This Week in Pittsburgh History: The Steelers Win Super Bowl XL
The 2006 victory gave the the team their elusive “One for the Thumb.”
Twenty-six years removed from winning four NFL Championships in the 1970s, coach Bill Cowher led the Pittsburgh Steelers to their fifth Super Bowl championship by defeating the Seattle Seahawks on Feb. 5, 2006, at Ford Field in Detroit.
For the Steelers, the big plays in Super Bowl XL included running back Willie Parker’s Super Bowl-record 75-yard touchdown run and Antwaan Randle El’s 43-yard touchdown pass to Hines Ward, the first time a wide receiver threw a touchdown pass in a Super Bowl, to clinch the game in the fourth quarter. Ward, who caught five passes for 123 yards and a touchdown, while also rushing for 18 yards, was named Super Bowl MVP.
Soon after the game, reporters unleashed a torrent of criticism about the game’s officiating crew, leading NFL Films to rank it as one of the top 10 controversial calls of all time.
