Published: Saturday, February 4, 2006
Holmgren seeking time with Trophy
He's already held it once and wants to do it again.
By TOM WILLIAMS
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
DETROIT — Unlike professional ice hockey players (citing bad luck) who won't touch the Stanley Cup until they win it, NFL coaches have no such superstition about the Lombardi Trophy that goes to the Super Bowl champion.
Ask Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren.
"I'll touch it any chance I get and hope to be able to touch it again," said Holmgren who is making his third Super Bowl appearance as a head coach.
In 1997-98, Holmgren guided the Packers to the Super Bowl, winning the first time (35-21 over the Patriots) and losing the second trip (31-24 to the Broncos).
"It is a beautiful trophy," said Holmgren Friday at his final press conference before the Seahawks (15-3) play the Steelers (14-5) in Super Bowl XL on Sunday at Ford Field. "It represents a whole bunch of stuff for people in our business.
"I've had the privilege of holding it and hope to do it again," Holmgren.
In search of history
Holmgren is trying to become the first NFL coach to win Super Bowls with different franchises. His counterpart, Bill Cowher, is trying to win his first after 14 seasons in Pittsburgh and one Super Bowl appearance (1996).
"There have been some very, very fine coaches — Bill is one of them — that's been in the game and not won one.
"I think people sometimes lose sight of the fact [of] all it takes to get here," said Holmgren who coached seven seasons in Green Bay before moving to Seattle for the 1999 season. "Winning it is the ultimate, certainly, but I don't think you can discount those other things. And I choose not to."
Calling Cowher a good friend, Holmgren said, "He's done so much in this business. I have tremendous respect for him. Winning a Super Bowl or whatever ... that's not the ultimate judge of what kind of coach anyone is."
Both Cowher and Holmgren have been head coaches for 14 consecutive seasons. Their records are amazingly similar: 141-82-1 in the regular season and 11-9 in the postseason for Cowher and 139-85 and 11-8 for Holmgren.
The Seahawks coach is the fifth to guide a second team to the Super Bowl and Holmgren said he understands why it's been accomplished so rarely.
"You have to be in a good organization, a solid team that year and be pretty fortunate with the breaks to get to the game," Holmgren said of getting there once. "It's hard.
"Typically, when a coach goes to another team, more often than not that team has had a tough time and that coach has been hired to try and build things back up.
"To do it once is tough, to do that more than once is pretty difficult — that's probably why it hasn't happened before."
Theory
Holmgren offered a theory as to why the Steelers (the AFC's sixth seed) are favored over the Seahawks (the NFC's top seed).
"They beat Indianapolis, which was a huge win for them," Holmgren said. "Indy was having a great, great year and that [win] popped up Pittsburgh as it should.
"The other thing is, not many people know about us. Unless you're on the West Coast or specifically the state of Washington or in the Pacific Northwest, you'd be hard-pressed to name a bunch of our defensive players.
"Pittsburgh is a fine football team and my own feeling is that they're much better than the sixth seed."
williams@vindy.com
Saturday, February 4, 2006
He's already held it once and wants to do it again.
By TOM WILLIAMS
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
DETROIT — Unlike professional ice hockey players (citing bad luck) who won't touch the Stanley Cup until they win it, NFL coaches have no such superstition about the Lombardi Trophy that goes to the Super Bowl champion.
Ask Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren.
"I'll touch it any chance I get and hope to be able to touch it again," said Holmgren who is making his third Super Bowl appearance as a head coach.
In 1997-98, Holmgren guided the Packers to the Super Bowl, winning the first time (35-21 over the Patriots) and losing the second trip (31-24 to the Broncos).
"It is a beautiful trophy," said Holmgren Friday at his final press conference before the Seahawks (15-3) play the Steelers (14-5) in Super Bowl XL on Sunday at Ford Field. "It represents a whole bunch of stuff for people in our business.
"I've had the privilege of holding it and hope to do it again," Holmgren.
In search of history
Holmgren is trying to become the first NFL coach to win Super Bowls with different franchises. His counterpart, Bill Cowher, is trying to win his first after 14 seasons in Pittsburgh and one Super Bowl appearance (1996).
"There have been some very, very fine coaches — Bill is one of them — that's been in the game and not won one.
"I think people sometimes lose sight of the fact [of] all it takes to get here," said Holmgren who coached seven seasons in Green Bay before moving to Seattle for the 1999 season. "Winning it is the ultimate, certainly, but I don't think you can discount those other things. And I choose not to."
Calling Cowher a good friend, Holmgren said, "He's done so much in this business. I have tremendous respect for him. Winning a Super Bowl or whatever ... that's not the ultimate judge of what kind of coach anyone is."
Both Cowher and Holmgren have been head coaches for 14 consecutive seasons. Their records are amazingly similar: 141-82-1 in the regular season and 11-9 in the postseason for Cowher and 139-85 and 11-8 for Holmgren.
The Seahawks coach is the fifth to guide a second team to the Super Bowl and Holmgren said he understands why it's been accomplished so rarely.
"You have to be in a good organization, a solid team that year and be pretty fortunate with the breaks to get to the game," Holmgren said of getting there once. "It's hard.
"Typically, when a coach goes to another team, more often than not that team has had a tough time and that coach has been hired to try and build things back up.
"To do it once is tough, to do that more than once is pretty difficult — that's probably why it hasn't happened before."
Theory
Holmgren offered a theory as to why the Steelers (the AFC's sixth seed) are favored over the Seahawks (the NFC's top seed).
"They beat Indianapolis, which was a huge win for them," Holmgren said. "Indy was having a great, great year and that [win] popped up Pittsburgh as it should.
"The other thing is, not many people know about us. Unless you're on the West Coast or specifically the state of Washington or in the Pacific Northwest, you'd be hard-pressed to name a bunch of our defensive players.
"Pittsburgh is a fine football team and my own feeling is that they're much better than the sixth seed."
williams@vindy.com
Saturday, February 4, 2006
Unlike professional ice hockey players (citing bad luck) who won't touch the Stanley Cup until they win it, NFL coaches...
