Super Bowl XLIII - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Super Bowl XLIII was an American football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

game pitting the American Football Conference

American Football Conference

The American Football Conference is one of the two conferences of the National Football League . This conference and its counterpart, the National Football Conference , currently contain 16 teams each, making up the 32 teams of the NFL....

(AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers

Pittsburgh Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...

against the National Football Conference

National Football Conference

The National Football Conference is one of the two conferences of the National Football League . This conference and its counterpart, the American Football Conference , currently contain 16 teams each, making up the 32 teams of the NFL.-Current teams:Since 2002, the NFC has comprised 16 teams,...

(NFC) champion Arizona Cardinals

Arizona Cardinals

The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in Glendale, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

to decide the National Football League

National Football League

The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

(NFL) champion for the 2008 season

2008 NFL season

The 2008 NFL season was the 89th regular season of the National Football League, themed with the slogan "Believe in Now."Super Bowl XLIII, the league's championship game, was at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida on February 1, 2009, with the Pittsburgh Steelers coming out victorious over the...

. The game was played on February 1, 2009, at Raymond James Stadium

Raymond James Stadium

Raymond James Stadium, also known as the "Ray Jay", is a multi-purpose football stadium located in Tampa, Florida. It is home to the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers as well as the NCAA's South Florida Bulls football team. The stadium seats 65,857 , and it is expandable to 75,000 for special events...

in Tampa, Florida

Tampa, Florida

Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....

. The Steelers (15-4) defeated the Cardinals (12-8) by a score of 27-23, earning their sixth Super Bowl

Super Bowl

The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...

win, which gave Pittsburgh the record for most Super Bowl wins and moved them ahead of the San Francisco 49ers

San Francisco 49ers

The San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team was founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference and...

and Dallas Cowboys

Dallas Cowboys

The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football franchise which plays in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League . They are headquartered in Valley Ranch in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas...

, whose shared record of five they had tied three years prior following their win in Super Bowl XL

Super Bowl XL

Super Bowl XL was an American football game pitting the American Football Conference champion Pittsburgh Steelers against the National Football Conference champion Seattle Seahawks to decide the National Football League champion for the 2005 season...

. Steelers receiver Santonio Holmes

Santonio Holmes

Santonio Holmes Jr. is an American football wide receiver for the New York Jets of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the first round of the 2006 NFL Draft after playing college football at Ohio State...

, who caught 9 passes for 131 yards and a touchdown, including 4 for 73 yards on their final scoring drive, was named Super Bowl MVP

Super Bowl MVP

The Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Award, or Super Bowl MVP, is an award presented annually to the most valuable player of the Super Bowl, the National Football League's championship game. The winner is chosen by a fan vote during the game and by a panel of 16 American football writers and...

. He was the third Steelers receiver ever to win the award, following Lynn Swann

Lynn Swann

-Collegiate:Swann attended the University of Southern California, where he was an All-American on the Trojans football team. He played under legendary coach John McKay, including the 1972 undefeated and national championship season. McKay said of Swann, "He has speed, soft hands, and grace." He...

and Hines Ward

Hines Ward

Hines E. Ward, Jr. is an American football player who currently plays the wide receiver position for the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers, where he is the longest-tenured current player on the team. He was voted MVP of Super Bowl XL. He played college football at the University of Georgia...

.

The Cardinals entered the game seeking their first NFL title since 1947

NFL Championship Game, 1947

The 1947 National Football League Championship game was the 15th annual championship game and was held December 28, 1947 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. The attendance was 30,759. The game featured the Western Division champion Chicago Cardinals and the Eastern Division champion Philadelphia Eagles...

, the longest championship drought in the league. The club became an unexpected winner during the season and the playoffs with the aid of head coach Ken Whisenhunt

Ken Whisenhunt

Kenneth "Ken" Moore Whisenhunt is the current head coach of the Arizona Cardinals NFL football team, leading them to the first Super Bowl in franchise history during the 2008 season...

, who was the Steelers' offensive coordinator in Super Bowl XL

Super Bowl XL

, and the re-emergence of quarterback Kurt Warner

Kurt Warner

Kurtis Eugene "Kurt" Warner is a retired American football player. He played quarterback for three National Football League teams: the St. Louis Rams, the New York Giants, and the Arizona Cardinals. He was originally signed by the Green Bay Packers as an undrafted free agent in 1994 after playing...

, who was the Super Bowl MVP

Super Bowl MVP

in Super Bowl XXXIV

Super Bowl XXXIV

Super Bowl XXXIV featured the National Football Conference champion St. Louis Rams and the American Football Conference champion Tennessee Titans in an American football game to decide the National Football League champion for the 1999 regular season...

with his former team, St. Louis Rams

St. Louis Rams

The St. Louis Rams are a professional American football team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are currently members of the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Rams have won three NFL Championships .The Rams began playing in 1936 in Cleveland,...

.

Despite the global financial crisis and limited amount of ancillary festivities that are normally held before the game, the NBC television network

NBC

The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

broadcast attracted an average U.S. audience of 98.7 million viewers, making it the most watched Super Bowl in history to that point (now third behind Super Bowl XLIV

Super Bowl XLIV

Super Bowl XLIV was an American football game between the American Football Conference champion Indianapolis Colts and the National Football Conference champion New Orleans Saints to decide the National Football League champion for the 2009 season. The Saints defeated the Colts by a score of...

and Super Bowl XLV

Super Bowl XLV

Super Bowl XLV was an American football game between the American Football Conference champion Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football Conference champion Green Bay Packers to decide the National Football League champion for the 2010 season. The game was held at Cowboys Stadium in...

Host selection process

Tampa was selected for the game site on May 25, 2005, beating out three other finalists: Atlanta

Georgia Dome

The Georgia Dome is a domed stadium located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, between downtown to the east and Vine City to the west. It is primarily the home stadium for the NFL Atlanta Falcons and the NCAA Division I FCS Georgia State Panthers football team. It is owned and operated by the...

, Houston

Reliant Stadium

Reliant Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium, in Houston, Texas, USA. Reliant Stadium has a seating capacity of 71,500, a total square footage of with of natural grass playing surface....

, and Miami. Super Bowl XLIII was the second Super Bowl at this venue and the fourth overall in that city.

In February 2008, the Tampa Bay Super Bowl Host Committee unveiled the Super Bowl XLIII logo, featuring an abstract representation of a football stadium, with blue and green colors representing the regional waterways and landscapes of Tampa Bay. Eight yards of playing field are shown, alluding to the game's status as the championship of the 2008 NFL season. In a tradition starting with the Super Bowl XL

Super Bowl XL

logo, two stars — one red, representing the AFC, and one blue, representing the NFC — are flanked on either side of the Super Bowl XLIII logo. The tagline for Super Bowl XLIII as well as the 2008 NFL season

2008 NFL season

is "Believe In Now".

Teams

The seeds of Super Bowl XLIII can be traced back to the end of the 2006 season. After winning Super Bowl XL

Super Bowl XL

in 2005, the Pittsburgh Steelers fell to an 8–8 record the following year. At the end of 2006, Bill Cowher

Bill Cowher

William Laird "Bill" Cowher is a former American football coach and player. Cowher resigned after 15 seasons as the Steelers' coach on January 5, 2007, 11 months to the day after winning 2005–06's Super Bowl XL...

ended his 15-year tenure as their head coach, leaving with a 149–90–1 regular season record and a 12–9 record in the playoffs. Both offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt

Ken Whisenhunt

Kenneth "Ken" Moore Whisenhunt is the current head coach of the Arizona Cardinals NFL football team, leading them to the first Super Bowl in franchise history during the 2008 season...

and assistant head coach Russ Grimm

Russ Grimm

Russell Scott Grimm is a former American football guard for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League. As a collegian, he was an All-American center at the University of Pittsburgh. As a professional, Grimm had multi-selections to both the All-Pro and Pro Bowl teams, and was...

were widely considered the front-runners to succeed Cowher in Pittsburgh.

Without waiting to see if Pittsburgh would hire him, however, Whisenhunt accepted the head coaching job with the Arizona Cardinals, a team that held the second longest championship drought in U.S. sports (1947

1947 NFL season

The 1947 NFL season was the 28th regular season of the National Football League. The league expanded the regular season by one game from eleven games per team to twelve, a number that remained constant until the 1961 season....

, with only the Chicago Cubs

Chicago Cubs

The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...

last winning their championship in ) and had never advanced to the Super Bowl in their franchise history. The Steelers then passed over Grimm and instead hired Minnesota Vikings

Minnesota Vikings

The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings joined the National Football League as an expansion team in 1960...

defensive coordinator Mike Tomlin

Mike Tomlin

Michael Tomlin is the current head coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League. Tomlin is the third youngest head coach in any of the four major North American professional sports. He is the tenth African-American head coach in NFL history, and first in Steelers history...

. Once Tomlin was hired by the Steelers, Grimm joined Whisenhunt in Arizona in the same position as assistant head coach as he had in Pittsburgh, and the two of them began to remodel the perennial losing club into a winner like the Steelers.

Of historical note the game matched up two franchises previously merged into a single team, "Card-Pitt

Card-Pitt

Card-Pitt was the name for the team created by the temporary merger of two National Football League teams, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Chicago Cardinals, during the 1944 season. The teams were forced to merge, because both had lost many players to World War II military service...

", for the 1944 season

1944 NFL season

The 1944 NFL season was the 25th regular season of the United States National Football League. The Boston Yanks joined the league as an expansion team. Also, the Brooklyn Dodgers changed their name to Brooklyn Tigers. Meanwhile, both the Cleveland Rams and the Philadelphia Eagles resumed their...

in response to the depleted rosters during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. Pittsburgh was going for its sixth Super Bowl win, which would place it in sole possession of the record for most Super Bowl wins, while the Cardinals were seeking their first league title since 1947

NFL Championship Game, 1947

and only the second undisputed league championship in their history. (The then-Chicago Cardinals were named the NFL champions in 1925

1925 NFL Championship controversy

The 1925 National Football League Championship, officially held by the Chicago Cardinals, has been the subject of controversy since it was awarded. The controversy centers around the suspension of the Pottsville Maroons by NFL commissioner Joseph Carr, which prevented them from taking the title.The...

for finishing with the best record, but also because the Pottsville Maroons

Pottsville Maroons

The Pottsville Maroons were an American football team based in Pottsville, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1920, they went on to play in the National Football League for four seasons, from 1925–1928...

had been fined and suspended for playing a game against the Notre Dame

Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team is the football team of the University of Notre Dame. The team is currently coached by Brian Kelly.Notre Dame competes as an Independent at the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision level, and is a founding member of the Bowl Championship Series coalition. It is an...

football team in another NFL franchise's territory.) It was the third Super Bowl in history to feature two pre-expansion era (pre-1960) teams, joining Super Bowl XIV

Super Bowl XIV

Super Bowl XIV was an American football game played on January 20, 1980 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California to decide the National Football League champion following the 1979 regular season...

(Steelers vs. Los Angeles Rams

St. Louis Rams

, the latter of which coincidentally also went 9-7 in the regular season) and Super Bowl XLI

Super Bowl XLI

Super Bowl XLI was an American football game that featured the American Football Conference champion Indianapolis Colts and the National Football Conference champion Chicago Bears to decide the National Football League champion for the 2006 season...

(Indianapolis Colts

Indianapolis Colts

The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. They are currently members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League ....

vs. Chicago Bears

Chicago Bears

The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

). This game also featured the oldest franchise in the NFC playing the oldest franchise in the AFC. The Cardinals were founded in 1898 as an independent amateur team in Chicago. The Steelers, founded in 1933 as the Pittsburgh Pirates, are one of only three AFC teams that pre-date the 1960 NFL season. The Cardinals and Steelers played each other twice per season from 1960 through 1969, first in the Eastern Division (1960–66), then in the Century Division of the Eastern Conference (1967–69).

It also was the first time that two quarterbacks who previously started for a Super Bowl winning team (Kurt Warner

Kurt Warner

and Ben Roethlisberger

Ben Roethlisberger

Benjamin Todd "Ben" Roethlisberger , nicknamed Big Ben, is an American football quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Steelers in the first round in the 2004 NFL Draft...

) opposed one another since Jim Plunkett

Jim Plunkett

James William "Jim" Plunkett is a former American football quarterback who played college football for Stanford University, where he won the Heisman Trophy, and professionally for three National Football League teams: the New England Patriots, San Francisco 49ers and Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders. ...

's Los Angeles Raiders

Oakland Raiders

The Oakland Raiders are a professional American football team based in Oakland, California. They currently play in the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

defeated Joe Theisman's Washington Redskins

Washington Redskins

The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...

in Super Bowl XVIII

Super Bowl XVIII

Super Bowl XVIII was an American football game played on January 22, 1984, at Tampa Stadium in Tampa, Florida, deciding the National Football League champion following the 1983 regular season. The American Football Conference champion Los Angeles Raiders defeated the National Football Conference...

. Warner started for the St. Louis Rams

St. Louis Rams

in Super Bowl XXXIV

Super Bowl XXXIV

and Super Bowl XXXVI

Super Bowl XXXVI

Super Bowl XXXVI was an American football game played on February 3, 2002 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana to decide the National Football League champion following the 2001 regular season. The American Football Conference champion New England Patriots won their first Super...

, winning the first and losing the second one, while Roethlisberger was the winning quarterback in Super Bowl XL.

Pittsburgh Steelers

Under Tomlin's first season as head coach, the Steelers improved to a 10–6 record in 2007. Pittsburgh then finished the 2008 season with the second best record in the AFC at 12–4, making the playoffs for the sixth time in the last eight seasons, and went on to earn their seventh Super Bowl trip in franchise history, breaking a three-way tie with the New England Patriots and Denver Broncos for second most Super Bowl appearances and most Super Bowl appearances by an AFC team. By advancing to Super Bowl 45 the Steelers became tied with the Dallas Cowboys for most Super Bowl appearances ever (8).

The Steelers excelled on defense and led the NFL in fewest points (13.9) and yards (237.2) allowed per game, while also ranking second in sacks with 51. Up front, their line was anchored by defensive end Aaron Smith

Aaron Smith (American football)

Aaron Douglas Smith is a professional American football player with the Pittsburgh Steelers in the National Football League. He plays left defensive end in a 3-4 defensive alignment.-Pittsburgh Steelers:...

, who recorded 60 tackles and six sacks. Behind him two of the Steelers starting linebackers ranked among the top-ten sack leaders in the NFL, LaMarr Woodley (11.5 sacks) and Pro Bowler/NFL Defensive Player of the Year James Harrison (16 sacks). Pro Bowl linebacker James Farrior

James Farrior

James Alfred Farrior is an American football player who currently plays as an inside linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League. He played college football at the University of Virginia, and played with the New York Jets from 1997 to 2001.-Early years:Farrior was born...

was also a big contributor, recording 3.5 sacks and leading the team with 133 tackles. The Steelers secondary was led by pro bowl safety Troy Polamalu

Troy Polamalu

Troy Aumua Polamalu is an American football strong safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League. He was drafted in the first round of the 2003 NFL Draft by the Steelers. He played college football at the University of Southern California.-High school:Troy Polamalu graduated...

, who ranked second in the NFL with a career-high seven interceptions.

For the fifth year in a row the Steelers offense was led by quarterback Ben Roethlisberger

Ben Roethlisberger

, who finished the season with 3,301 passing yards and 17 touchdowns, with 15 interceptions. His top target was the Steelers all-time receiving leader Hines Ward

Hines Ward

, who recorded his fifth 1,000-yard season with 81 receptions for 1,043 yards and seven touchdowns. Other reliable receiving options included Santonio Holmes

Santonio Holmes

(55 receptions for 821 yards), Nate Washington

Nate Washington

Nate Washington is an American football wide receiver for the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League. He was signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers as an undrafted free agent in 2005...

(40 receptions for 631 yards), and tight end Heath Miller

Heath Miller

Earl Heath Miller, Jr. is an American football tight end for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the NFL. He was selected as the 30th overall pick of the 2005 NFL Draft out of the University of Virginia.-Early years:...

(48 receptions for 514 yards). The Steelers ground game was led by two-time pro bowl running back Willie Parker

Willie Parker

"Fast" Willie Everette Parker Jr. is an American football running back for the Virginia Destroyers of the United Football League. He was signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers as an undrafted free agent in 2004. He played college football at North Carolina...

, who had rushed for over 1,200 yards in each of his previous three seasons. Injuries in 2008 limited him to 791 yards in 11 games, but running back Mewelde Moore

Mewelde Moore

Mewelde Jaem Cadere Moore is an American football running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League. He was originally drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the fourth round of the 2004 NFL Draft...

proved to be a solid replacement, rushing for 588 yards and catching 40 passes for 320 yards.

For their efforts, Tomlin won the 2008 Motorola Coach Of The Year Award and Harrison was named the 2008 GMC Sierra Defensive Player Of The Year. The Steelers rolled into the post-season as the AFC's second seed, behind only the Tennessee Titans

Tennessee Titans

The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. They are members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Previously known as the Houston Oilers, the team began play in 1960 as a charter...

, who would finish 13–3 but lose in their divisional playoff game against the Baltimore Ravens

Baltimore Ravens

The Baltimore Ravens are a professional football franchise based in Baltimore, Maryland.The Baltimore Ravens are officially a quasi-expansion franchise, having originated in 1995 with the Cleveland Browns relocation controversy after Art Modell, then owner of the Cleveland Browns, announced his...

Arizona Cardinals

Under Whisenhunt's first season as head coach, the Cardinals finished with an 8–8 record in 2007. Arizona then finished the 2008 season with a 9–7 record and went on to earn their first trip to the Super Bowl in franchise history, becoming only the second NFL team

1979 Los Angeles Rams season

The 1979 Los Angeles Rams season was the team's 42nd year with the National Football League and the 34th season in Los Angeles. It was the final season for the franchise in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, as owner Carroll Rosenbloom previously announced the Rams would move to Anaheim Stadium for...

to do so with nine wins.

One reason for Arizona's success was the re-emergence of 37-year old quarterback Kurt Warner

Kurt Warner

. After going undrafted and spending a few years in the Arena Football League, Warner became the St. Louis Rams

St. Louis Rams

starting quarterback in 1999 due to a pre-season injury of starter Trent Green

Trent Green

Trent Jason Green is a retired professional American football quarterback. He was drafted by the San Diego Chargers in the eighth round of the 1993 NFL Draft. He played college football at Indiana University....

. He went on to lead the Rams to two Super Bowls and one Super Bowl win (in which Warner was named MVP), while also winning two NFL MVP awards. But in 2002, Warner's production was drastically reduced by injuries and he soon lost his starting job to Marc Bulger

Marc Bulger

Marc Robert Bulger [] is a former American football quarterback. He was drafted by the New Orleans Saints in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft. He played college football at West Virginia....

. He eventually left the team to join the New York Giants

New York Giants

The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

, but once again he lost his starting job (replaced by an ineffective Eli Manning) and signed on with the Cardinals in 2005. For the third time, Warner lost his starting job due to mediocre performances and injuries. After the season, Arizona selected Heisman

Heisman Trophy

The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award , is awarded annually to the player deemed the most outstanding player in collegiate football. It was created in 1935 as the Downtown Athletic Club trophy and renamed in 1936 following the death of the Club's athletic director, John Heisman The Heisman Memorial...

winning quarterback Matt Leinart

Matt Leinart

Matthew Stephen Leinart , is an American professional football quarterback for the Houston Texans of the National Football League...

with their first round draft pick. This, combined with another mediocre performance in the 2006 season, appeared to severely limit Warner's chances of ever being a permanent starter on the team. However, early in the 2007 season, Warner was thrust into the starting lineup to replace an injured Leinart, and by the end of the team's season, he had re-emerged as one of the top quarterbacks in the league, throwing 27 touchdown passes with a passer rating

Passer rating

Passer rating is a measure of the performance of quarterbacks or any other passers in American football and Canadian football. There are at least two formulae currently in use: one officially used by the National Football League and the Canadian Football League, and one used in college football...

of 89.8.

With his starting job on the team more secure, Warner posted one of his best seasons in 2008, throwing for 4,583 yards and 30 touchdowns, with only 14 interceptions, giving him an NFC best 96.9 rating. His top targets were receivers Larry Fitzgerald

Larry Fitzgerald

Larry Darnell Fitzgerald, Jr. is an American football wide receiver for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League, and currently ranks fourth all-time in league history in receiving yards per game for a career , behind Andre Johnson, Torry Holt, and Marvin Harrison...

(96 receptions, 1,431 yards, 12 touchdowns), Anquan Boldin

Anquan Boldin

-Arizona Cardinals:As a rookie Boldin set an NFL record for most receiving yards by a rookie in his first game , tied Billy Sims for most yards from scrimmage by a rookie in his first game , and holds the NFL record for most receptions in the first 26 games of an NFL career...

(89 receptions, 1,038 yards, 11 touchdowns), and Steve Breaston

Steve Breaston

Steven William Breaston is an American football wide receiver and punt returner for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Cardinals in the fifth round of the 2007 NFL Draft...

(77 receptions, 1,006 yards, three touchdowns, 904 special teams return yards), who made the Cardinals the fifth team ever to feature three players with over 1,000 receiving yards. The Cardinals ground game was led by veteran running back Edgerrin James

Edgerrin James

Edgerrin Tyree James is a former American football running back. He was drafted by the Indianapolis Colts fourth overall in the 1999 NFL Draft. He played college football at the University of Miami....

and rookie Tim Hightower

Tim Hightower

-Arizona Cardinals:Hightower scored 10 touchdowns during his rookie season, and another 3 in the post season while averaging a meager 2.8 yards per carry. He would rush for a total amount of 399 yards in 2008. Hightower would then become the only Cardinal rookie running back ever to have scored a...

. James led the team with 514 yards, while Hightower rushed for 399 and scored 10 touchdowns. He was also a reliable target out of the backfield, catching 34 passes for another 237 yards. Overall, Arizona's offense ranked fourth in yards per game (365.8) and third in scoring (422 points) in 2008.

The Cardinals defense, however, had played inconsistently during the regular season, ranking just 28th in points allowed. Up front their line was anchored by defensive lineman Bertrand Berry

Bertrand Berry

Bertrand Demond Berry is a retired American football defensive end who most recently played for the Arizona Cardinals.-Early years:Berry started his football career in the Humble Area Football League...

, who recorded five sacks and forced two fumbles, along with tackle Darnell Dockett

Darnell Dockett

Darnell Maurice Dockett is an American football defensive end who currently plays for the Arizona Cardinals of the NFL. Arizona picked him in the 3rd round of the 2004 NFL Draft...

, known for his ability to blow up running plays. Linebacker

Linebacker

A linebacker is a position in American football that was invented by football coach Fielding H. Yost of the University of Michigan. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up approximately three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage, behind the defensive linemen...

Karlos Dansby

Karlos Montez Dansby is an American football linebacker for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the second round of the 2004 NFL Draft...

was also a solid contributor, recording four sacks, two interceptions, and two forced fumbles, while also leading the team with 119 tackles. The Cardinals secondary was led by rookie cornerback

Cornerback

A cornerback is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in American and Canadian football. Cornerbacks cover receivers, to defend against pass offenses and make tackles. Other members of the defensive backfield include the safeties and occasionally linebackers. The cornerback position...

Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie

-Arizona Cardinals:Rodgers-Cromartie was drafted by the Cardinals in the first round of the 2008 NFL Draft. On July 25, he signed a 5-year, $15.1 million contract with the team that includes $9 million in guarantees. Rodgers-Cromartie was named the starting nickelback for the 2008 season, behind...

(who led the team with four interceptions) and Pro Bowl

Pro Bowl

In professional American football, the Pro Bowl is the all-star game of the National Football League . Since the merger with the rival American Football League in 1970, it has been officially called the AFC–NFC Pro Bowl, matching the top players in the American Football Conference against those...

safety Adrian Wilson (fourth on the team in tackles, 75).

Playoffs

Arizona advanced to the Super Bowl by beating the fifth-seeded Atlanta Falcons

Atlanta Falcons

The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They are a member of the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

30–24, the second-seeded Carolina Panthers

Carolina Panthers

The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They are currently members of the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Panthers, along with the Jacksonville Jaguars, joined the NFL as expansion...

, 33–13, and the sixth-seeded Philadelphia Eagles

Philadelphia Eagles

The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

, 32–25. Warner played exceptionally well in those games, throwing for a total of 661 yards and eight touchdowns, with only two interceptions, giving him a rating of 112.1. The Cardinals also got a big performance out of Larry Fitzgerald, who caught 23 passes for a postseason record 419 yards and five touchdowns. Meanwhile, Arizona's 28th-ranked defense showed major improvement in the postseason, forcing twelve turnovers in their three games. This included five interceptions and one fumble from Carolina's pro bowl quarterback Jake Delhomme

Jake Delhomme

Jake Christopher Delhomme is an American football quarterback for the Houston Texans of the National Football League. Delhomme played college football at Louisiana-Lafayette before being signed by the New Orleans Saints as an undrafted free agent in 1997...

in the divisional round.

The Cardinals became the third NFL team to advance to the Super Bowl after winning three playoff games despite winning its division; the Carolina Panthers

Carolina Panthers

in Super Bowl XXXVIII

Super Bowl XXXVIII

Super Bowl XXXVIII was an American football game played on February 1, 2004 at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas to decide the National Football League champion following the 2003 regular season....

and the Indianapolis Colts

Indianapolis Colts

in Super Bowl XLI

Super Bowl XLI

were the other two. In addition, they would become the first team to advance to the Super Bowl as both a division winner and a No. 4 seed. The Baltimore Ravens

Baltimore Ravens

were the last No. 4 seed to advance to a Super Bowl before this game, as they were the No. 4 seed in the AFC when they went on to win Super Bowl XXXV

Super Bowl XXXV

Super Bowl XXXV was played on January 28, 2001 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida to decide the National Football League champion following the 2000 regular season. The American Football Conference champion Baltimore Ravens defeated the National Football Conference champion New York...

, but were a wild-card

Wild card (sports)

The term wild card refers broadly to a tournament or playoff berth awarded to an individual or team that has not qualified through normal play.-International sports:...

team before the 2002 realignment

2002 NFL season

The 2002 NFL season was the 83rd regular season of the National Football League.The league went back to an even number of teams, expanding to 32 teams with the addition of the Houston Texans. The clubs were then realigned into eight divisions, four teams in each...

gave each conference four divisions.

Pittsburgh began their Super Bowl run with a 35–24 win over the fourth-seeded San Diego Chargers

San Diego Chargers

The San Diego Chargers are a professional American football team based in San Diego, California. they were members of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

, gaining 342 yards, avoiding any turnovers, holding the ball for 36:30 (including for 14:43 in the third quarter alone, an NFL record for a single quarter), and scoring a touchdown in every quarter. Also, Parker appeared to be fully recovered from his regular season injuries, as evidenced by his career postseason high 147-yard, two–touchdown performance against the Chargers. Pittsburgh then went on to beat, for the third time in the season, their AFC North

AFC North

The American Football Conference North Division, or AFC North, is a division of the National Football League's American Football Conference. It was created prior to the 1967 season as the NFL Century Division when the NFL split into four divisions...

division arch rivals, the sixth-seeded Baltimore Ravens

Baltimore Ravens

, 23–14, holding them to 184 yards and forcing five turnovers.

Super Bowl pre-game notes

The AFC Champion Steelers stayed at the InterContinental Tampa

InterContinental

InterContinental is a brand of upscale luxury hotels, founded by Pan American World Airways, under Juan Trippe, and now owned by InterContinental Hotels Group. The chain operates over 200 hotels and resorts in approximately 75 nations.-History:...

and held their pre-game practices at the training facility of the University of South Florida Bulls

South Florida Bulls football

The South Florida Bulls are a Division I FBS college football program that plays its home games in Tampa, Florida. The team began playing in 1997, holding its first team meeting under a shade tree as the school had no proper football facilities on campus...

. The NFC Champion Cardinals were based at the Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay

Hyatt

Hyatt Hotels Corporation , is an international operator of hotels.Hyatt Center is the headquarters for Hyatt corporation...

and held their practices at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football franchise based in Tampa, Florida, U.S. They are currently members of the Southern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League – they are the only team in the division not to come from the old NFC West...

' training facility. Both teams arrived in the Tampa area on Monday, January 26.

Also on January 26, the NFL announced that the Super Bowl game would be one of the safest places in the United States during game time. Personnel from over 20 different federal agencies were on site to assist in protecting players and fans.

Pittsburgh entered the game as seven-point favorites over Arizona. Major factors for this included the view that the Steelers' defense was better compared to the that of the Cardinals and the feeling that the AFC was an overall better conference than the NFC.

The Cardinals were the designated "home team," as was the case for all NFC champions in odd numbered Super Bowls. Arizona wore their red jerseys, which it has done at home since moving into University of Phoenix Stadium

University of Phoenix Stadium

University of Phoenix Stadium, opened August 1, 2006, is a multipurpose football stadium located in Glendale, Arizona. It is the home of the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League and the annual Fiesta Bowl...

in 2006

2006 Arizona Cardinals season

The 2006 Arizona Cardinals season began with the team trying to improve on their 5-11 record in 2005. They also moved into the Cardinals Stadium in Glendale, Arizona . The stadium was christened University of Phoenix Stadium on September 26...

after predominantly wearing their white jerseys at home

Sun Devil Stadium

Sun Devil Stadium is an outdoor football stadium, located on the campus of Arizona State University, in Tempe, Arizona, United States. The stadium's current seating capacity is 71,706 and the playing surface is natural grass...

for their first 18 years in Arizona

Arizona

Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...

to combat the intense heat of September and October. As a result, the Steelers wore white jerseys for their second consecutive Super Bowl.

Pittsburgh improved to 3–0 lifetime wearing white jerseys in the Super Bowl after the victory in Super Bowl XLIII (Pittsburgh would eventually lose to the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XLV while wearing white jerseys). The other two times the team wore white was as the "visiting team" against the Minnesota Vikings

Minnesota Vikings

The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings joined the National Football League as an expansion team in 1960...

in Super Bowl IX

Super Bowl IX

Super Bowl IX was an American football game played on January 12, 1975 at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana to decide the National Football League champion following the 1974 regular season. It would be the last pro game at legendary Tulane Stadium...

(during a time when the designated "home" team was required to wear their team colored jerseys) and against the Seattle Seahawks

Seattle Seahawks

The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle, Washington. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team joined the NFL in 1976 as an expansion team...

in Super Bowl XL

Super Bowl XL

despite being the "home team" that season but having road success in the playoffs. In addition, teams wearing white jerseys in the Super Bowl extended their winning streak to five games, dating back to Super Bowl XXXIX

Super Bowl XXXIX

Super Bowl XXXIX was an American football game played on February 6, 2005, at Alltel Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida, to decide the National Football League champion following the 2004 regular season...

, currently the longest such streak between white and team colored jerseys in Super Bowl history. Pittsburgh also improved to 3-0 lifetime against NFC West Division

NFC West

The NFC West is a division of the National Football League's National Football Conference. It currently has four members: Arizona Cardinals, St...

teams in the Super Bowl, having previously beaten the Los Angeles Rams

St. Louis Rams

in Super Bowl XIV

Super Bowl XIV

Super Bowl XIV was an American football game played on January 20, 1980 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California to decide the National Football League champion following the 1979 regular season...

and the Seahawks in XL.

Another pre-game storyline involved backup Steelers tight end

Tight end

The tight end is a position in American football on the offense. The tight end is often seen as a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like offensive linemen, they are usually lined up on the offensive line and are large enough to be...

/fullback

Fullback (American football)

A fullback is a position in the offensive backfield in American and Canadian football, and is one of the two running back positions along with the halfback...

Sean McHugh

Sean McHugh is an American football tight end/fullback who is currently a free agent. He most recently played for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the National Football League.-Early years:...

. McHugh, who spent the past three seasons with the Detroit Lions

Detroit Lions

The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and...

, made that team's 53-man roster at the end of the preseason, only to be released 24 hours later alongside linebacker

Linebacker

Anthony Cannon

Anthony Devon Cannon is a gridiron football linebacker for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League. He was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the seventh round of the 2006 NFL Draft...

in order for the Lions to make room for linebacker Ryan Nece

Ryan Nece

Ryan Clint Nece is an American football linebacker who is currently a free agent in the National Football League. He was signed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent in 2002...

and running back

Running back

A running back is a gridiron football position, who is typically lined up in the offensive backfield. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback for a rushing play, to catch passes from out of the backfield, and to block.There are usually one or two running...

Marcus Thomas

Marcus Thomas (running back)

Marcus Bernard Thomas is an American football running back who is currently a free agent. He was drafted by the San Diego Chargers in the fifth round of the 2008 NFL Draft...

. The Steelers promptly signed McHugh after the team traded

Trade (sports)

In professional sports, a trade is a sports league transaction involving an exchange of players' contracts or draft picks between teams. Cash is another commodity that may be packaged together with contracts or draft picks to complete a trade...

center

Center (American football)

Center is a position in American football and Canadian football . The center is the innermost lineman of the offensive line on a football team's offense...

Sean Mahan

Sean Christopher Mahan is an American football center who is currently a free agent. He was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the fifth round of the 2003 NFL Draft...

back to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

in exchange for a draft pick before the start of the season. The subsequent media attention surrounding McHugh had to do with him being deemed not good enough for the Lions (a team that would finish 0-16

2008 Detroit Lions season

The 2008 Detroit Lions season was the 79th season for the franchise in the National Football League. Although the Lions had a flawless preseason with a 4-0 record, the Lions became the first team in NFL history to compile an 0-16 record in regular season play. They were mathematically eliminated...

, the NFL's first imperfect season

Imperfect season

An imperfect season is defined as a team losing all of their games. It is the antithesis of a perfect season, and is often referred to as such in a tongue-in-cheek manner...

since the expansion

Expansion team

An expansion team is a brand new team in a sports league. The term is most commonly used in reference to the North American major professional sports leagues, but is applied to sports leagues worldwide that use a closed franchise system of league membership. The term comes from the expansion of the...

1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers

1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season

The NFL Tampa Bay Buccaneers played their debut season in 1976, making league history as the first team to play an entire 14-game season without winning or tying a single game. They did not score until their third game and did not score a touchdown until their fourth. They lost by a touchdown or...

), but good enough for a Super Bowl team such as the Steelers and being a valuable blocker for Ben Roethlisberger

Ben Roethlisberger

and Willie Parker

Willie Parker

. McHugh himself had mixed feelings about the situation, feeling bad for his former Lions teammates, but also feeling it's a little payback for the Lions for releasing him in the first place. McHugh would play in the Super Bowl as a blocker, much like his regular season role.

The Cardinals became the second team to have their city/state location painted in their end zone for a Super Bowl

Super Bowl

, as their end zone read Arizona Cardinals

Arizona Cardinals

. In Super Bowl XL

Super Bowl XL

, the Seattle Seahawks

Seattle Seahawks

became the first team to have this, as their end zone read Seattle Seahawks

Seattle Seahawks

. For all other Super Bowl teams, end zones have just featured the team nickname.

Economic effects

With all the cutbacks resulting from the severe economic downturn in the United States, the game was dubbed "The Recession Bowl." Restaurants were slow in business and many parties, including parties hosted by Playboy

Playboy

Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...

and Sports Illustrated

Sports Illustrated

Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...

were canceled. There were also 200 fewer sports journalists covering the game than at Super Bowl XLII

Super Bowl XLII

Super Bowl XLII was an American football game on February 3, 2008 that featured the National Football Conference champion New York Giants and the American Football Conference champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League champion for the 2007 season...

the previous year. According to the online broker StubHub

Stubhub

StubHub is an online marketplace owned by eBay, which provides services for buyers and sellers of tickets for sports, concerts, theater and other live entertainment events....

, tickets with a face value of $500 changed hands the week of the Super Bowl for an average $2,500 – a 40% drop from Super Bowl XLII

Super Bowl XLII

in 2008 and 16% lower than Super Bowl XL

Super Bowl XL

in 2006. Ford

Ford Motor Company

Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...

, Chrysler

Chrysler

Chrysler Group LLC is a multinational automaker headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan, USA. Chrysler was first organized as the Chrysler Corporation in 1925....

and General Motors

General Motors

General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...

, the Big Three automobile makers, decided not to purchase television advertisements following the three companies' business struggles in 2008 and early 2009.

United States

The game was televised live in the United States on NBC

NBC Sunday Night Football

NBC Sunday Night Football is a weekly television broadcast of Sunday evening National Football League games on NBC that began airing on Sunday, August 6, 2006 with the pre-season opening Hall of Fame Game. Al Michaels serves as the play-by-play announcer, with Cris Collinsworth as the color...

, the network's first Super Bowl broadcast since Super Bowl XXXII

Super Bowl XXXII

Super Bowl XXXII was an American football game played on January 25, 1998 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California to decide the National Football League champion following the 1997 regular season...

at the end of the 1997 season

1997 NFL season

The 1997 NFL season was the 78th regular season of the National Football League. The Oilers relocated from Houston, Texas to Nashville, Tennessee...

, and was available in 1080i

1080i

1080i is the shorthand name for a high-definition television mode. The i means interlaced video; 1080i differs from 1080p, in which the p stands for progressive scan. The term 1080i assumes a widescreen aspect ratio of 16:9, implying a frame size of 1920×1080 pixels...

high definition. Play-by-play announcer Al Michaels

Al Michaels

Alan Richard "Al" Michaels is an American television sportscaster. Now employed by NBC Sports after nearly three decades with ABC Sports, Michaels is one of the most prominent members of his profession...

and color commentator

Color commentator

A color commentator is a sports commentator who assists the play-by-play announcer, often by filling in any time when play is not in progress. The color analyst and main commentator will often exchange comments freely throughout the broadcast, when the play-by-play announcer is not describing the...

John Madden were in the booth, with Andrea Kremer

Andrea Kremer

Andrea Kremer is an American television sports journalist. She currently works as a correspondent on HBO's "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel." Until the 2011 season she worked as a sideline reporter for NBC on the network's coverage of Sunday Night Football.Kremer has covered more than 20 Super...

and Alex Flanagan

Alex Flanagan

Alex Flanagan is an American sportscaster who is a graduate of the University of Arizona and Salpointe Catholic High School in Tucson, Arizona...

serving as sideline reporter

Sideline reporter

A sideline reporter, also known as a field reporter, courtside reporter , clubhouse reporter or dugout reporter , rinkside reporter or inside-the-glass reporter , on-court reporter , hole reporter , or boundary rider , is a member of the...

s. The pre-game show – a record five hours long – was hosted by the Football Night in America

Football Night in America

Football Night in America is the studio pregame show usually preceding NBC's broadcasts of Sunday night and Wild Card Saturday National Football League games starting in the 2006 National Football League season...

team headed by Bob Costas

Bob Costas

Robert Quinlan "Bob" Costas is an American sportscaster, on the air for the NBC network since the early 1980s.-Early life:...

, and preceded by a two-hour special edition of Today hosted by the regular weekday team live from Tampa and the NFL Films

NFL Films

NFL Films is a Mount Laurel, New Jersey-based company devoted to producing commercials, television programs, feature films, and documentaries on the National Football League, as well as other unrelated major events and awards shows...

– produced Road to the Super Bowl. Matt Millen

Matt Millen

Matthew George "Matt" Millen is an American former National Football League linebacker and a former executive. Millen played for the Oakland Raiders, the San Francisco 49ers and the Washington Redskins. In Millen's 12-year NFL playing career, he played on four Super Bowl-winning teams...

was part of the coverage as a studio analyst. The Today contribution included portions of a taped interview with President Obama and pictures of troops viewing the proceedings in Iraq.

John Madden was the first person to have announced a Super Bowl for each of the four major U.S. television networks, having called five Super Bowls for CBS

NFL on CBS

The NFL on CBS is the brand name of the CBS television network's coverage of the National Football League's American Football Conference games, produced by CBS Sports.-Market coverage and television policies:...

, three for Fox

NFL on FOX

NFL on Fox is the brand name of the Fox Broadcasting Company's coverage of the National Football League's National Football Conference games, produced by Fox Sports...

, and two for ABC

Monday Night Football

Monday Night Football is a live broadcast of the National Football League on ESPN. From to it aired on ABC. Monday Night Football was, along with Hallmark Hall of Fame, and the Walt Disney anthology television series, one of the longest running prime time commercial network television series...

prior to joining NBC in 2006

2006 NFL season

The 2006 NFL season was the 87th regular season of the National Football League.Regular season play was held from September 7 to December 31, 2006...

. Meanwhile, Al Michaels was the third man to do play-by-play for a Super Bowl on NBC television (following in the footsteps of Curt Gowdy

Curt Gowdy

Curtis Edward "Curt" Gowdy was an American sportscaster, well known as the longtime "voice" of the Boston Red Sox and for his coverage of many nationally-televised sporting events, primarily for NBC Sports in the 1960s and 1970s.-Early years:The son of a manager for the Union Pacific railroad,...

and Dick Enberg

Dick Enberg

Richard Alan "Dick" Enberg is an American sportscaster. He currently provides play-by-play for telecasts of San Diego Padres baseball on 4SD, following a long career calling various sports for such networks as NBC, CBS, and ESPN...

). Also, Michaels became the second person (after Pat Summerall

Pat Summerall

George Allen "Pat" Summerall is a former American football player and television sportscaster, having worked at CBS, Fox, and ESPN.Summerall is best known for his work with John Madden on NFL telecasts for CBS and Fox.-High school:...

on CBS

NFL on CBS

and Fox

NFL on FOX

NFL on Fox is the brand name of the Fox Broadcasting Company's coverage of the National Football League's National Football Conference games, produced by Fox Sports...

) to be the lead Super Bowl play-by-play announcer for two different major U.S. networks (ABC

Monday Night Football

and NBC

NBC Sunday Night Football

). This would prove to be the final game Madden would call, as he announced his retirement from broadcasting on April 16, 2009.

The Super Bowl was one of two major professional sports championship series NBC

NBC Sports

NBC Sports is the sports division of the NBC television network. Formerly "a service of NBC News," it broadcasts a diverse array of programs, including the Olympic Games, the NFL, the NHL, MLS, Notre Dame football, the PGA Tour, the Triple Crown, and the French Open, among others...

broadcast in 2009, as they would also broadcast the Stanley Cup Finals

2009 Stanley Cup Finals

The Red Wings took Game 1, 3–1, as three different Detroit players scored goals off of unusual bounces. The first period featured back and forth action, with each team having a variety of chances...

. Both championship series involved teams from Pittsburgh winning championships. Mike Emrick

Mike Emrick

Michael "Doc" Emrick, is an American sports commentator noted mostly for his work in ice hockey. Emrick is currently the lead announcer for NHL national telecasts on both NBC and Versus...

, Ed Olczyk

Ed Olczyk

Edward Walter "Eddie" Olczyk is an American former head coach for the National Hockey League Pittsburgh Penguins and former center for Toronto Maple Leafs, Winnipeg Jets, New York Rangers, Los Angeles Kings, Chicago Blackhawks and Pittsburgh Penguins...

, and Pierre McGuire

Pierre McGuire

Pierre McGuire , is an ice hockey analyst for National Hockey League broadcasts on NBC and Versus in the United States. Until 2011, he was a prominent hockey analyst on The Sports Network in Canada. Previously, he was a player, coach, and scout.-Hockey career:McGuire won two Stanley Cups as a scout...

mentioned this when they called the Stanley Cup Finals.

Super Bowl XLIII was the final Super Bowl to air in the analog television

Analog television

Analog television is the analog transmission that involves the broadcasting of encoded analog audio and analog video signal: one in which the message conveyed by the broadcast signal is a function of deliberate variations in the amplitude and/or frequency of the signal...

format in the United States before the nationwide digital television transition

DTV transition in the United States

The DTV transition in the United States was the switchover from analog to exclusively digital broadcasting of free over-the-air television programming...

. The transition, originally scheduled for February 17 was pushed back to June 12, the same day the Penguins won the Stanley Cup.

With an average U.S. audience of 98.7 million viewers (and an estimated total viewership of 151.6 million), this was the third most watched Super Bowl in history, and the fourth most watched U.S. television program of any kind, trailing only Super Bowl XLV

Super Bowl XLV

in 2011, which drew an average audience of 111 million; Super Bowl XLIV

Super Bowl XLIV

in 2010, average audience 106.5 million; and the final episode of M*A*S*H in 1983, average audience 106 million. However, the national Nielsen rating of 42.0 was lower than the 43.3 rating for the previous year's game. The telecast drew a 53.6 rating in Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...

and a 47.5 rating in Phoenix

Phoenix, Arizona

Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...

, first and ninth respectively among local markets.

In Tucson, Arizona

Tucson, Arizona

Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...

and surrounding areas, the analog but not digital feed of the Comcast

Comcast

Comcast Corporation is the largest cable operator, home Internet service provider, and fourth largest home telephone service provider in the United States, providing cable television, broadband Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers in 39 states and the...

cable service was interrupted by an unknown party, when 30 seconds from Playboy Enterprises

Playboy Enterprises

Playboy Enterprises, Inc. is a privately held global media and lifestyle company founded by Hugh Marston Hefner to manage the Playboy magazine empire. Its programming and content are available worldwide on television networks, Websites, mobile platforms and radio...

-owned adult cable television channel Shorteez

Spice Network

The Spice Networks is a group of pornographic pay-per-view channels available via cable, IPTV and satellite services, and available in more than 72 countries including the United States and New Zealand...

was broadcast to homes just after Larry Fitzgerald scored his fourth quarter touchdown to give the Cardinals a 23-20 lead. Minutes before this occurred, 10 seconds of an end credit segment from ClubJenna

ClubJenna

ClubJenna, Inc. is a multi-media adult entertainment company based in Scottsdale, Arizona. It was founded in 2000 by adult film actress Jenna Jameson, and Jay Grdina, who performed as an adult film actor under the name Justin Sterling and today is president of ClubJenna, Inc...

, another Playboy-owned channel, was shown. Comcast offered a $10 credit for customers who claimed to have seen the incident, and the Federal Communications Commission

Federal Communications Commission

The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...

announced that it would investigate the cause of the incident. On February 4, 2011, Tucson Police and the FBI arrested Frank Tanori Gonzalez on suspicion of fraud and computer tampering in connection with the porn incident.

The telecast was also carried to U.S. service personnel stationed around the globe via the American Forces Network

American Forces Network

The American Forces Network is the brand name used by the United States Armed Forces American Forces Radio and Television Service for its entertainment and command internal information networks worldwide...

Commercials

In addition to featuring the game's first 1-second TV ad (courtesy of Miller High Life), Super Bowl XLIII marked the first time that a 30-second commercial time slot cost up to US $

United States dollar

The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....

3 million for the airtime alone, excluding production and talent costs. Many traditional advertisers, such as Anheuser-Busch

Anheuser-Busch

Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc. , is an American brewing company. The company operates 12 breweries in the United States and 18 in other countries. It was, until December 2009, also one of America's largest theme park operators; operating ten theme parks across the United States through the...

and PepsiCo

PepsiCo

PepsiCo Inc. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Purchase, New York, United States, with interests in the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of grain-based snack foods, beverages, and other products. PepsiCo was formed in 1965 with the merger of the Pepsi-Cola Company...

, bought multiple ads at discounted rates. None of the "Big Three" U.S. automakers (General Motors

General Motors

, Ford

Ford Motor Company

, and Chrysler) ran advertisements during the game. A short trailer for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is a 2009 American science fiction-action film directed by Michael Bay and produced by Steven Spielberg. It is the sequel to the 2007 film Transformers and the second installment in the live-action Transformers series...

premiered during the Super Bowl, a debut which director Michael Bay

Michael Bay

Michael Benjamin Bay is an American film director and producer. He is known for directing high-budget action films characterized by their fast edits, stylistic visuals and substantial practical special effects...

first revealed would occur in January. A preview of the upcoming Star Trek film also premiered during the game. However, with the weak economy, NBC was thought to have turned to companies already buying ad time for an additional purchase or two as set by the Los Angeles-based Forza Migliozzi agency, which would have eight advertisers simultaneously in one 30-second ad. SoBe and DreamWorks Animation

DreamWorks Animation

DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. is an American animation studio based in Glendale, California that creates animated feature films, television program and online virtual worlds...

aired a 3-D trailer for the upcoming film Monsters vs. Aliens

Monsters vs. Aliens

Monsters vs. Aliens is a 2009 American computer-animated 3-D science fiction film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures...

, along with a 3-D ad for Sobe Life Water that featured Ray Lewis and Todd Light dancing Swan Lake

Swan Lake

Swan Lake ballet, op. 20, by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, composed 1875–1876. The scenario, initially in four acts, was fashioned from Russian folk tales and tells the story of Odette, a princess turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer's curse. The choreographer of the original production was Julius Reisinger...

(renamed Lizard Lake for this ad), as well as the promo for the upcoming episode of Chuck in 3D

Chuck (TV series)

Chuck is an action-comedy/spy-drama television program from the United States created by Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak. The series is about an "average computer-whiz-next-door" named Chuck, played by Zachary Levi, who receives an encoded e-mail from an old college friend now working for the Central...

. About 150 million "ColorCode 3-D" glasses were given away at grocery stores across the country for the ad. Hyundai also advertised its new Genesis Coupe

Hyundai Genesis Coupe

The Hyundai Genesis Coupé is a rear-wheel drive sports coupe from Hyundai Motor Company, released on October 13, 2008 for the Korean market. It is Hyundai's first rear-wheel drive sports coupe, and shares its basic platform with the Hyundai Genesis luxury sedan....

in two 30-second commercials. All advertising slots were sold out one day before the game, resulting in sales of $206 million.

The top five ads as chosen by the USA Today Super Bowl Ad Meter

USA Today Super Bowl Ad Meter

The USA Today Super Bowl Ad Meter is an annual survey taken of television commercials by the USA Today newspaper in a live poll during the telecast in the United States of the annual professional American football championship game of the National Football League...

were:

Doritos
Doritos
Doritos is a brand of seasoned tortilla chips created by Arch West and produced since 1964 by the American food company Frito-Lay ....

' fan-made ad about "free Doritos" being seen in a "crystal ball", with different results for two co-workers. Joseph and Dave Herbert from Batesville, Indiana
Batesville, Indiana
Batesville is a city in Franklin and Ripley counties in the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 6,520 at the 2010 census. Both the Batesville Casket Company and the Hill-Rom hospital bed manufacturer are headquartered in this town...

, creators of the ad, won US $1,000,000;
Budweiser
Budweiser (Anheuser-Busch)
Budweiser is a 5.0% abv American-style lager introduced in 1876 by Adolphus Busch and one of the highest selling beers in the United States. It is made with up to 30% rice in addition to hops and barley malt. Budweiser is produced in various breweries located around the world...

's Clydesdale love affair with a dancing horse;
Another Budweiser ad seeing another Clydesdale playing fetch showing off after the beer wagon's Dalmatian fetches a small stick;
A Bridgestone
Bridgestone
The is a multinational rubber conglomerate founded in 1931 by in the city of Kurume, Fukuoka, Japan. The name Bridgestone comes from a calque translation and transposition of ishibashi, meaning "stone bridge" in Japanese....

ad with Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head
Mr. Potato Head
Mr. Potato Head! is an American toy consisting of a plastic model of a potato which can be decorated with a variety of plastic parts that can attach to the main body. These parts usually include ears, eyes, shoes, a hat, a nose, and a mouth. The toy was invented and developed by George Lerner in...

driving in a toy car on a twisty road;
Another Doritos ad that shows the power of crunch with a woman being stripped down to her underwear, free money from an ATM
Automated teller machine
An automated teller machine or automatic teller machine, also known as a Cashpoint , cash machine or sometimes a hole in the wall in British English, is a computerised telecommunications device that provides the clients of a financial institution with access to financial transactions in a public...

and a policeman being turned into a monkey.

YouTube

YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....

's top five in "Ad Blitz 2009" also saw the two Doritos ads finish first and fifth. The middle three featured E*Trade's Singing Baby ad, CareerBuilder.com

CareerBuilder

CareerBuilder.com is the largest online employment website in the United States, with more than 23 million unique visitors each month and a 34% market share of help-wanted web sites in the United States. CareerBuilder.com provides online career search services for more than 1,900 partners as of...

's "The Official 2009 Super Bowl Commercial" and Pepsi Max

Pepsi Max

Pepsi Max is a low-calorie, sugar-free cola, marketed by PepsiCo as an alternative to Pepsi and Diet Pepsi.It differs from Pepsi in that it contains aspartame, potassium benzoate, acesulfame potassium, calcium disodium EDTA and panax ginseng extract while it does not contain high fructose corn...

's "I'm Good" finish second through fourth respectively.

ADBOWL

ADBOWL

ADBOWL is an online, real-time website that tracks what consumers think of the commercials that air during major television events such as the Super Bowl and the Academy Awards...

results reflected the following ranking:

Bridgestone: Taters
Bridgestone: Hot Item
Doritos: Crystal Ball
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke...

: Heist
Pepsi Max: I’m Good

International telecasts

Albania: SuperSport
Australia: NFL Network coverage was simulcasted on ESPN Australia
ESPN Australia
ESPN Australia is a 24 hour sports channel offered in Australia and New Zealand.Initially, ESPN was known as Sports ESPN on the Optus Vision cable television system, and focused on sports aired by its home network in the United States, including American football, baseball, and basketball...

on Foxtel
Foxtel
Foxtel is an Australian pay television company, operating cable, direct broadcast satellite television and IPTV services. It was formed in 1995 through a joint venture established between Telstra and News Corporation....

and Austar
Austar
Austar is an Australian telecommunications company. Its main business activity is Subscription Television but it is also involved with internet access and mobile phones...

. NBC commentary and graphics were simulcast free-to-air on Network Ten
Network Ten
Network Ten , is one of Australia's three major commercial television networks. Owned-and-operated stations can be found in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, while affiliates extend the network to cover most of the country...

and Ten HD
Ten HD
Ten HD was an Australian free-to-air television channel that launched on 16 December 2007. The channel was available to high definition digital television viewers through owned-and-operated stations in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth...

. The Ten broadcast was anchored by a four-man panel from Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

that included analysis from Philadelphia Eagles
Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

punter, Australian Sav Rocca. Also shown on SBS
Special Broadcasting Service
The Special Broadcasting Service is a hybrid-funded Australian public broadcasting radio and television network. The stated purpose of SBS is "to provide multilingual and multicultural radio and television services that inform, educate and entertain all Australians and, in doing so, reflect...

starting at 10am Australian Eastern Standard Time.
Austria: ORF1
ORF1
ORF eins is an Austrian television channel. It was the first television channel in Austria, started in 1955.ORF eins is one of four public TV channels in Austria. ORF eins broadcasts TV series and featured films, whereas ORF2 focuses on cultural programming and information. ORF Sport Plus is the...

, ORF1 HD (00:00 CET
Central European Time
Central European Time , used in most parts of the European Union, is a standard time that is 1 hour ahead of Coordinated Universal Time . The time offset from UTC can be written as +01:00...

).
Brazil: ESPN Brasil
ESPN Brasil
ESPN Brasil is a Brazilian cable television network. Launched in June 1995 through a joint venture between ESPN Inc. and Grupo Abril's television arm TVA, ESPN Brasil was the first country-specific version of ESPN outside the United States. Today, the network has 12.2 million subscribers...

. Paulo Antunes (commentating), Everaldo Marques (play-by-play) and André Kfouri (on field).
Canada: English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

network CTV
CTV television network
CTV Television Network is a Canadian English language television network and is owned by Bell Media. It is Canada's largest privately-owned network, and has consistently placed as Canada's top-rated network in total viewers and in key demographics since 2002, after several years trailing the rival...

aired the game live throughout Canada, simulcasting
Simultaneous substitution
Simultaneous substitution is a practice mandated by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission requiring Canadian cable, direct broadcast satellite and multichannel multipoint distribution service television distribution companies to substitute the signal of a foreign or...

the NBC broadcast, with Canadian law requiring cable and satellite providers to replace NBC's broadcast with CTV's feed (which contains Canadian commercials). The French language
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

cable channel RDS
Réseau des sports
Réseau des sports , is a Canadian French language Category C specialty channel showing sports and sport-related shows. It is available in 2.5 million homes, and is owned by CTV Specialty Television Inc....

(also owned by CTV) carried the game using NBC's video feed and its own announcers.
Mainland China: CCTV Sports
CCTV-5
CCTV-5 , also known as the Sports Channel, part of the China Central Television family of networks, is the main sports broadcaster in the People's Republic of China. CCTV-5 began broadcasting on 1 January 1995...

, China Central Television
China Central Television
China Central Television or Chinese Central Television, commonly abbreviated as CCTV, is the major state television broadcaster in mainland China. CCTV has a network of 19 channels broadcasting different programmes and is accessible to more than one billion viewers...

and SMG
Shanghai Media Group
Shanghai Media Group , under the Shanghai Media & Entertainment Group , is a multimedia television and radio broadcasting, news and Internet company...

(07:00, 2 February Beijing Time). Mainland only.
Independent State of Croatia: SportKlub (23:55 CET
Central European Time
Central European Time , used in most parts of the European Union, is a standard time that is 1 hour ahead of Coordinated Universal Time . The time offset from UTC can be written as +01:00...

.)
Czech Republic and Slovakia: Nova Sport
Denmark: TV3+
TV3+ (Denmark)
TV3+ Denmark is a general entertainment channel owned by Modern Times Group broadcasting to Denmark.TV3+ has its origins in the youth channel ZTV and women's channel TV6 that were launched in the mid-1990s when Kinnevik invested heavily in new free-to-air channels. In April 1996, Danish ZTV, TV6...
Europe: ESPN America
Finland: Viasat Sport 1
Viasat Sport 1
Viasat Sport is a group of sports channels broadcasting from the United Kingdom. The channels are targeting the Scandinavian and Baltic countries, though the primary market of the channels is Sweden. This article concentrates on Viasat Sport channels in Sweden....

, Viasat Sport HD
Early Modern France: France 2
France 2
France 2 is a French public national television channel. It is part of the state-owned France Télévisions group, along with France 3, France 4, France 5 and France Ô...

.
Germany: ARD Das Erste
Das Erste
Erstes Deutsches Fernsehen , marketed as Das Erste , is the principal publicly owned television channel in Germany...

(00:10 CET
Central European Time
Central European Time , used in most parts of the European Union, is a standard time that is 1 hour ahead of Coordinated Universal Time . The time offset from UTC can be written as +01:00...

.)
Hungary: Sport 1
Sport 1
Sport 1 is a European sports channel which is currently available in Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Romania broadcasting in different languages...

(Hungarian)
Iceland: Stöð 2 Sport
Stöð 2 Sport
Stöð 2 Sport is an Icelandic television channel that broadcast sports in Iceland. Stöð 2 Sport mainly shows football games but also shows a wide variety of different sports. Stöð 2 Sport costs 6.400 kr per month which is about $55. Stöð 2 Sport is only broadcast in Iceland and only in Icelandic...
Republic of Ireland: TV3
TV3 Ireland
TV3 is a free-to-air commercial television network in the Republic of Ireland. Launched on 20 September 1998 it was Ireland's first commercial broadcaster. The channel is owned by TV3 Group a subsidiary of Doughty Hanson & Co.-The TV3 Group:...

(23:00 GMT
Greenwich Mean Time
Greenwich Mean Time is a term originally referring to mean solar time at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London. It is arguably the same as Coordinated Universal Time and when this is viewed as a time zone the name Greenwich Mean Time is especially used by bodies connected with the United...

.)
Italy: Rai Due
Rai Due
Rai 2 is one of the three main television channels broadcast by Italian public television company RAI alongside with Rai 1 and Rai 3. Rai 2 first started transmissions on November 4, 1961...

and Rai Sport Più
Rai Sport Più
Rai Sport 1 is an Italian sports TV channel, launched in 1999 by the state-owned RAI television network. It broadcast Italian and international sports events in Italy on DTT channel 57 on Mux Rai B...

(00:00 CET
Central European Time
Central European Time , used in most parts of the European Union, is a standard time that is 1 hour ahead of Coordinated Universal Time . The time offset from UTC can be written as +01:00...

), with Valerio Iafrate and Roberto Gotta, RAI's NFL hosts, as commentators. The digital transmission was in 16:9 and HD
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...

(where available).
Japan: NHK
NHK
NHK is Japan's national public broadcasting organization. NHK, which has always identified itself to its audiences by the English pronunciation of its initials, is a publicly owned corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee....

, Nippon Television
Nippon Television
is a television network based in the Shiodome area of Minato, Tokyo, Japan and is controlled by the Yomiuri Shimbun publishing company. Broadcasting terrestrially across Japan, the network is commonly known as , contracted to , and abbreviated as "NTV" or "AX".-Offices:*The Headquarters : 6-1,...

and Gaora. (08:00, 2 February JST
Japan Standard Time
Japan Standard Time or JST is the standard timezone of Japan, and is 9 hours ahead of UTC. For example, when it is midnight in UTC, it is 09:00 in Japan Standard Time. There is no daylight saving time, though its introduction has been debated several times. Japan Standard Time is the same as...

)
Mexico: The game was broadcast on both Televisa
Televisa
Televisa is a Mexican multimedia conglomerate, the largest mass media company in Latin America and in the Spanish-speaking world. It is a major international entertainment business, with much of its programming airing in the United States on Univision, with which it has an exclusive contract...

and TV Azteca
TV Azteca
Azteca, is the second largest Mexican television entertainment. It was established in 1983 as the state-owned Instituto Mexicano de la Televisión , a holding of the national TV networks channel 13 and 7 and was privatized under its current name in 1993 and now is part of Grupo Salinas...

, with both telecasts distributed in HDTV.
Kingdom of Montenegro: SportKlub (cable), Elmag (terrestrial) (23:55 CET
Central European Time
Central European Time , used in most parts of the European Union, is a standard time that is 1 hour ahead of Coordinated Universal Time . The time offset from UTC can be written as +01:00...

.)
New Zealand: ESPN Australia
ESPN Australia
ESPN Australia is a 24 hour sports channel offered in Australia and New Zealand.Initially, ESPN was known as Sports ESPN on the Optus Vision cable television system, and focused on sports aired by its home network in the United States, including American football, baseball, and basketball...

(NFL Network commentators, graphics/NBC simulcast)
Norway: Viasat Sport
Viasat Sport (Norway)
Viasat Sport is a Norwegian television channel.The channel launched on 17 October 2008, when Viasat re-tooled their sports channels in Norway and Sweden...

, Viasat Sport HD (00:00 CET
Central European Time
Central European Time , used in most parts of the European Union, is a standard time that is 1 hour ahead of Coordinated Universal Time . The time offset from UTC can be written as +01:00...

.)
Peru: ESPN
ESPN Latin America
ESPN Latin America is an ESPN channel that broadcasts in Latin America, not to be confused with ESPN Deportes, which is another channel which broadcasts in the United States in Spanish. ESPN Latin America is not available in the U.S., because is not authorized to air most of the programming seen on...

, Fox Sports Latin America.
Philippines: Balls
Balls (TV channel)
Balls is a Filipino sports television network owned by Creative Programs, Inc., a subsidiary of ABS-CBN. It is managed by the sports division of ABS-CBN Corporation, ABS-CBN Sports. The channel operates non-stop 24/7.-History:...

and Solar Sports
Solar Sports
Solar Entertainment Corporation which also created its sister stations, Talk TV, The Game Channel, ETC, 2nd Avenue, Jack TV, Universal Channel, Diva Universal & Basketball TV, Solar Sports or the Solar Sports Network is a Philippine sports channel owned by Solar Entertainment Corporation...

(both live using the feed from the NFL Network); C/S 9
Radio Philippines Network
Radio Philippines Network, Inc. is a broadcast television network in the Philippines co-owned by the Government Communications Group, Solar Entertainment Corporation, Far East Managers and Investors Inc., and private sectors. This station studios are located at Broadcast City, Old Balara, Capitol...

(delayed)
Poland: Nsport HD
Portugal: Sport TV
Sport TV
SportTV is the brand name for a group of seven Portuguese sports-oriented television channels. SportTV is the dominant subscription television sports brand in Portugal. The first channel, then known as only SportTV, was launched on 16 September 1998 and is produced by ZON Multimédia and...

. Also in high-definition (16:9.) (23:00 WET
Western European Time
Western European Time , defined legally as Greenwich Mean Time in the United Kingdom, is the time zone covering parts of western and northwestern Europe, and includes the following countries and regions:...

)
Russia: 7TV, NTV Plus Sport
NTV Plus Sport
NTV Plus Sport is Russia's first dedicated sports channel. It is a part of the NTV Plus network....

and NTV Plus HD Sport
Serbia: SportKlub (23:55 CET
Central European Time
Central European Time , used in most parts of the European Union, is a standard time that is 1 hour ahead of Coordinated Universal Time . The time offset from UTC can be written as +01:00...

.)
Singapore with Hong Kong, Malaysia and Indonesia: ASN (All Sports Network)
South Korea: SBS Sports (08:00, 2 February KST
Korea Standard Time
Korea Standard Time is the standard time zone in North and South Korea and is 9 hours ahead of UTC : i.e., when it is midnight UTC, it is 9 am Korea Standard Time. Korea does not currently observe daylight saving time but has experimented with it in the past...

)
Spain: Digital+ in HD (00:00 CET
Central European Time
Central European Time , used in most parts of the European Union, is a standard time that is 1 hour ahead of Coordinated Universal Time . The time offset from UTC can be written as +01:00...

)
Sweden: TV6, Viasat Sport, Viasat Sport HD (00:00 CET
Central European Time
Central European Time , used in most parts of the European Union, is a standard time that is 1 hour ahead of Coordinated Universal Time . The time offset from UTC can be written as +01:00...

.)
Republic of China: Videoland Television Network
Videoland Television Network
Videoland Television Network is a cable network program provider in Taiwan, founded in 1983 by Koos Group. Videoland is one of Taiwan's major satellite television providers, offering seven channels of programming...

aired the game live at 07:00AM, 2 February UTC +8.
Turkey: Spormax. Also in High-definition [16.9] {01.00 EET
Eastern European Time
Eastern European Time is one of the names of UTC+02:00 time zone, 2 hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time. It is used in some European countries that also use Eastern European Summer Time as a summer daylight saving time.- Usage :...

}

United Kingdom: The game was broadcast on Sky Sports
Sky Sports
Sky Sports is the brand name for a group of sports-oriented television channels operated by the UK and Ireland's main satellite pay-TV company, British Sky Broadcasting. Sky Sports is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland...

and on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...

with programming starting at 22:00 and at 23:00 GMT
Greenwich Mean Time
Greenwich Mean Time is a term originally referring to mean solar time at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London. It is arguably the same as Coordinated Universal Time and when this is viewed as a time zone the name Greenwich Mean Time is especially used by bodies connected with the United...

respectively. This was one of only two NFL games broadcast on the BBC, the other being the international series. Coverage was presented by Jake Humphrey
Jake Humphrey
Jacob John "Jake" Humphrey is an English television presenter, currently best known for his work with BBC Sport, being the youngest ever presenter to host Football Focus, Match of the Day and Final Score. He currently presents the BBC's Formula One coverage and BBC Sports Personality of the Year...

live from the venue, with summarizers Rod Woodson
Rod Woodson
Roderick Kevin "Rod" Woodson is the current cornerbacks coach for the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League. He is also a former defensive back best known for his 10-year stint with the Pittsburgh Steelers as well as being a key member of the Baltimore Ravens Super Bowl XXXV championship...

and Mike Carlson
Mike Carlson
Mike Carlson is the regular pundit of National Football League coverage for the United Kingdom's Channel 4 TV station, having formerly worked on Channel Five's coverage of the sport from 1998-2010. He is originally from Connecticut, USA.- Career :...

. Sky Sports' NFL host, Kevin Cadle
Kevin Cadle
Kevin Cadle is a sports presenter and former basketball coach.Cadle presents American Football and basketball on British television after a career in which he became the most successful coach in UK basketball history with 30 titles attained...

, was in the studio with guests throughout the event, with co-presenter Nick Halling
Nick Halling
Nick Halling is a British sports broadcaster and journalist. He is a boxing commentator for Sky Sports and presented their American football for 15 years, as well as ice hockey, ten-pin bowling and numerous other events....

in Tampa providing analysis live from the event.

An international feed featured Bob Papa

Bob Papa

Bob Papa is an American sportscaster. Papa is employed by NFL Network, HBO, and the New York Giants.-Biography:Papa grew up in Dumont, New Jersey and graduated from Bergen Catholic High School in nearby Oradell...

and Sterling Sharpe

Sterling Sharpe

Sterling Sharpe is a former American football wide receiver and an analyst for the NFL Network. He attended the University of South Carolina, and played from 1988 to 1994 with the Green Bay Packers.-Early life:...

announcing, and was seen in 230 countries (including Antarctica) over 61 networks and 34 languages. ESPN Latin America

ESPN Latin America

ESPN Latin America is an ESPN channel that broadcasts in Latin America, not to be confused with ESPN Deportes, which is another channel which broadcasts in the United States in Spanish. ESPN Latin America is not available in the U.S., because is not authorized to air most of the programming seen on...

also broadcasted across Latin America.

Radio

On radio, Westwood One

NFL on Westwood One

The NFL on Westwood One is the brand name given to weekly National Football League games carried on the radio over the Dial Global Radio Network...

had the national English-language broadcast rights to the game in the United States and Canada. It was only made available to local affiliates as part of a 57-game package of regular season and post-season games. Stations were not allowed to stream the broadcast on their web sites. Marv Albert

Marv Albert

Marv Albert is an American television and radio sportscaster. Honored for his work as a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, he is commonly referred to as "the voice of basketball." From 1967–2004, he was also known as "the voice of the New York Knicks."Including Super Bowl XLII, Marv has called...

and Boomer Esiason

Boomer Esiason

Norman Julius "Boomer" Esiason is a former American football quarterback and current network color commentator. He played for the National Football League's Cincinnati Bengals, New York Jets, and Arizona Cardinals before working as an analyst for ABC and HBO...

called the game for the network. The teams' flagship station

Flagship station

In broadcasting, a flagship is the broadcast which originates a television network, or a particular radio show or TV show, primarily in the United States and Canada. This includes both direct network feeds and broadcast syndication, but generally not backhauls...

s also carried the game with their respective local announcers: WDVE-FM

WDVE

WDVE is a mainstream rock music formatted radio station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA at 102.5 MHz. It is often referred to by Pittsburghers as simply "DVE." WDVE's transmitter is located on Pittsburgh's North Side...

and WBGG-AM

WBGG (AM)

WBGG is a sports radio station based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, owned by Clear Channel Communications. The station broadcasts at 970 kHz with 5,000 watts day and night.- History :...

in Pittsburgh (with Bill Hillgrove

Bill Hillgrove

Bill Hillgrove is an American sports journalist, radio personality, and sports broadcaster.He is currently the lead play-by-play broadcaster for the steelers football network and for the University of Pittsburgh Img sports network he calls the Pitt games with former Pitt quarterback Pat...

and Tunch Ilkin

Tunch Ilkin

Tunch Ilkin is a Turkish sports broadcaster and a former American football player. He currently serves as a television and radio analyst for the Pittsburgh Steelers.-Biography:...

announcing), and KTAR-AM

KTAR (AM)

KTAR is the callsign for a radio station in Phoenix, Arizona. It airs programming from ESPN Radio, in addition to KTAR-acquired broadcast rights for local teams...

/FM

KTAR-FM

KTAR-FM is a radio station broadcasting a News/Talk format. Licensed to Glendale, Arizona, USA, the station serves the Phoenix area and is currently owned by Bonneville Holding Company...

in Phoenix (with Dave Pasch

Dave Pasch

Dave Pasch is an American sportscaster. Pasch works for ESPN, for which he calls play-by-play of college football, college basketball, NBA, WNBA, and Arena football games. He has also been the radio voice for the Arizona Cardinals of the NFL since 2002, teaming with Ron Wolfley. In 2007, Pasch...

and Ron Wolfley

Ron Wolfley

Ronald Paul Wolfley was an American football fullback who played for the St. Louis/Phoenix Cardinals from 1985 to 1991. He was selected four times to the Pro Bowl as a special teams captain. Wolfley played collegiately for the West Virginia Mountaineers...

announcing). Univision Radio

Univision Radio

Univision Radio is the radio division of media giant Univision Communications, Inc., which also ownsthe Univision television network. The company was formerly known as Hispanic Broadcasting Corporation. It is the eighth largest radio company in the United States, and the largest Hispanic radio...

/United Stations

United Stations Radio Networks

United Stations Radio Networks is a radio network providing a wide range of programs and programming services for radio stations across the US and elsewhere...

carried a Spanish-language feed for Hispanophone American listeners (with Clemson Smith-Muñiz and David Crommett announcing).

Sirius XM Satellite Radio carried 13 game feeds in ten languages to Sirius

Sirius Satellite Radio

Sirius Satellite Radio is a satellite radio service operating in North America, owned by Sirius XM Radio.Headquartered in New York City, with smaller studios in Los Angeles and Memphis, Sirius was officially launched on July 1, 2002 and currently provides 69 streams of music and 65 streams of...

subscribers, as well as to XM

XM Satellite Radio

XM Satellite Radio is one of two satellite radio services in the United States and Canada, operated by Sirius XM Radio. It provides pay-for-service radio, analogous to cable television. Its service includes 73 different music channels, 39 news, sports, talk and entertainment channels, 21 regional...

subscribers with the "Best of Sirius" package. In addition to the four US feeds mentioned above, Sirius carried the following international feeds:

United Kingdom: BBC Radio 5 Live
BBC Radio 5 Live
BBC Radio 5 Live is the BBC's national radio service that specialises in live BBC News, phone-ins, and sports commentaries...

(English; Arlo White
Arlo White
Arlo White is an English sports presenter and commentator, originally from Leicester.-Early career:He began broadcasting at the age of 27, after gaining experience covering non-league Football for Radio Derby and also while travelling in Australia....

announcing)
Russia: NTV Plus
NTV Plus
NTV Plus is the brand name for the Russian digital satellite television service from NTV, transmitted from Eutelsat's W4 satellite at 36.0°E & from Bonum 1 at 56.0°E...

(Russian)
Early Modern France: France 2
France 2
France 2 is a French public national television channel. It is part of the state-owned France Télévisions group, along with France 3, France 4, France 5 and France Ô...

(French)
Japan: NHK
NHK
NHK is Japan's national public broadcasting organization. NHK, which has always identified itself to its audiences by the English pronunciation of its initials, is a publicly owned corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee....

(Japanese)
Germany: ARD
ARD (broadcaster)
ARD is a joint organization of Germany's regional public-service broadcasters...

(German)
Belgium: Telenet
Telenet (Belgium)
Telenet Group is the largest provider of broadband cable services in Belgium. Its business comprises the provision of analog and digital cable television, high speed internet and fixed and mobile telephony services, primarily to residential customers in Flanders and Brussels...

(Flemish)
Mainland China: SMG
Shanghai Media Group
Shanghai Media Group , under the Shanghai Media & Entertainment Group , is a multimedia television and radio broadcasting, news and Internet company...

(Mandarin Chinese)
Italy: RAI
RAI
RAI — Radiotelevisione italiana S.p.A. known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane, is the Italian state owned public service broadcaster controlled by the Ministry of Economic Development. Rai is the biggest television company in Italy...

(Italian; Iafrate-Gotta's TV audio)
Spain: Cadena Ser
Cadena SER
La Cadena SER is Spain's premier radio network in terms of both seniority and audience share...

(Spanish)

FieldPass, the subscription Internet radio service provided by the league at NFL.com, carried most of these feeds, with select international feeds for free. Due to contractual restrictions, only Sirius XM and FieldPass were permitted to carry the local team broadcasts along with WDVE, WBGG, and KTAR, with the teams' other network radio affiliates instead carrying the Westwood One feed.

Pregame

Journey

Journey (band)

Journey is an American rock band formed in 1973 in San Francisco by former members of Santana. The band has gone through several phases; its strongest commercial success occurred between the 1978 and 1987, after which it temporarily disbanded...

performed during the pre-game show, and Jennifer Hudson

Jennifer Hudson

Jennifer Kate Hudson is an American recording artist, actress and spokesperson. She came to prominence in 2004 as one of the finalists on the third season of American Idol coming in seventh place...

sang "The Star-Spangled Banner

The Star-Spangled Banner

"The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States of America. The lyrics come from "Defence of Fort McHenry", a poem written in 1814 by the 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet, Francis Scott Key, after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry by the British Royal Navy ships...

" (arranged by Chris Walden

Chris Walden

Chris Walden is a German composer, arranger, and conductor living in the U.S. He leads his own jazz big band, the Chris Walden Big Band, based in Los Angeles and was nominated four times for a Grammy award....

) in her first public appearance since the murder of her nephew, brother and mother. Hudson became the second consecutive alumna from the American Idol

American Idol

American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...

television series to perform the national anthem at a Super Bowl (Jordin Sparks

Jordin Sparks

Jordin Brianna Sparks is an American pop / R&B singer-songwriter and actress. She hails from Glendale, Arizona who rose to fame as the winner of the sixth season of American Idol. Sparks won when she was 17 years old, making her the youngest winner in Idol history...

sang the anthem at Super Bowl XLII

Super Bowl XLII

). The national anthem was translated into American Sign Language

American Sign Language

American Sign Language, or ASL, for a time also called Ameslan, is the dominant sign language of Deaf Americans, including deaf communities in the United States, in the English-speaking parts of Canada, and in some regions of Mexico...

by Kristen Santos. Following the anthem, the U. S. Air Force Thunderbirds performed a fly-over. John Legend

John Legend

John Roger Stephens , better known by his stage name John Legend, is an American singer, musician, and actor. He is the recipient of nine Grammy Awards, and in 2007, he received the special Starlight award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame.Prior to the release of his debut album, Stephens' career...

performed a short concert several hours before the game, while Faith Hill

Faith Hill

Faith Hill is an American country singer. She is known both for her commercial success and her marriage to fellow country star Tim McGraw. Hill has sold more than 40 million records worldwide and accumulated eight number-one singles and three number-one albums on the U.S...

performed "America the Beautiful

America the Beautiful

"America the Beautiful" is an American patriotic song. The lyrics were written by Katharine Lee Bates and the music composed by church organist and choirmaster Samuel A. Ward....

" prior to Hudson's performance of the national anthem. Also, the crew of US Airways Flight 1549

US Airways Flight 1549

US Airways Flight 1549 was US Airways' scheduled domestic commercial passenger flight from LaGuardia Airport in New York City to Charlotte/Douglas International Airport, Charlotte, North Carolina...

were recognized on field for their actions.

The NFL saluted four decades of champions during the coin toss ceremony and the Vince Lombardi Trophy

Vince Lombardi Trophy

The Vince Lombardi Trophy is the trophy awarded each year to the winning team of the National Football League's championship game, the Super Bowl.-History:...

presentation. The coin toss featured Roger Craig (Super Bowl XXIII

Super Bowl XXIII

Super Bowl XXIII was an American football game played on January 22, 1989 at Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami, Florida to decide the National Football League champion following the 1988 regular season. This was the first Super Bowl hosted in the Miami area in 10 years, and the first in Miami not held...

, 1989), John Elway

John Elway

John Albert Elway, Jr. is a former American football quarterback and currently is the executive vice president of football operations for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League . He played college football at Stanford and his entire professional career with the Denver Broncos...

(Super Bowl XXXIII

Super Bowl XXXIII

Super Bowl XXXIII was an American football game played on January 31, 1999, at Pro Player Stadium in Miami, Florida to decide the National Football League champion, following the 1998 regular season. The American Football Conference champion Denver Broncos defeated the National Football...

, 1999) and Lynn Swann

Lynn Swann

(Super Bowl XIII

Super Bowl XIII

Super Bowl XIII was an American football game played on January 21, 1979 at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida to decide the National Football League champion following the 1978 regular season...

, 1979). Roger Craig followed last year's participants and fellow San Francisco 49ers

San Francisco 49ers

Craig Walsh (son of Bill Walsh), Ronnie Lott

Ronnie Lott

Ronald Mandel "Ronnie" Lott is a former American football player who starred as a cornerback, free safety, and strong safety in college football and the NFL. He is most well known for his crushing hits on opposing players...

, Jerry Rice

Jerry Rice

Jerry Lee Rice is a retired American football wide receiver. He is generally regarded as the greatest wide receiver of all time and one of the greatest players in National Football League history...

and Steve Young. General David Petraeus

David Petraeus

David Howell Petraeus is the current Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, sworn in on September 6, 2011. Prior to his assuming the directorship of the CIA, Petraeus was a four-star general serving over 37 years in the United States Army. His last assignments in the Army were as commander...

performed the actual coin toss. The Steelers called tails, but it landed on heads, so the Cardinals won the toss. Arizona deferred their choice to the second half, and the Steelers chose to receive, making it the first time in Super Bowl history that the coin toss winner kicked off to start the game. (The NFL had just changed the rule before the start of the season allowing the team that wins the coin toss to defer the choice to the second half, similar to that in college football

College football

College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...

and Canadian football

Canadian football

Canadian football is a form of gridiron football played exclusively in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed prolate spheroid ball into the opposing team's scoring area...

.) By winning the toss, the Arizona Cardinals were the twelfth consecutive coin toss winner from the NFC, dating back to Super Bowl XXXII

Super Bowl XXXII

. Joe Namath

Joe Namath

Joseph William "Joe" Namath , nicknamed "Broadway Joe" or "Joe Willie", is a former American football quarterback. He played college football for the University of Alabama under coach Paul "Bear" Bryant and his assistant, Howard Schnellenberger, from 1962–1964, and professional football in the...

(Super Bowl III

Super Bowl III

Super Bowl III was the third AFL-NFL Championship Game in professional American football, but the first to officially bear the name "Super Bowl". This game is regarded as one of the greatest upsets in sports history...

, 1969) participated in the Vince Lombardi Trophy

Vince Lombardi Trophy

The Vince Lombardi Trophy is the trophy awarded each year to the winning team of the National Football League's championship game, the Super Bowl.-History:...

presentation and he previously participated in the coin toss in Super Bowl XXVIII

Super Bowl XXVIII

Super Bowl XXVIII was an American football game played on January 30, 1994, at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia, to decide the National Football League champion following the 1993 regular season. The National Football Conference champion Dallas Cowboys defeated the American Football...

. Coincidentally, Namath—a native of Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania

Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania

Beaver Falls is a city in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 8,987 at the 2010 census. It is located 31 miles northwest of Pittsburgh, and on the Beaver River, six miles from its confluence with the Ohio River...

, near Pittsburgh—ultimately handed the trophy to his hometown team.

The Steelers entered Raymond James Stadium first, to "Right Here, Right Now" by Fatboy Slim

Fatboy Slim

Norman Quentin Cook better known by his former stage name Fatboy Slim, is a British DJ, electronic dance music musician, and record producer. He is a pioneer of the big beat genre that achieved mainstream popularity in the 1990s...

.

The Cardinals entered last, as they were the "home" team, to "Ignition" by tobyMac

TobyMac

Toby McKeehan , better known by his stage name TobyMac , is a Christian recording artist, music producer, hip-hop/pop artist, singer-songwriter, and author....

Halftime

The Super Bowl XLIII halftime show, which was sponsored by Bridgestone for the second consecutive year, featured Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, with The Miami Horns

The Miami Horns

The Miami Horns are a horn section best known for touring and/or recording with Southside Johnny, Bruce Springsteen, Little Steven and The Max Weinberg 7. They have also toured, performed and/or recorded with, among others, Diana Ross, Gary U.S...

and a gospel choir. Their halftime performance consisted of these songs in the following order:

"Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
"Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" is the second song on Bruce Springsteen's breakthrough album Born to Run.-Content:The song loosely tells the story of the formation of the E Street Band. However, when asked, most Springsteen fans cannot answer the question, "What is a Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out?" The...

"
"Born to Run
Born to Run (song)
"Born to Run" is a song by American singer songwriter Bruce Springsteen, and the title song of his album Born to Run.- Songwriting :Written at in Long Branch, New Jersey in early 1974, the song was Bruce Springsteen's last-ditch effort to make it big. The prior year, Springsteen had released two...

"
"Working on a Dream
Working on a Dream (song)
"Working on a Dream" is the title song to, and first single from, Bruce Springsteen's 2009 album Working on a Dream. At the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards it won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Solo.-History:...

"
"Glory Days
Glory Days (song)
"Glory Days" is a 1984 song, written and performed by American rock singer Bruce Springsteen. In 1985, it became the fifth single released from his massively successful album Born in the U.S.A.-History:...

"

Each of the numbers had at least one verse removed, in order to fit the overall performance in the intended 12-minute time limit. Springsteen had turned down numerous invitations to play at the Super Bowl before this one, unsure of its legitimacy, but finally accepted after realizing the prestige value.

Bruce Springsteen stated in an interview with Bob Costas, he would like Coldplay

Coldplay

Coldplay are a British alternative rock band formed in 1996 by lead vocalist Chris Martin and lead guitarist Jonny Buckland at University College London. After they formed Pectoralz, Guy Berryman joined the group as a bassist and they changed their name to Starfish. Will Champion joined as a...

to perform the halftime show next year. Bob Costas also said that he assumed Bruce was too old to do certain moves that he used to do, such as jumping on pianos, etc. Springsteen assured him that was not the case and, to prove him wrong, he jumped on the piano during the opening number while pumping up the crowd.

Home video

The Steelers 2008 season

2008 Pittsburgh Steelers season

The 2008 Pittsburgh Steelers season was the franchise's 76th season in the National Football League . The season concluded with the team winning Super Bowl XLIII to become the first franchise in the NFL with six Super Bowl titles....

/Super Bowl XLIII championship home video

Home video

Home video is a blanket term used for pre-recorded media that is either sold or rented/hired for home cinema entertainment. The term originates from the VHS/Betamax era but has carried over into current optical disc formats like DVD and Blu-ray Disc and, to a lesser extent, into methods of digital...

went on sale on DVD

DVD

A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

on February 24, 2009. One week later on March 3, it was released on Blu-ray Disc

Blu-ray Disc

Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...

, making it the first NFL Films

NFL Films

home video release to be on Blu-ray Disc. The Blu-ray copy was "officially" sold exclusively through Amazon.com

Amazon.com

Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...

, though it was also available through the Sports Illustrated

Sports Illustrated

Super Bowl offer, and has since been made available at other retailers. Among its exclusive content included having most of the features in high-definition video

High-definition video

High-definition video or HD video refers to any video system of higher resolution than standard-definition video, and most commonly involves display resolutions of 1,280×720 pixels or 1,920×1,080 pixels...

as well as the NFL on Fox

NFL on FOX

NFL on Fox is the brand name of the Fox Broadcasting Company's coverage of the National Football League's National Football Conference games, produced by Fox Sports...

fourth-quarter coverage of the Steelers matchup against the Dallas Cowboys

Dallas Cowboys

at Heinz Field

Heinz Field

Heinz Field is a stadium located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It primarily serves as the home to the Pittsburgh Steelers and University of Pittsburgh Panthers American football teams, members of the National Football League and National Collegiate Athletic Association respectively...

in its entirety. The matchup, which took place during Week 14 and renewed the rivalry

Cowboys–Steelers rivalry

The Cowboys–Steelers Rivalry is a rivalry in the National Football League. As such, the two teams only meet during the regular season every four years when the AFC North play the NFC East, and aside from occasional preseason matchups the only other way the two teams would meet would be the Super Bowl...

the two teams had in the 1970s & 1990's, saw the Steelers come back from a 4th quarter ten point deficit to win 20-13.

The New York Giants

New York Giants

2007 season

2007 New York Giants season

The 2007 New York Giants season was the 83rd season for the New York Giants in the National Football League. The Giants finished the regular season 10–6 and in second place in the NFC East, improving upon their 8–8 record in 2006 in which they finished third in their division...

/Super Bowl video was only released on DVD the previous year despite the fact that Toshiba

Toshiba

is a multinational electronics and electrical equipment corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It is a diversified manufacturer and marketer of electrical products, spanning information & communications equipment and systems, Internet-based solutions and services, electronic components and...

dropped support of HD DVD

HD DVD

HD DVD is a discontinued high-density optical disc format for storing data and high-definition video.Supported principally by Toshiba, HD DVD was envisioned to be the successor to the standard DVD format...

(the primary rival of Blu-ray) just two weeks after Super Bowl XLII

Super Bowl XLII

Game summary

Pittsburgh took the opening kickoff and moved down the field on a 71-yard scoring drive, with Ben Roethlisberger

Ben Roethlisberger

completing a 38-yard pass to Hines Ward

Hines Ward

and a 21-yard strike to Heath Miller

Heath Miller

, putting the ball at the Arizona 1-yard line. On third down, Roethlisberger appeared to score on a quarterback scramble, but it was overruled by a replay challenge, which determined that he was down before the ball crossed the goal line. Rather than make another attempt at a touchdown, Pittsburgh settled for a Jeff Reed 18-yard field goal to take the 3–0 lead. The Steelers quickly forced an Arizona punt and then drove back down the field for what would turn into more points. On the first play of their drive, Roethlisberger completed a 25-yard pass to Santonio Holmes

Santonio Holmes

. Following three more completions to Miller for 26 yards and another one to Holmes for 7, reserve running back Gary Russell

Gary Russell (American football)

Gary Russell is an American football running back for the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League. He was signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers as an undrafted free agent in 2007...

went into the end zone for a 1-yard touchdown run to make the score 10–0 on the second play of the second quarter. They became the first team to score on its first two drives since the Denver Broncos

Denver Broncos

The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver, Colorado. They are currently members of the West Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

in Super Bowl XXXII

Super Bowl XXXII

. On defense, Pittsburgh held Arizona to just one drive and one first down in the first quarter, while gaining 135 yards.

The Cardinals got going for the first time midway through the second quarter as a 45-yard completion from Kurt Warner

Kurt Warner

to Anquan Boldin

Anquan Boldin

moved the ball to the Steelers' 1-yard line. On the next play, Warner nearly fell over after taking the snap, but he regained his balance and threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to tight end Ben Patrick

Ben Patrick

Ben Patrick is an American football tight end who is currently a free agent. He was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the seventh round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He played college football at Duke and Delaware....

. After an exchange of punts, Roethlisberger threw a pass that was tipped at the line of scrimmage and intercepted by linebacker Karlos Dansby

Karlos Dansby

Karlos Montez Dansby is an American football linebacker for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the second round of the 2004 NFL Draft...

at the Steelers 34-yard line with 2:46 left in the half. Seven plays later, the Cardinals drove to a first down on the Pittsburgh 1-yard line. But with 18 seconds left, Warner's pass was intercepted in the end zone by linebacker James Harrison, who then took off down the sideline for the longest play in Super Bowl history, a 100-yard return for a touchdown, increasing the Steelers' lead to 17–7 at halftime. A booth review was called to verify that Harrison had broken the plane, as he was tackled at the goal line, and the ruling stood. The official NFL Films footage for the game showed that Larry Fitzgerald

Larry Fitzgerald

was about to tackle Harrison at Arizona's 30-yard line, but teammate Steve Breaston

Steve Breaston

was illegally standing inside the sideline area and blocked Fitzgerald's path, allowing Harrison to get enough distance that he could cross the goal line when Fitzgerald caught up to him at the return's end.

After forcing a punt, the Steelers started off the third quarter with another long scoring drive. Aided by three personal foul penalties against Arizona, they moved the ball 79 yards in 14 plays and took 8:39 off the clock. However, they were unable to get into the end zone, despite two first downs inside the Cardinals 10 (a penalty against Arizona on a Steelers field goal attempt gave them another chance), and they had to settle for another Reed field goal to give them a 13-point lead, 20–7. After a few more punts, Warner led the Cardinals down the field on an eight-play, 87-yard scoring drive that took 3:57 off the clock, utilizing a no huddle offense. With 7:33 left in the game, Warner threw a high floating pass to Fitzgerald, who made a leaping catch through tight coverage by Ike Taylor

Ike Taylor

Ivan "Ike" Taylor is an American football defensive back for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the National Football League...

for a touchdown, making the score 20–14.

Later on, Ben Graham's 34-yard punt pinned the Steelers back at their own 1-yard line. Two plays later on third down and 10, Roethlisberger threw a 20-yard pass to Holmes, but center Justin Hartwig

Justin Hartwig

Justin Hartwig is an American football center who is currently a free agent. He was drafted by the Tennessee Titans in the sixth round of the 2002 NFL Draft...

was called for holding in the end zone, which not only nullified the catch, but gave the Cardinals a safety, raising the score to 20–16. Steelers coach Mike Tomlin later stated that losing the two points didn't faze him, as it didn't change how the Steelers called plays for the rest of the game on either defense or offense. Taking over on their own 36 after the free kick, Arizona took two plays to score, as Warner threw a pass to Fitzgerald on a post route. Fitzgerald caught the ball without breaking stride and took off down the middle of the field past the Steelers secondary for a 64-yard touchdown reception, giving Arizona their first lead of the game, 23–20.

Pittsburgh got the ball back on their own 22-yard line with 2:37 left in the game and two timeouts remaining. On their first play, a holding penalty pushed them back 10 yards. Roethlisberger then completed two passes to Holmes for 27 yards. After an 11-yard reception by Nate Washington

Nate Washington

Nate Washington is an American football wide receiver for the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League. He was signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers as an undrafted free agent in 2005...

and a 4-yard run by Roethlisberger, he completed a 40-yard pass to Holmes at the Cardinals 6-yard line. Two plays later, Holmes caught a pass in the corner of the end zone for a touchdown, managing to land with his toes inbounds before falling out of bounds. After a booth review, the touchdown pass stood. Reed's ensuing extra point made the score 27–23 with 35 seconds remaining. Following the ensuing kickoff, Warner completed a 20-yard pass to Fitzgerald and a 13-yarder to J. J. Arrington, moving the ball to the Steelers 44. With 18 seconds left, Warner prepared to attempt a Hail Mary pass, but linebacker LaMarr Woodley forced a fumble while sacking Warner. Defensive end Brett Keisel

Brett Keisel

Brett "The Diesel" Keisel is an American Football player who starts at defensive end for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Brett hails from Greybull, Wyoming.-College career:...

recovered the fumble, giving the ball back to Pittsburgh with five seconds left. Many viewers incorrectly assumed that the play had not been reviewed for a possible incomplete pass, but NFL Head of Officiating Mike Pereira

Mike Pereira

Mike Pereira is a former Vice President of Officiating for the National Football League . He first took over the position in 2001, succeeding Jerry Seeman. He was also a game official in the NFL for two seasons as a side judge on the officiating crew headed by referee Mike Carey...

later explained that it actually was reviewed, unnoticed by the public. It was the first and only time that Warner was not involved in a Super Bowl that was decided on the final play of the game. Roethlisberger took a knee

Quarterback kneel

In American football, a quarterback kneel, also called taking a knee, genuflect offense, or victory formation occurs when the quarterback immediately kneels to the ground after receiving the snap. It is primarily used to run the clock down, either at the end of the first half or the game itself, in...

, sealing the Steelers' NFL record sixth Super Bowl title.

Box score

Statistics

In Super Bowl XLIII, Arizona and Pittsburgh combined for the fewest rushing attempts (38) and the fewest rushing yards (91) in Super Bowl history. The Cardinals outgained the Steelers in both passing yards (374 to 234) and total yards (407 to 292), but were flagged for 11 penalties for 106 yards. Arizona's safety in the fourth quarter was only the sixth one scored in Super Bowl history, the first since Super Bowl XXV

Super Bowl XXV

Super Bowl XXV was an American football game played on January 27, 1991 at Tampa Stadium in Tampa, Florida to decide the National Football League champion following the 1990 regular season. The National Football Conference Champion New York Giants defeated the American Football Conference ...

.

Warner completed 31 of 43 passes for 377 yards and three touchdowns, with one interception. His 377 yards was the second most in Super Bowl history behind his own record of 414 yards in Super Bowl XXXIV

Super Bowl XXXIV

(Warner also holds the third place record with 365 yards in Super Bowl XXXVI

Super Bowl XXXVI

). With the three highest totals in Super Bowl history, he passed Joe Montana

Joe Montana

Joseph Clifford "Joe" Montana, Jr. , nicknamed Joe Cool, Golden Joe, The Golden Great and Comeback Joe, is a retired American football player. Montana started his NFL career in 1979 with the San Francisco 49ers, where he played quarterback for the next 14 seasons...

for most career yards in Super Bowl history with 1,156 (Montana threw for 1,142 yards in four games). He became the fifth quarterback in Super Bowl history to throw three touchdown passes in defeat (the others being Roger Staubach

Roger Staubach

Roger Thomas Staubach is a businessman, Heisman Trophy winner and legendary Hall of Fame former quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys from 1969 until 1979. Staubach was instrumental in developing the Cowboys into becoming one of the best teams of the 1970s and led the team to nine of the Cowboys'...

, Brett Favre

Brett Favre

Brett Lorenzo Favre is a former American football quarterback who spent the majority of his career with the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League . He was a 20-year veteran of the NFL, having played quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons , Green Bay Packers , New York Jets and Minnesota...

, Jake Delhomme

Jake Delhomme

, and Donovan McNabb

Donovan McNabb

Donovan Jamal McNabb is an American football quarterback who is currently a free agent. He was the Philadelphia Eagles' quarterback from 1999 to 2009 and spent the 2010 season with the Washington Redskins and a portion of the 2011 season with the Minnesota Vikings. In college, McNabb played...

). He also became the first quarterback in Super Bowl history to have a pass intercepted and returned for a touchdown in two different Super Bowls and is also the second quarterback to throw a fourth-quarter touchdown in three different Super Bowls (Terry Bradshaw

Terry Bradshaw

Terry Paxton Bradshaw is a former American football quarterback with the Pittsburgh Steelers in the National Football League . He played 14 seasons. He is a football analyst and co-host of Fox NFL Sunday...

threw a fourth-quarter touchdown in all four of his Super Bowls).

Warner's top target was Fitzgerald, who caught seven passes for 127 yards and two touchdowns. Fitzgerald set a single postseason record with seven touchdown receptions, passing Jerry Rice

Jerry Rice

Jerry Lee Rice is a retired American football wide receiver. He is generally regarded as the greatest wide receiver of all time and one of the greatest players in National Football League history...

, who had six in the 1988 postseason. Fitzgerald as well as Holmes each had 100 yards receiving, marking the fourth time in Super Bowl history, one player from each team had over 100 yards in a Super Bowl. Michael Irvin

Michael Irvin

Michael Jerome Irvin is a former American football player for the Dallas Cowboys, and actor. He is also a former broadcaster for ESPN's NFL Countdown and currently an analyst for NFL Network. Irvin was self-nicknamed "The Playmaker" due to his penchant for making big plays in big games during his...

and Andre Reed

Andre Reed

Andre Darnell Reed is a former professional American football player. He played wide receiver in the National Football League for 16 seasons, 15 with the Buffalo Bills and one with the Washington Redskins .Reed ranks tenth in NFL history in total career receptions with 951.-Football career:Reed...

were the first in Super Bowl XXVII

Super Bowl XXVII

Super Bowl XXVII was a football game played on January 31, 1993 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California to decide the National Football League champion following the 1992 regular season. The National Football Conference champion Dallas Cowboys defeated the American Football Conference champion...

, followed by Deion Branch

Deion Branch

Anthony Deion Branch, Jr. is an American football wide receiver for the New England Patriots of the National Football League . He was drafted by the Patriots in the second round of the 2002 NFL Draft. He played college football at Louisville.He has also played for the Seattle Seahawks...

and Muhsin Muhammad

Muhsin Muhammad

Muhsin Muhammad II is a retired American football wide receiver who played for the Carolina Panthers and Chicago Bears of the National Football League. He was originally drafted by the Panthers in the second round of the 1996 NFL Draft...

in Super Bowl XXXVIII

Super Bowl XXXVIII

Super Bowl XXXVIII was an American football game played on February 1, 2004 at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas to decide the National Football League champion following the 2003 regular season....

and Branch again a year later along with Terrell Owens

Terrell Owens

Terrell Owens is an American football wide receiver who is currently a free agent. A six-time Pro Bowl selection, Owens has been one of the dominant receivers of his era...

in Super Bowl XXXIX

Super Bowl XXXIX

.

Roethlisberger completed 21 of 30 passes for 256 yards and a touchdown, with one interception. Woodley had two sacks and a forced fumble, thus he continued setting NFL play-off records for consecutive multiple sack games by a player with 4. Arizona defensive tackle Darnell Dockett

Darnell Dockett

Darnell Maurice Dockett is an American football defensive end who currently plays for the Arizona Cardinals of the NFL. Arizona picked him in the 3rd round of the 2004 NFL Draft...

had all of Arizona's three sacks, tying the Super Bowl

Super Bowl

record set by Reggie White

Reggie White

Reginald Howard "Reggie" White was a professional American football player. He played 15 seasons as a defensive end in the National Football League for the Philadelphia Eagles, Green Bay Packers and Carolina Panthers, becoming one of the most decorated players in NFL history...

in Super Bowl XXXI

Super Bowl XXXI

Super Bowl XXXI was an American football game played on January 26, 1997, at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana to decide the National Football League champion following the 1996 regular season. The National Football Conference champion Green Bay Packers defeated the American...

. Harrison's 100-yard interception return was the longest play of any kind in a Super Bowl.

With this victory, the Steelers became the first team to win three Super Bowls in the same state. Their victories in Super Bowls X and XIII were both at the Miami Orange Bowl

Miami Orange Bowl

The Orange Bowl, formerly Burdine Stadium, was an outdoor athletic stadium in Miami, Florida, west of downtown in Little Havana. Considered a landmark, it was the home stadium for the Miami Hurricanes college football team...

Statistical comparison

Source: NFL.com	Pittsburgh Steelers	Arizona Cardinals
First downs	20	23
Third down efficiency	4/10	3/8
Fourth down efficiency	0–0	0–0
Total yards	292	407
Passing yards	234	374
Passing – completions/attempts	21/30	31/43
Rushing yards	58	33
Rushing attempts	26	12
Yards per rush	2.2	2.8
Penalties–yards	7–56	11–106
Sacks against–yards	2–22	2–3
Fumbles–lost	0–0	2–1
Interceptions thrown	1	1
Time of possession	33:01	26:59

Individual leaders

^*Completions/Attempts
^aCarries
^bLong play
^cReceptions
^tTackles
^gForced Fumble

Starting lineups

Pittsburgh	Position	Position	Arizona
OFFENSE
Hines Ward Hines Ward Hines E. Ward, Jr. is an American football player who currently plays the wide receiver position for the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers, where he is the longest-tenured current player on the team. He was voted MVP of Super Bowl XL. He played college football at the University of Georgia...	WR		Larry Fitzgerald Larry Fitzgerald Larry Darnell Fitzgerald, Jr. is an American football wide receiver for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League, and currently ranks fourth all-time in league history in receiving yards per game for a career , behind Andre Johnson, Torry Holt, and Marvin Harrison...
Max Starks Max Starks Maximillian Weisner "Max" Starks, IV is an American football offensive tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League . He played college football for the University of Florida...	LT		Mike Gandy Mike Gandy Michael Joseph Gandy is an American football offensive tackle who is currently a free agent. He was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the third round of the 2001 NFL Draft and later played for the Buffalo Bills and Arizona Cardinals...
Chris Kemoeatu Chris Kemoeatu Uikelotu Christopher "Chris" Kemoeatu is a Tongan professional American football player who is currently a guard for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League . He played college football for the University of Utah Utes, and was drafted by the Steelers in the sixth round of the 2005...	LG		Reggie Wells Reggie Wells Reginald Arness "Reggie" Wells is an American football guard for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the sixth round of the 2003 NFL Draft...
Justin Hartwig Justin Hartwig Justin Hartwig is an American football center who is currently a free agent. He was drafted by the Tennessee Titans in the sixth round of the 2002 NFL Draft...	C		Lyle Sendlein Lyle Sendlein Lyle Sendlein is an American football center for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League. He was signed by the Cardinals as an undrafted free agent in 2007...
Darnell Stapleton Darnell Stapleton Darnell Robert Stapleton is an American football offensive lineman who is currently retired due to knee injuries. He was signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers as an undrafted free agent in 2007...	RG		Deuce Lutui
Willie Colon	RT		Levi Brown
Heath Miller Heath Miller Earl Heath Miller, Jr. is an American football tight end for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the NFL. He was selected as the 30th overall pick of the 2005 NFL Draft out of the University of Virginia.-Early years:...	TE		Leonard Pope Leonard Pope Leonard Pope is an American football tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the third round of the 2006 NFL Draft. He played college football at Georgia...
Santonio Holmes Santonio Holmes Santonio Holmes Jr. is an American football wide receiver for the New York Jets of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the first round of the 2006 NFL Draft after playing college football at Ohio State...	WR		Anquan Boldin Anquan Boldin -Arizona Cardinals:As a rookie Boldin set an NFL record for most receiving yards by a rookie in his first game , tied Billy Sims for most yards from scrimmage by a rookie in his first game , and holds the NFL record for most receptions in the first 26 games of an NFL career...
Ben Roethlisberger Ben Roethlisberger Benjamin Todd "Ben" Roethlisberger , nicknamed Big Ben, is an American football quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Steelers in the first round in the 2004 NFL Draft...	QB		Kurt Warner Kurt Warner Kurtis Eugene "Kurt" Warner is a retired American football player. He played quarterback for three National Football League teams: the St. Louis Rams, the New York Giants, and the Arizona Cardinals. He was originally signed by the Green Bay Packers as an undrafted free agent in 1994 after playing...
Willie Parker Willie Parker "Fast" Willie Everette Parker Jr. is an American football running back for the Virginia Destroyers of the United Football League. He was signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers as an undrafted free agent in 2004. He played college football at North Carolina...	RB		Edgerrin James Edgerrin James Edgerrin Tyree James is a former American football running back. He was drafted by the Indianapolis Colts fourth overall in the 1999 NFL Draft. He played college football at the University of Miami....
Carey Davis Carey Davis Carey Alexander Davis is an American football fullback who is currently a free agent. He was signed by the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted free agent in 2004...	FB		Terrelle Smith Terrelle Smith Terrelle Vernon Smith is an American football fullback who is currently a free agent. He was drafted by the New Orleans Saints in the fourth round of the 2000 NFL Draft...
DEFENSE
Aaron Smith Aaron Smith (American football) Aaron Douglas Smith is a professional American football player with the Pittsburgh Steelers in the National Football League. He plays left defensive end in a 3-4 defensive alignment.-Pittsburgh Steelers:...	LE		Antonio Smith
Casey Hampton Casey Hampton Casey "Big Snack" Hampton, Jr. is an American football nose tackle who currently plays for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League.-Early years:...	NT	LDT	Bryan Robinson Bryan Robinson Bryan Keith Robinson nicknamed "Big Dog" is a former American football defensive lineman. He was originally signed by the St. Louis Rams as an undrafted free agent in 1997. He began his college football career at College of the Desert in Palm Desert, CA...
Brett Keisel Brett Keisel Brett "The Diesel" Keisel is an American Football player who starts at defensive end for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Brett hails from Greybull, Wyoming.-College career:...	RE	RDT	Darnell Dockett Darnell Dockett Darnell Maurice Dockett is an American football defensive end who currently plays for the Arizona Cardinals of the NFL. Arizona picked him in the 3rd round of the 2004 NFL Draft...
LaMarr Woodley	LOLB	RE	Gabe Watson
James Farrior James Farrior James Alfred Farrior is an American football player who currently plays as an inside linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League. He played college football at the University of Virginia, and played with the New York Jets from 1997 to 2001.-Early years:Farrior was born...	LILB	LOLB	Chike Okeafor Chike Okeafor Chikezie Russell Okeafor is a professional American football player. During his National Football League career from 1999 to 2009, he played defensive end and linebacker for the San Francisco 49ers, the Seattle Seahawks, and the Arizona Cardinals....
Larry Foote Larry Foote Lawrence Edward Foote, Jr. is an American football linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Steelers in the fourth round of the 2002 NFL Draft. He played college football at Michigan....	RILB	ILB	Gerald Hayes Gerald Hayes Gerald Hayes is an American football linebacker for the San Diego Chargers of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the third round of the 2003 NFL Draft. He played college football at Pittsburgh....
James Harrison	ROLB		Karlos Dansby Karlos Dansby Karlos Montez Dansby is an American football linebacker for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the second round of the 2004 NFL Draft...
Ike Taylor Ike Taylor Ivan "Ike" Taylor is an American football defensive back for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the National Football League...	LCB		Roderick Hood Roderick Hood Roderick "Rod" Hood is an American football cornerback for the St. Louis Rams of the National Football League. He was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles as an undrafted free agent in 2003...
Bryant McFadden Bryant McFadden Bryant McFadden is an American football cornerback for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Steelers in the second round of the 2005 NFL Draft. He played college football at Florida State.McFadden has also played for the Arizona Cardinals...	RCB		Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie -Arizona Cardinals:Rodgers-Cromartie was drafted by the Cardinals in the first round of the 2008 NFL Draft. On July 25, he signed a 5-year, $15.1 million contract with the team that includes $9 million in guarantees. Rodgers-Cromartie was named the starting nickelback for the 2008 season, behind...
Troy Polamalu Troy Polamalu Troy Aumua Polamalu is an American football strong safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League. He was drafted in the first round of the 2003 NFL Draft by the Steelers. He played college football at the University of Southern California.-High school:Troy Polamalu graduated...	SS		Adrian Wilson
Ryan Clark Ryan Clark (American football) Ryan Terry Clark is an American football safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League. He was signed by the New York Giants as an undrafted free agent in 2002...	FS		Antrel Rolle Antrel Rolle Antrel Rocelious Rolle is an American football safety for the New York Giants of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the first round of the 2005 NFL Draft. He played college football at the University of Miami...

Officials

The official

Official (American football)

In American football, an official is a person who has responsibility in enforcing the rules and maintaining the order of the game.During professional and college football games, seven officials operate on the field...

s for the game were:

Referee: Terry McAulay
Terry McAulay
Terry McAulay is an American football official in the National Football League since the 1998 NFL season, and Coordinator of Football Officials for the Big East Conference since 2008....

, #77; second Super Bowl, refereed Super Bowl XXXIX
Super Bowl XXXIX
Super Bowl XXXIX was an American football game played on February 6, 2005, at Alltel Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida, to decide the National Football League champion following the 2004 regular season...

.
Umpire: Roy Ellison #81
Head Linesman: Derick Bowers #74
Line Judge: Mark Perlman #9
Field Judge: Greg Gautreaux #80
Side Judge: Michael Banks #72
Back Judge: Keith Ferguson #61

Alternate Officials
- Referee: Ron Winter
  Ron Winter
  Ronald J. "Ron" Winter is an American football official in the National Football League . Winter previously served as a football official for the National Collegiate Athletic Association ....
  
  , #14
- Umpire: Darrell Jenkins #76
- Line Judge: Darryll Lewis #130
- Field Judge: Doug Rosenbaum #67
- Back Judge: Billy Smith #2

Post-game riots

In Pittsburgh, mostly in the Oakland neighborhood, riots broke out on the streets after the Steelers' victory. Rioters—mostly college students—caused about $150,000 in estimated damages. More than 60 people were arrested during and after the rioting, and at least two students were suspended. Two of the Steelers' former homes, Forbes Field

Forbes Field

Forbes Field was a baseball park in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1909 to 1971. It was the third home of the Pittsburgh Pirates Major League Baseball team, and the first home of the Pittsburgh Steelers, the city's National Football League franchise...

and Pitt Stadium

Pitt Stadium

Pitt Stadium was a stadium located on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania from 1925 to 1999. It served primarily as the home of the University of Pittsburgh's football team, the Pittsburgh Panthers...

, were in the Oakland neighborhood.

Ring

The ring for the Pittsburgh Steelers was designed and made by Jostens

Jostens

Jostens is an American company providing yearbooks and class rings for various high schools and colleges as well as championship rings for sports, including the Super Bowl rings....

working with Dan Rooney

Dan Rooney

Daniel Milton "Dan" Rooney is the United States Ambassador to Ireland. He is chairman emeritus of the Pittsburgh Steelers football team in the National Football League , which was founded by his father, Art Rooney. Rooney was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2000 for his contributions...

and Art Rooney II

Art Rooney II

Arthur Joseph "Art" Rooney II is the president and co-owner of the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers.-Biography:Rooney is the oldest of nine children of Dan and Patricia Rooney. The Rooney family has owned the Steelers since the team's founding by Art II's grandfather and namesake Art Rooney in 1933...

. The designs were also shown to James Farrior

James Farrior

, Hines Ward

Hines Ward

, Ben Roethlisberger

Ben Roethlisberger

and James Harrison before a final decision was made.

External links

Super Bowl 43 official website at NFL.com
Tampa Bay Super Bowl Host Committee – Official web site

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.