TAMPA, Fla. – It was the longest play in Super Bowl history, a game-changing 100-yard interception return that could have, should have, made James Harrison the hero of Super Bowl XLIII.
But even in the breathless aftermath of Steelers 27, Cardinals 23 – after Ben Roethlisberger and Santonio Holmes snatched victory from the jaws of defeat after Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald had seemingly snatched victory from the jaws of defeat – it is a play that won’t soon be forgotten.
Warner had driven to the Pittsburgh 1 and was poised to give the Cardinals a 14-10 halftime lead with 18 seconds and no timeouts left before intermission.
Warner stared into the teeth of the Steel Curtain and sensed all-out blitz. And Harrison suckered him, stepping back into the line of fire, in front of Anquan Boldin and down the right sidelines he went.
“We had them matched up and it was kind of like give it time, and I slid over to the right and he threw it right to my hands,” Harrison said, “and I took off. I was just trying to get to the other side and score seven. That’s all.”
That’s all. Harrison raced against time and raced against would-be Cardinal tacklers.
“It was very tiring, but it was all worth it,” Harrison said. “I was just thinking that I had to do whatever I could to get to the other end zone and get seven.”
Larry Fitzgerald, from the right sideline, reached for the ball as Harrison barreled toward the goal line, and careened forward to paydirt as Steve Breaston angled in from the other side with a furious blast.
“The greatest single defensive play in Super Bowl history,” Dick LeBeau said.
Time expired, and it almost looked as if the Defensive Player of the Year had expired along with it. Harrison lay flat on his back for several minutes, and the Cardinals trailed 17-7 at intermission.
“Mike [Tomlin] told us during the week during practice that when we get interceptions to work on returning them and look what happened,” James Farrior said.
Said Boldin: “It was a route where we should have had a pick on it. I think Kurt saw blitz zero, but they ended up dropping James Harrison out at the last second.”
Warner never saw Harrison.
“I thought I had Anquan for a second, but he jumped out there and made a play,” Warner said. “The unfortunate thing is that we couldn’t bring him down.”
It would have demoralized lesser teams.
“It crushed us at that time,” said Cardinals offensive coordinator Todd Haley. “It was just a little tight in there, and 92 made a great play. We were unable to get him down. That’s something we work hard at.”
Then came the wild fourth quarter.
“I thought James Harrison was gonna be the MVP,” kicker Jeff Reed said.
Only a game for the ages denied him.
Harrison, asked what was going through his mind when he reached the end zone, said: “I had a little burn in my neck and I was tired as a dog.”I was gonna make it. I’m not gonna lie, it was a quarter tank.”
