With 41 seconds left in Super Bowl XLIII, the Pittsburgh Steelers trailed the Arizona Cardinals, 23-20. Only a couple of minutes earlier, Arizona's fleet-footed wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald had snagged a pass across the middle and raced 64 yards untouched down the center of the field for the go-ahead score. But now the Steelers had the football, second down and goal from Arizona's six-yard line. In the mythical "book" that all football players and coaches purportedly share, the following words are written about this situation: Do not throw the ball to a receiver covered by three defenders. Pittsburgh's Ben Roethlisberger completely ignored these directions and zipped a pass toward Santonio Holmes, who was surrounded by three Cardinals in the back corner of the end zone. The ball sailed over the heads of all three low-flying redbirds; Holmes leaped high in the air, caught it and barely dragged the tippy-toes of both feet down just inside the white line to stay inbounds. The spectacular catch gave Pittsburgh a record sixth Super Bowl. "When it touched my hands, oh, man," said Holmes, "it was just a special moment."
The Top 10 Everything of 2009
- Top 10 Albums
- Top 10 Animal Stories
- Top 10 Apologies
- Top 10 Art Exhibitions
- Top 10 Awkward Moments
- Top 10 Best Business Deals
- Top 10 Breakups
- Top 10 Buzzwords
- Top 10 Children's Books
- Top 10 Crime Stories
- Top 10 Editorial Cartoons
- Top 10 Facebook Stories
- Top 10 Fashion Faux Pas
- Top 10 Fashion Moments
- Top 10 Feuds
- Top 10 Fiction Books
- Top 10 Fleeting Celebrities
- Top 10 Gadgets
- Top 10 Green Ideas
- Top 10 Heroes
- Top 10 iPhone Apps
- Top 10 Late-Night Jokes
- Top 10 Magazine Covers
- Top 10 Medical Breakthroughs
- Top 10 Movie Performances
- Top 10 Movies
- Top 10 New Species
- Top 10 News Stories
- Top 10 Nonfiction Books
- Top 10 Oddball News Stories
- Top 10 Pariahs
- Top 10 Pictures of the Year
- Top 10 Plays and Musicals
- Top 10 Political Gaffes
- Top 10 Quotes
- Top 10 Religion Stories
- Top 10 Scandals
- Top 10 Scientific Discoveries
- Top 10 Songs
- Top 10 Sports Moments
- Top 10 T-Shirt-Worthy Slogans
- Top 10 TV Ads
- Top 10 TV Episodes
- Top 10 TV Series
- Top 10 Tweets
- Top 10 Underreported Stories
- Top 10 Untruths
- Top 10 Video Games
- Top 10 Viral Videos
- Top 10 Worst Biz Deals
TIME charts the highs and lows of the past year in 50 wide-ranging lists