Steelers' Santonio Holmes Shares The Incredible Irony Of The Last Practice Play Before Super Bowl XLIII

The Pittsburgh Steelers might have only had wide receiver Santonio Holmes on their roster for four seasons, but his impact feels much larger. This is a remarkable feat considering he played with guys like Hines Ward and Heath Miller. Regardless, Holmes is immortalized in the annals of football, and his name is synonymous with arguably the best Super Bowl catch in Super Bowl history.

Super Bowl XLIII against the Arizona Cardinals is remembered as a nail-biter, with several huge plays. Shortly before halftime, linebacker James Harrison intercepted Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner and ran it back 100 yards for a touchdown. 

Harrison gave Pittsburgh momentum, but the offense stalled as the Cardinals picked up steam, taking the lead in the fourth quarter, 20-23. However, Holmes then wowed the world by catching an end zone pass from quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. He managed to toe-tap his feet inside the line, maintaining possession while he was pushed out of bounds. The officials ruled it a touchdown, and the Steelers won their seventh Lombardi Trophy, 27-23. 

Holmes shared how that specific pass was special. He joined current Steelers long snapper Christian Kuntz on his show, The Christian Kuntz Podcast, and said that not many people know that play's story. 

"Every day, from the first day of playoffs, Ben and I would go down to the back of the end zone, just throw passes in the back of the end zone," said Holmes. "We go and run this play, and I dropped it in the back of the end zone, wide open. Then, we start throwing the corner route. It's the same thing; nothing is happening with me in the back of the end zone. We kept calling this play. BA [Bruce Arians] was like, 'I don't care, we're going to keep this play.' Every result was either threw the ball out of bounds, defended, intercepted the ball, or batted it down. It's the last practice, the last play in practice, we threw a pass to me standing in the corner of the end zone and I put my hands up like this (holds hands up in an O) and Ben threw the football right through my arms. I walked back to the huddle, did a victory celebration, and went to the locker room. That was the last play we ran before Super Bowl XLIII."

Holmes said that then-Offensive Coordinator Bruce Arians held meeting after meeting about that play because he was so confident in it. He would run through it repeatedly—where they should stand, do they move someone? The one constant was to keep the corner route; that was the play they needed to use. 

Roethlisberger had run the same play right before that, and Holmes dropped the ball. When the chance arose again, Holmes felt sure that Roethlisberger wouldn't trust him a second time. He was sure he would go to Miller, but he'd been getting double-teamed, and Ward was injured -- but he did, and Holmes not only won the Super Bowl MVP, but he became a Steelers legend.  

Steelers' Santonio Holmes Needed That Catch

Holmes had been a star player his whole life. His high school team won a state championship, and when he was at Ohio State, they won a national championship. While those victories felt sweet, Holmes failed to score in either game. 

He said as a child, he had a lot of fears, and growing up in a religious family, he often prayed. He said his biggest prayer as a child was for him to do something that would have him be remembered. When he caught that pass in the end zone, he didn't care about the MVP Award; he cared that he'd finally caught a touchdown that mattered. 

The Steelers won that game thanks to Roethlisberger and Holmes' hard work. He said he'd reached his ultimate goal and knew people would remember his name. 

Where were you, and what did you think when you saw that catch? Click to comment below.

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