Steelers' Legendary Safety Troy Polamalu Believes He Had Crucial Interception Stolen By Refs

While some NFL fans question the validity of the Pittsburgh Steelers' fifth Super Bowl victory, it was not an easy road just to make it there. In fact, as all teams do, the Steelers had to go through their own share of questionable officiating during that same postseason. One particular call nearly changed the course of football history forever. That call wasn't even a bang-bang judgement call like many questionable ones are. A couple of Steelers discussed the incident a bit live on pre-Super Bowl coverage on CBS Sports HQ.

Bryant McFadden spoke with Troy Polamalu about all the different quarterbacks that he had intercepted over his career. McFadden eventually asked about his interception total against Peyton Manning. Even though Polamalu only had one interception on Manning in his career, McFadden was not ready to discount a second one that was not ruled correctly.

"They stole one from you, but one was. You got him one time, and they stole one from you. We all know about that playoff game."

McFadden was referencing the 2005 AFC Divisional Round, when the six-seeded Steelers went to face the top-seeded Indianapolis Colts. The Steelers led 21-10 with about five minutes left in the fourth quarter. Polamalu intercepted Manning on a short pass over the middle. He landed on both knees, rolled on the ground for a bit, then lost the ball as he was getting up to try and run it back. 

The Colts challenged the play, mainly because that interception would have all but sealed the game. Even though the "three steps of a catch" rule was not in place yet, it was clear that Polamalu had possession and survived the ground. He only lost possession when he tried to get back up, in which he fumbled the ball and recovered it himself. However, the officials did not see it that way. 

The officials sided with the Colts and said that it was an incomplete pass as opposed to an interception. The Colts nearly came back, as they scored a touchdown and a two-point conversion to cut the lead to three. The rest is history. Jerome Bettis coughs the ball up at the one-yard line, Ben Roethlisberger saved a touchdown with a shoestring tackle, and Mike Vanderjagt missed the game-tying kick wide right. 

Steelers Can Still Enjoy The Past

Since the Steelers escaped Indianapolis with a win, that botched interception call is now fun to talk about, as opposed to talking about a call that could've and would've changed the course of history. While he was talking about it with McFadden, he just smiled and seemed amused by the situation. 

"[The referees] stole one from me, yep."

Both players know that they shouldn't dwell on that missed call too much. It was 18 years ago, they still got the win, and they eventually won Super Bowl XL. They even helped one of their opponents get a new perspective on life in the process. That botched call could have led to the Steelers' downfall, but they recovered just enough to get the win, and they can admire the good times now, as opposed to pondering the "what-ifs." 

Of course, rules change, and eventually, the catch rule became clearer after the 2017 season. Polamalu's interception likely stands with the current ruleset, and none of the chaos from after that moment happens. Surely, nothing like this ever happened to the Steelers again, especially in a crucial moment of the game.