Steelers Bill Cowher Recalls Stuffing a Polaroid in a Referee’s Pocket After a Blown Call

[Steeler Nation]

NFL coaches always have issues during games with the referees. Usually it’s because of a blown call, but beyond yelling at them, there isn’t much else a coach can do. That’s where former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Bill Cowher got creative in 1995.

The Steelers were playing the Minnesota Vikings at Three River Stadium with time winding down in the first half. The Vikings were attempting a field goal to close out the second quarter. Kicker Faud Reveiz would miss that field goal attempt and the two teams should’ve headed to the locker room for halftime.

Bill Cowher screams at the refs during a playoff game in Jan 2002. | The Athletic


That’s when the penalty flag came out from the Minnesota sidelines. The call was too many men on the field for the Steelers, and the Vikings would get to re-kick. Reveiz would make the next attempt from 43 yards, and the Steelers were behind 13-6 at halftime. The truth of the matter was that the Steelers DID NOT have 12 men on the field. They had the correct amount of 11 and the call was badly blown.

Speaking on the Half-Written History Podcast hosted by Trey Wingo, Cowher described the situation, and what happened as he blew his cool on referee Gordon McCarter.

“I was yelling, ‘okay, someone tell me, who was out there?’ I said, Kevin Greene…He goes ‘we only had 11 coach, I promise you.’ I go, ‘well they said 12.’ So I called another timeout. I called a timeout just to make sure. Someone handed me the polaroid. I called Gordon over, I said, ‘Gordon come here, come here.’ I said, ‘I have a polaroid.’ He goes, ‘coach I can’t look down. You know I can’t do that.’ I go, ‘I know you can’t, but just telling you right now do the right thing. Just do the right thing, we have 11 guys on the field. The guy who made the call was standing on the Minnesota bench. So just take everything into consideration.’ He goes, ‘I can’t,nwe’re staying with it.'”​

After Reveiz would make his second attempt, Cowher would storm onto the field in a fit of rage and meet McCarter near mid-field for one of the all-time greatest sequences in NFL history.

“Here is the picture. You can look at in the locker room at halftime,” Cowher said he told McCarter as he stuffed the polaroid into his breast pocket. “You couldn’t do it here [on the field], but here, you count them yourself.”

The Vikings would go onto score 24 points in the third quarter and completely blow out the Steelers. It’s hard to say that if the blown call would’ve changed anything in the outcome, but maybe the Steelers wouldn’t of came out so flat in the third quarter if they wouldn’t of been focusing their energy on the call.

Bill Cowher Nearly Tackles a Jaguars Player in 1997​

Now everyone is pretty familiar with the time Mike Tomlin stepped onto the field as Jacoby Jones of the Baltimore Ravens was sprinting by on what was likely going to be a touchdown return against the Steelers. But that wasn’t the first time something like that happened between a Steelers coach and a member of the opposing team.

Pittsburgh was getting ready to attempt the winning field goal against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Monday Night Football in September of 1997 when the worst possible outcome happened. A bad snap led to a blocked field goal attempt and the ball was batted towards the Steelers sideline. With the ball rolling towards Cowher on the sidelines, Jags defender Chris Hudson would scoop it up and take off with it for an eventual touchdown. But as Hudson raced past Cowher, Cowher stepped onto the field and reached back like he was going to knock Hudson out as he went by.

“Well here is the true story to that. It was then and I actually. It was the last play of the game. We had a bad snap. And it was the first year I decided not to go with a long snapper. I had [Jim] Sweeney doing the short snaps, I had Kurt Botkin doing the long snaps, I figured I could gain a spot on the active roster. Never to be done again. So I’ve had a full-time long snapper after that. But he blocks the kick and it’s bouncing over to me. And I’m thinking, ‘man I just want to kick it like Charlie Brown’. Like damnit we just lost the game.”​

“He picks it up and he’s going to run it in. Man I just wanted to like elbow like c’mon. So you’re going to score too? We already lost the game. The ironic part of that is that was the same sideline, the same point that Woody Hayes punched Charlie Bauman from Clemson…So it was on the same field, the same sideline, so I blame the ghost of Woody Hayes on that moment.”

Cowher of course was talking about the 1978 Gator Bowl where Hayes engaged with a Clemson player after the nose tackle intercepted the Buckeyes to end the game.

Cowher didn’t actually touch Hudson, though. He just wanted to. You can watch the entire interview with Cowher and Wingo here.

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[Omar10213245]

hahaha that might be my all-time favorite Cowher moment...as enraged as I was that they boffed that call, I took solace in Cowher stuffing that polaroid in his pocket, felt good to see him do it.

 

[madinsomniac]

I vividly remember both of those… cowher was a trip till they told him to tone it down on the sidelines…

 

[Steelworth]

I know it's not 'appropriate' but I absolutely loved when Cowher did that. Some of my favorite moments were when he lost his **** on the refs.

 

[Steelr4evr]

I remember the Polaroid game and I was at the Jacksonville game. **** I was so mad. I had to listen to a bunch of drunks talk **** all the way out. To top it off I had to be at work at 5am.

Which I ended up betting my **** talking boss $500 bucks that the Steelers would win 2 more superbowls before the Jagoffs won one.


Unfortunately he passed away before I could collect years later.

 

[Drink IRON City]

THAT Fire and Brimstone has truly been missed around here (STEELERS team). I love Cowher for many reasons BUT that persona was a huge part of those great teams and defenses.

Those players would play to the edge of the earth for him and then some.




Salute the nation

 

[Wolf44]

A real coach instead of the bug eyed empty stare we get from Tomlin .

 

[Steeltime]

Which I ended up betting my **** talking boss $500 bucks that the Steelers would win 2 more superbowls before the Jagoffs won one.

Unfortunately he passed away before I could collect years later.

Was he related to jizzer$50? If so, doesn't matter if he was still alive.

 

[mightyguru]

Definitely one of Cowher's iconic moments. I was so pissed...and then he dunked on the ref...laughed my *** off.

 

[Drink IRON City]

Definitely one of Cowher's iconic moments. I was so pissed...and then he dunked on the ref...laughed my *** off.

They showed that clip over and over on all the talk shows,......... Yes the talk shows were actually worth watching at that time.

Loved it



Salute the nation