico Michael Todd Tirico (; born December 13, 1966) is an American sportscaster. He is currently the lead play-by-play announcer for ''NBC Sunday Night Football'', having replaced Al Michaels in 2022, and is set to become the lead play-by-play anno ...
and
New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...
head coach (and three-time Super Bowl winner) Bill Belichick. Also contributing to the pre-game show were Tafoya, Kolber, Sam Ryan, Andrea Kremer, Kenny Mayne and Chris Mortensen. Although the Super Bowl had largely been presented in high definition since
Super Bowl XXXIV Super Bowl XXXIV was an American football game played at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia, on January 30, 2000, to determine the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1999 season. The National Football Conference (NFC) champion ...
, Super Bowl XL was the first Super Bowl where all aspects of the game itself were aired in HD. For its Super Bowl lead-out program, ABC aired the ''
Grey's Anatomy ''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series focusing on the personal and professional lives of surgical internship (medicine), interns, residency (medicine), residents, and attending physician, attendings at the fictional ...
'' episode " It's the End of the World". Westwood One/CBS Radio provided national radio coverage in the United States, with the broadcasting team of
Marv Albert Marv Albert (born Marvin Philip Aufrichtig; June 12, 1941) is an American former sportscaster. Honored for his work by the Basketball Hall of Fame, he was commonly referred to as "the voice of basketball". From 1967 to 2004, he was also know ...
and Boomer Esiason.


Advertising

As usual, the American television broadcast of the Super Bowl showcased top commercials and commanded high prices, estimated at $2.6 million ( US) for a 30-second spot. According to ''
Advertising Age ''Ad Age'' (known as ''Advertising Age'' until 2017) is a global media brand that publishes news, analysis, and data on marketing and media. Its namesake magazine was started as a broadsheet newspaper in Chicago in 1930. ''Ad Age'' appears in ...
'',
Anheuser-Busch Anheuser-Busch Companies, LLC ( ) is an American brewing company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Since 2008, it has been wholly owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (AB InBev), now the world's largest brewing company, which owns multiple ...
was the top advertiser during the game, having purchased ten 30-second spots. The magazine reported that other companies having purchased multiple commercial segments included Ameriquest (two), CareerBuilder.com (two),
Pepsi-Cola Pepsi is a Carbonated water, carbonated soft drink with a cola flavor, manufactured by PepsiCo which serves as its flagship product. In 2023, Pepsi was the second most valuable soft drink brand worldwide behind Coca-Cola; the two share a long ...
(four), Pizza Hut (ten, though most ran prior to kickoff), Sprint (three),
Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/con ...
(four, three for Gillette's new Fusion razor),
Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...
(three),
Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...
(two) and GoDaddy.com (two). Three companies aired 60-second advertisements:
General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...
(for the
Cadillac Cadillac Motor Car Division, or simply Cadillac (), is the luxury vehicle division (business), division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Its major markets are the United States, Canada and China; Cadillac models are ...
brand),
Burger King Burger King Corporation (BK, stylized in all caps) is an American multinational chain store, chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacks ...
, and Mobile ESPN (the Sports Heaven ad). Agency BBDO was the biggest single producer of commercials, creating 19. ABC also aired several 60-second commercials for some of its shows, including '' Lost'', ''
Desperate Housewives ''Desperate Housewives'' is an American mystery comedy-drama television series created by Marc Cherry, and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. It aired for eight seasons on ABC from October 3, 2004, until May 13, 2012, for a tota ...
'', and ''
Grey's Anatomy ''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series focusing on the personal and professional lives of surgical internship (medicine), interns, residency (medicine), residents, and attending physician, attendings at the fictional ...
''. Notably, this was the first Super Bowl during which commercials, in addition to the game itself, were broadcast in
HDTV High-definition television (HDTV) describes a television or video system which provides a substantially higher image resolution than the previous generation of technologies. The term has been used since at least 1933; in more recent times, it ref ...
. During typical HDTV broadcasts at the time, commercials themselves were broadcast in standard definition. Google Video and
America Online AOL (formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City, and a brand marketed by Yahoo! Inc. (2017–present), Yahoo! Inc. The service tra ...
each catalogued ads for later viewing. The '' USA Today Super Bowl Ad Meter'' and ADBOWL, which both measure viewer online reaction to all Super Bowl ads, found the
Bud Light Anheuser-Busch, a wholly owned subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV, is the largest brewing company in the United States, with a market share of 45 percent in 2016. The company operates 12 breweries in the United States and nearly 20 in oth ...
"Magic refrigerator" spot ranked as the top spot.


International

The main NFL international feed of the game featured Fox broadcasters Dick Stockton and
Daryl Johnston Daryl Peter "Moose" Johnston (born February 10, 1966) is an American former professional American football, football player (running back/Fullback (gridiron football), fullback) who is currently the executive vice president of football operati ...
providing commentary tailored to those largely unfamiliar with the rules of American football. Since the game was being played close to the U.S.-Canada border, Canadian television rights holders
Global Global may refer to: General *Globe, a spherical model of celestial bodies *Earth, the third planet from the Sun Entertainment * ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 198 ...
broadcast portions of an NFL-sponsored "Passport To The Super Bowl" event in nearby
Windsor, Ontario Windsor ( ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is situated on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from the U.S city of Detroit, Detroit, Michigan. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Esse ...
, featuring a performance by the newly revived 1980s rock group
INXS INXS (a phonetic play on "in excess") were an Australian rock band, formed as the Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney. The founding members were bassist Garry Gary Beers, main composer and keyboardist Andrew Farriss, drummer Jon Farriss, gu ...
with Canadian native lead singer J.D. Fortune, though the network limited coverage of the Windsor event to short segments immediately prior to commercial breaks. The game was also televised in Australia on ( SBS and
ESPN International ESPN International is a family of Broadcasting of sports events, sportscasting and production networks around the world. It was begun in 1983, is operated by ESPN Inc. and owned by The Walt Disney Company. Current operations Canada ESPN Int ...
), Austria ( ORF and TW1), Brazil (ESPN International), Denmark ( TV 2), Finland (
MTV3 MTV3 (, ) is a Finnish commercial television channel owned and operated by the media company MTV Oy, originally launched on 13 August 1957 as a programming block, becoming its own channel on 1 January 1993. It had the biggest audience share ...
), France (
France 2 France 2 () is a French free-to-air public television channel. The flagship channel of France Télévisions, it broadcasts generalist programming including news, entertainment (such as dramas, films, and game shows), factual programmes, and sp ...
), Germany ( ARD), Hungary ( Sport 1),
Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
( SÝN), Ireland (
Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...
), Italy (
Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...
3 and
Italia 1 Italia 1 (Italian pronunciation ) is an Italian free-to-air television channel on the Mediaset network, owned by MFE - MediaForEurope. It is aimed at both a young adult and adult audience. Italia 1 was launched on 3 January 1982 and, was or ...
), Japan (
NHK , also known by its Romanization of Japanese, romanized initialism NHK, is a Japanese public broadcasting, public broadcaster. It is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television licence, television license fee. NHK ope ...
BS-1, NTV), Mexico (
TV Azteca Televisión Azteca, S.A.B. de C.V., commonly known as TV Azteca, is a Mexican multimedia conglomerate owned by Grupo Salinas. It is the second-largest mass media company in Mexico after Televisa. It primarily competes with Televisa as well as so ...
), Netherlands ( SBS6), New Zealand (ESPN International/ SKY TV), Portugal (SportTV),
Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...
( Prva TV), Spain ( Canal +), Sweden ( ZTV), and UK and Ireland ( ITV/
Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...
). According to the NFL, the game was available worldwide in 32 languages.
Sirius Satellite Radio Sirius Satellite Radio was a satellite radio ( SDARS) service that operated in the United States and Canada. Sirius launched in 2002, and primarily competed with XM Satellite Radio, until the two services merged in 2008 to form Sirius XM. Li ...
and NFL.com carried international local-language broadcasts from the United Kingdom ( BBC Radio Five Live), Spain ( Canal Plus Spain), Russia ( NTV), Belgium ( BeTV, in French), China ( SMG), and Japan ( NTV), in addition to the press box intercom and the public address announcer feeds.


Entertainment


Pre-game ceremonies

During the pre-game ceremonies,
Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...
, along with
Joss Stone Joscelyn Eve Stoker (born 11 April 1987), known professionally as Joss Stone, is an English singer, songwriter and actress. She rose to prominence in late 2003 with her multi-platinum debut album, ''The Soul Sessions'', which made the 2004 Merc ...
,
India Arie India Arie Simpson (born October 3, 1975) is an American singer and songwriter. She rose to prominence with her debut album, '' Acoustic Soul (2001),'' which was a commercial and critical success. She has since released the albums '' Voyage to ...
, and
John Legend John Roger Stephens (born December 28, 1978), known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He began his musical career working behind the scenes for other artists, playing piano on Lauryn Hill's " Every ...
, performed a medley of Wonder's hits.
The Four Tops ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...
also performed during the pregame ceremonies, though the performance was not televised. In honor of the fortieth Super Bowl, the pre-game ceremony featured the on-field introduction of 30 of the previous 34 Super Bowl Most Valuable Players (with the exception of Joe Montana, Terry Bradshaw, Jake Scott, and the late Harvey Martin). The absences of Montana and Bradshaw were originally reported to have been due to disagreements over appearance funds to be paid by the NFL, but each later rebutted such reports, suggesting that they had prior family commitments; Scott was reported to have been traveling through Australia. This ceremony continued a ten-year tradition (starting with Super Bowl XX and then repeated in
Super Bowl XXX Super Bowl XXX was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Dallas Cowboys and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion fo ...
) in which past Super Bowl MVPs were honored before the game. A
moment of silence A moment of silence (also referred to as a minute's silence or a one-minute silence) is a period of silent contemplation, prayer, reflection, or meditation. Similar to flying a flag at half-mast, a moment of silence is often a gesture o ...
was observed in memory of the two civil rights activists who had died during the months prior to the game: Coretta Scott King (six days earlier) and
Rosa Parks Rosa Louise McCauley Parks (February 4, 1913 – October 24, 2005) was an American civil rights activist. She is best known for her refusal to move from her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama, bus, in defiance of Jim Crow laws, which sparke ...
(on October 24, 2005), the latter a long-time Detroit resident. The Steelers became the first AFC club, and only the third franchise overall, to wear white jerseys despite being the "home" team. The first two clubs, the Cowboys ( Super Bowls XIII and XXVII) and the Redskins (
Super Bowl XVII Super Bowl XVII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Miami Dolphins and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Washington Redskins to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...
), traditionally wore white at home. The
Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...
later became the second AFC team and fourth club overall to wear white jerseys in a Super Bowl despite being the home team in Super Bowl 50. Bill Cowher stated that the Steelers were playing in Detroit, not Pittsburgh, and therefore it was not a "home" game (although 10 years earlier Cowher's Steelers did wear their black home jerseys as the designated "home" team in
Super Bowl XXX Super Bowl XXX was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Dallas Cowboys and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion fo ...
at
Tempe, Arizona Tempe ( ; ''Oidbaḍ'' in O'odham language, O'odham) is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, with the Census Bureau reporting a 2020 population of 180,587. The city is named after the Vale of Tempe in Greece. Tempe is located in t ...
away from
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
, where they had won both their playoff games to reach that Super Bowl). Having been the Cowboys' opponent in Super Bowl XIII, Pittsburgh also became the first team to have worn white jerseys for a "home" Super Bowl and colored jerseys for an "away" one. The teams took the field while flanked on either side by flags bearing the names of all previous Super Bowl MVPs. Although the participating teams each entered as a team for their introduction, the Steelers insisted on sending Jerome Bettis out ahead of the rest of the team in front of his hometown crowd. Singers
Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Honored as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Soul", she was twice named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as the Roll ...
and New Orleans native Aaron Neville, along with pianist Dr. John and a 150-member choir, performed the national anthem as part of a pre-game tribute to
New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
, a nine-time Super Bowl host city then in the midst of efforts to rebuild in the wake of
Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...
. The national anthem was performed in
American Sign Language American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States and most of Anglophone Canadians, Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual language that i ...
by Angela LaGuardia, a teacher at Michigan School for the Deaf.
Tom Brady Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. (born August 3, 1977) is an American former professional American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 23 seasons. He spent his first 20 seasons with the New Engla ...
, MVP of Super Bowls XXXVI and XXXVIII, became the first active player to participate in a Super Bowl coin toss, the result of which toss was tails, as selected by Seattle.


Halftime show

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...
performed during the
halftime show A halftime show is a performance given during the brief period between the first and second halves, or the second and third quarters, of a sporting event. Halftime shows are not given for sports with an irregular or indeterminate number of di ...
, which was sponsored by the American telecommunications company Sprint. The group performed three songs: " Start Me Up", " Rough Justice", and " (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction". The show was viewed by 89.9 million people.


Post-game ceremonies

The post-game presentation saw Bart Starr, the MVP of Super Bowls I and II, take the
Vince Lombardi Trophy The Vince Lombardi Trophy, also known simply as the Lombardi Trophy or just the Lombardi, is the trophy awarded each year to the winning team of the National Football League's championship game, the Super Bowl. The trophy is named in honor of N ...
to the podium, whence it was presented to Steelers owner Dan Rooney.


Game summary


First half

After the first four possessions of the Super Bowl XL ended with punts, Seahawks punt returner Peter Warrick gave his team good field position by returning Chris Gardocki's 37-yard punt 12 yards to Seattle's 49-yard line. Quarterback
Matt Hasselbeck Matthew Michael Hasselbeck (born September 25, 1975) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons, primarily with the Seattle Seahawks. He played college football for t ...
then started off the drive with a pair of completions to receivers Darrell Jackson and Joe Jurevicius for gains of 20 and 11 yards, respectively. On the third play of the drive, Jackson caught a pass in the end-zone, apparently for a touchdown, but the play was nullified as Jackson was called for pass interference. Running back Shaun Alexander ran the ball the next two plays but gained only three yards. Hasselbeck's third-down pass attempt fell incomplete, and the Seahawks were forced to settle for a 47-yard field goal by kicker Josh Brown, which was successful. By the end of the first quarter, the Steelers had failed to gain a first down, and quarterback
Ben Roethlisberger Benjamin Todd Roethlisberger Sr. ( ; born March 2, 1982), nicknamed "Big Ben", is an American former professional American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons with the Pittsburgh Ste ...
had completed one of five pass attempts for one yard. On their first second-quarter possession, Pittsburgh once more was forced to punt after three plays, but benefited from another Seahawks penalty, a holding call that nullified Warrick's 34-yard punt return. The Steelers forced a Seattle punt, but Seattle safety Michael Boulware intercepted a Roethlisberger pass at the Seattle 17-yard line on the ensuing drive. The Seahawks, though, were once more forced to punt after three plays, and Pittsburgh drove into Seattle territory on the following drive. An offensive pass interference call against tight end Heath Miller and a sack for an eight-yard loss by Seahawks defensive end Grant Wistrom, though, backed the Steelers to the 40-yard line, and left the team facing a third-down-and-28. However, Roethlisberger hit receiver
Hines Ward Hines Edward Ward Jr. (born March 8, 1976) is an American American football, football coach and former player who is the wide receivers coach for Arizona State Sun Devils football, Arizona State. He played as a wide receiver in the National Foo ...
out of a scramble and extremely unorthodox, against the grain pass for a 37-yard gain to give the team the longest third down conversion in Super Bowl history. Jerome Bettis carried the ball on the next two plays, taking his team to the one-yard line but not into the end-zone. On the third-down play, after the
two-minute warning The two-minute warning is a suspension of play in an American football game that occurs when two minutes remain on the game clock in each half of a game, i.e., near the end of the second and fourth quarters, and overtime. Its effect on play is s ...
, Roethlisberger faked a hand-off and dove into the end-zone himself. There was some confusion as to whether or not he had scored, since the referee hesitated for a bit after the play ended, but he eventually signaled a touchdown, and it was upheld after a replay challenge. On the strength of a 19-yard Jurevicius reception, Seattle advanced the ball to the Pittsburgh 36-yard line, but, after the drive stalled, Brown missed a 54-yard field goal attempt to the right and the Steelers ran out the clock to end the first half.


Second half

The Steelers took the ball to begin the second half, and just two plays in, running back Willie Parker broke through for a 75-yard touchdown run, giving his team a 14–3 lead and setting a record for the longest run in Super Bowl history, beating
Marcus Allen Marcus LeMarr Allen (born March 26, 1960) is an American former professional football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons, primarily with the Los Angeles Raiders. Considered one of the greatest goal li ...
's
Super Bowl XVIII Super Bowl XVIII was an American football game played on January 22, 1984, at Tampa Stadium between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion and defending Super Bowl XVII champion 1983 Washington Redskins season, Washington Redskins and t ...
mark by one yard. The Seahawks drove into Pittsburgh territory on the next drive, sparked by a 21-yard run by Alexander, but Brown again missed a field-goal attempt, this one from 50 yards, as Seattle was unable to close the 11-point deficit. Pittsburgh drove 54 yards to the Seattle six-yard line to put themselves in position to take a large lead, but Seahawks defensive back Kelly Herndon intercepted a pass from Roethlisberger and returned it a Super Bowl record 76 yards to the Steelers 20-yard line. Herndon's interception remains as of 2024, the longest non-scoring play in Super Bowl history. From there, the Seahawks required just two plays to score on Hasselbeck's 16-yard touchdown pass to tight end
Jerramy Stevens Jerramy Ryan Stevens (born November 13, 1979) is an American former professional football player who was a tight end in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Washington Huskies and was selected by the Seattle ...
, cutting their deficit to 14–10. The teams exchanged punts (two from Pittsburgh, one from Seattle) to fill out most of the third quarter, but the Seahawks ended the quarter having driven from their own two-yard line to near midfield. The drive continued in the fourth quarter, as the Seahawks reached the Pittsburgh 19-yard line. An 18-yard pass to Stevens, though, was negated on a penalty call against Seattle tackle Sean Locklear for holding, denying the Seahawks an opportunity for a first-down-and-goal from the 1-yard-line. Three plays later, Pittsburgh defensive back Ike Taylor intercepted a Hasselbeck pass at the 5-yard line and returned it 24 yards. While tackling Taylor, Hasselbeck dove low and was flagged for blocking below the waist. The penalty added 15 yards to the return and gave the Steelers the ball on their own 44-yard line. Four plays later, Pittsburgh ran a wide receiver reverse, but the play turned out to be a pass play by wide receiver
Antwaan Randle El Antwaan Randle El (; born August 17, 1979) is an American professional American football, football coach and former player who currently serves as the wide receivers coach and assistant head coach for the Chicago Bears of the National Football L ...
, who played quarterback while in college. Parker took a pitch from Roethlisberger and handed off to Randle El, who was running in the opposite direction. Randle El then pulled up and threw a 43-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Ward, giving the Steelers a 21–10 lead and also marking the first time a wide receiver threw a touchdown pass in a Super Bowl. On the ensuing possession, Hasselbeck ran the ball for eighteen yards and was briefly touched by Steelers linebacker Larry Foote as the former fell to the ground. Though the play was initially ruled a fumble, with the ball recovered by the Steelers, a Seahawks challenge proved successful, as officials ruled Hasselbeck to have been down prior to his having lost the ball, Seattle, aided by a 13-yard Jurevicius reception, drove to the Pittsburgh 48-yard line but could go no further; a Tom Rouen punt entered the end zone, giving the Steelers possession on their own 20-yard line. Pittsburgh possessed the ball for nearly four-and-one-half minutes on the ensuing drive, as Bettis carried seven times, Seattle was forced to use all of its three timeouts to stop the clock, but nevertheless had only 1:51 left when it took the ball from its own 20-yard line following a Gardocki punt. A 35-yard reception by Jurevicius took the Seahawks into Pittsburgh territory, and a 13-yard Bobby Engram reception took the team to within field-goal range, but dubious clock-management and play-calling left the team with just 35 seconds remaining; an incompletion and a three-yard pass to Stevens over the middle of the field consumed 26 seconds, and Hasselbeck threw incomplete near Stevens on fourth down, giving the Steelers the ball on downs with just three seconds remaining, after which a Roethlisberger kneel-down ended the game.


Box score


Statistical overview

The Steelers became just the third team to win the Super Bowl despite not playing a home game in the playoffs. The
Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...
, who won
Super Bowl I The first AFL–NFL World Championship Game (known retroactively as Super BowlI and referred to in contemporaneous reports, including the game's radio broadcast, as the Super Bowl) was an American football game played on January 15, 1967, at th ...
, and the
Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...
, who won Super Bowl IV, also accomplished the feat. The Steelers, however, had to win four games to accomplish the feat, while the Chiefs won three and Packers won only two games. Roethlisberger finished the game having completed just 9 of 21 passes for 123 yards and having also thrown two interceptions; his 22.6 quarterback rating was the lowest ever by a Super Bowl winning quarterback. He also rushed for 25 yards and a touchdown. He became the second youngest
quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...
to start in a Super Bowl and the youngest quarterback ever to win a Super Bowl at 23 years, 11 months. The Steelers' rushing game was paced by Willie Parker, who gained 93 yards and one touchdown on ten carries, Bettis rushed 14 times for 43 yards, converted a key first down, and allowed his team to run time off the clock late in the fourth quarter. Ward caught five passes for 123 yards and a touchdown. In addition to his 43-yard touchdown pass, Randle El caught three passes for 22 yards and returned two punts for 32 yards. In defeat for the Seahawks, Hasselbeck completed 26 of 49 pass attempts for 273 yards and a touchdown, with one interception. Jurevicius caught 5 passes for 93 yards. Engram and Jackson also played roles, combining to gain 120 yards on eleven receptions. Alexander led all rushers in the game, accumulating 95 yards on 20 carries while also catching two passes for two yards. The Steelers were the third team to lose the turnover battle and win the game, after the
Baltimore Colts The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team that played in Baltimore from 1953 to 1983, when owner Robert Irsay moved the franchise to Indianapolis. The team was named for Baltimore's history of horse breeding and racing. It w ...
in
Super Bowl V Super Bowl V was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion 1970 Baltimore Colts season, Baltimore Colts and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion 1970 Dallas Cowboys season, Dallas Cowboys ...
and the Steelers in
Super Bowl XIV Super Bowl XIV was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion 1979 Los Angeles Rams season, Los Angeles Rams and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion 1979 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Pittsburgh S ...
. Defensively, Taylor led the Steelers, making seven tackles, defensing two passes, and intercepting Hasselbeck; for the Seahawks, linebacker Lofa Tatupu recorded nine tackles.


Final statistics

Sources
NFL.com Super Bowl XLSuper Bowl XL Play Finder PitSuper Bowl XL Play Finder Sea


Statistical comparison


Individual leaders

1Completions/attempts 2Carries 3Long gain 4Receptions 5Times targeted


Starting lineups

Source:


Officials

* Referee: Bill Leavy #127 second Super Bowl (XXXIV as back judge) * Umpire: Garth DeFelice #53 first Super Bowl on field (alternate for XXXIX) * Head linesman: Mark Hittner #28 third Super Bowl (XXXVI and XXXVIII) * Line judge: Mark Perlman #9 first Super Bowl * Side judge: Tom Hill #97 first Super Bowl * Field judge: Steve Zimmer #33 first Super Bowl * Back judge: Bob Waggoner #25 first Super Bowl * Replay official: Bob Boylston * Video operator: David Coleman


Reaction to officiating

The officiating in Super Bowl XL was met with criticism from members of the media soon after the game. One call that was complained about was an offensive pass interference on Seahawks wide receiver Darrell Jackson for a push-off against Steelers safety Chris Hope that nullified his 16-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter. However, according to the NFL's Director of Officiating at the time, Mike Pereira, the call was indeed correct as Jackson had pushed off. Another complaint had to do with a penalty in the fourth quarter against Seattle right tackle Sean Locklear for holding Steelers linebacker Clark Haggans that nullified a deep pass. Pereira later stated that Locklear was definitively holding and the call was correct. Also disputed was the penalty on Hasselbeck for an illegal block below the waist while making a tackle during Ike Taylor's interception return. In addition, many Steelers fans were outraged by an incomplete pass call early in the game from Hasselbeck to Jerramy Stevens. Stevens appeared to have possession and then fumble, only for the officials to rule he never had complete possession. The Steelers also were upset about a call on a play that appeared to give them possession of the football when Matt Hasselbeck fumbled while scrambling. It was ruled however that Hasselbeck had been touched before losing control of the football, thus negating the fumble. '' Kansas City Star'' writer Jason Whitlock encapsulated some views when he wrote the day after the game, " Bill Leavy and his crew ruined Super Bowl XL. Am I the only one who would like to hear them defend their incompetence?" Initially, some fans reacted negatively as well. A February 7 online
ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
poll found that, with 103,167 votes cast, 61.7% of those votes were cast for the choice of "officiating mistakes affected the outcome of Super Bowl XL." Seahawks head coach
Mike Holmgren Michael George Holmgren (born June 15, 1948) is an American former American football, football coach and executive in the National Football League (NFL). He began his NFL career as a quarterbacks' coach and later as an offensive coordinator wit ...
himself took issue with the officiating at a rally for his team on February 6 at Qwest Field, saying, "We knew it was going to be tough going against the Pittsburgh Steelers. I didn't know we were going to have to play the guys in the striped shirts as well.". In response to the criticisms leveled at the officials, the NFL, just two days after the game, released a statement defending the officials' performance. "The game was properly officiated, including, as in most NFL games, some tight plays that produced disagreement about the calls made by the officials", NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said in a statement. High-profile referee Ed Hochuli said "The Super Bowl was one of those games where it seemed the big calls went against Seattle. And that was just fortuitous—bad fortuitous for Seattle." Hochuli went on to say that "The league felt, actually, that the Super Bowl was well officiated. Now, that doesn't mean there were no mistakes. There are always mistakes, but it was a well-officiated game." On August 6, 2010, while visiting the Seahawks' preseason training camp for an annual rules interpretation session with the Seattle media, Leavy brought up Super Bowl XL without being asked, and said: The Super Bowl XL officiating controversy was later listed as number 8 on the NFL's list of the top ten controversial calls of all time. Commentators Boomer Esiason, Steve Raible, and Tom Curran were critical of the officiating, while former Steelers wide receiver
Hines Ward Hines Edward Ward Jr. (born March 8, 1976) is an American American football, football coach and former player who is the wide receivers coach for Arizona State Sun Devils football, Arizona State. He played as a wide receiver in the National Foo ...
and commentator Ed Bouchette defended the calls, and commentators Howard Balzer and Bill Hillgrove and former Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau felt that the officiating did not impact the outcome of the game.


Gambling

* According to
Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...
oddsmakers, the Steelers opened betting as a four-point favorite. As the Steelers won by eleven points, they covered this spread. * The over-under, or expected points total, for the game, opened at 47. As the total combined score of this game was only 31 points, the under bet won. * The money line was set at roughly +160 for the Seahawks and −180 for the Steelers. This was just the fifth time in Super Bowl history when a lower-seeded team opened as the favorite to win; the previous occurrences were Super Bowls XXXIX (AFC second-seeded
New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...
were favored by seven points over NFC top-seed
Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...
), XXXV (AFC fourth-seeded
Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its home g ...
were favored by three points over NFC top-seed
New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...
), XXIII (NFC second-seeded
San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...
were favored by seven points over AFC first-seed
Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...
), and XVII (AFC second-seeded
Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...
were favored by three points over NFC top-seed
Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...
). In each but the last iteration, the lower-seeded and favored team won. This was also the second time in Super Bowl history when the favorite was a wild card team, the first was before
Super Bowl XXXV Super Bowl XXXV was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion 2000 Baltimore Ravens season, Baltimore Ravens and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion 2000 New York Giants season, New York Giant ...
, when the Ravens were favored. It also marked the first time since that game the favorite won against the spread. Members of the winning team each received a payment of $73,000 for playing in the game, while players on the losing team were paid $38,000. The Green Bay Packers received $15,000 each for winning
Super Bowl I The first AFL–NFL World Championship Game (known retroactively as Super BowlI and referred to in contemporaneous reports, including the game's radio broadcast, as the Super Bowl) was an American football game played on January 15, 1967, at th ...
in 1967; adjusted for inflation in 2006 dollars, that sum is roughly $86,000. After having held constant at $600 for three years, the face value of the costliest Super Bowl ticket rose to $700 for the game. On
eBay eBay Inc. ( , often stylized as ebay) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that allows users to buy or view items via retail sales through online marketplaces and websites in 190 markets worldwide. ...
, the least-desirable seats—those behind each end zone in the upper level—fetched more than $2000 each, while top seats around the 50-yard line sold for more than $6000.


Ring

The
ring (The) Ring(s) may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell Arts, entertainment, and media Film and TV * ''The Ring'' (franchise), a ...
for the Pittsburgh Steelers was designed by Steelers owner Dan Rooney with Jerome Bettis and Ben Roethlisberger.Bouchette, Ed
"The One for the Thumb"
June 5, 2006, ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette''
It is crowned by five Vince Lombardi trophies, all topped with football-shaped
diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Diamond is tasteless, odourless, strong, brittle solid, colourless in pure form, a poor conductor of e ...
settings to represent their five Super Bowl victories. Rooney would have preferred the ring to focus exclusively on this team's win, but Bettis and Roethlisberger, cognizant of a tradition of which they couldn't help but be reminded, insisted that it acknowledge the legacy of all those teams (indeed, during the pre-game MVP introductions, Franco Harris, winner of the award in the Steelers' first Super Bowl IX victory 31 years earlier on January 12, 1975, had waved a Terrible Towel as he walked onto the field). The base of each trophy has the Roman numeral for their victories, with Super Bowl XL front and center. In front of the trophies is the Steelers logo set with colored jewels to mimic the colors of the logo. On the top of the crown is "PITTSBURGH", and on the bottom is "WORLD CHAMPIONS". Each side of the crown has 10 square cut diamonds channel set along the edge. The left side of the ring has the player's name and number with the NFL logo in between, while the right side has the score of the game (Steelers 21 Seahawks 10) above the Super Bowl XL logo over 2005. The year on the ring is for the NFL season, and not the year the game was played. The Super Bowl XL rings were produced by the Minneapolis-based jewelry company Jostens, which is the primary supplier of Super Bowl champion rings and has made 31 rings in the Super Bowl's 50-year history through 2017. The National Football League covers the cost of 150 rings, paying up to $5,000 for each (three quarters of a million dollars). If a team wants a fancier look, such as player names, more gems or detailed designs, or more than 150 rings, then the team owner has to foot the bill for the extra cost.


References


External links


Official NFL web site
includes recaps, scores and statistics of the games and teams throughout the season.
Official Super Bowl web site
*
Super Bowl XL
at ''ESPN''

at
Pro Football Reference Pro Football Reference (PFR) is an online statistics database for professional American football maintained by Sports Reference. The site provides career statistics for players, teams, and games, as well as records and NFL draft history. PFR was ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Super Bowl 040 2005 NFL season Super Bowl 040 2006 in American football Pittsburgh Steelers postseason Seattle Seahawks postseason American football competitions in Detroit 2006 in sports in Michigan 2006 in Detroit February 2006 sports events in the United States NFL controversies Tom Brady