'It Was Horrible': Even After 19 Years, Jeffrey Dean Morgan Hasn’t Forgotten the ‘Atrocious Officiating’ at Super Bowl XL

Long before Jeffrey Dean Morgan became a household name for his role in the hit series, The Walking Dead, he was a diehard Seattle Seahawks fan. And that hasn’t changed today.

A proud product of Seattle, Morgan has repped the franchise on social media, in stadiums, and even raised the iconic 12 Flag ahead of a 2018 game against the 49ers.

However, if there’s one moment in Seahawks history that still stings for him, it’s the team’s loss in Super Bowl XL. And nearly two decades later, Morgan hasn’t forgiven or forgotten how it all went down.

Appearing on Cam Heyward’s Not Just Football podcast, the Hollywood actor didn’t hold back while talking about the infamous 21-10 loss to the Steelers. “It was horrible,” he said flatly. “I thought the whole game was officiated poorly, but there were two calls in particular that sucked.”

While Morgan didn’t specify which particular calls bothered him the most, he was adamant that poor officiating impacted the outcome of the contest. “There were probably 10 of us there from Seattle,” he recalled. “We were looking at each other going, ‘This is a joke. There’s no way.’ And then it was like, ‘Who’s getting paid off?’”

Morgan also made it clear that his frustration wasn’t rooted in blind loyalty to his team. In fact, he admitted, “I’ve always been a fan of Big Ben. I was really excited for that Super Bowl.”

But in his view, the game didn’t live up to the hype. “It wasn’t a great Super Bowl, unless you’re a Pittsburgh fan. [It] wasn’t a well-played game by anyone. I just remember the refs were too involved.”

Hearing his guest’s strong resentment towards how things played out, Cam Heyward, the Steelers representative in the room, attempted to lighten the moment with a tongue-in-cheek reply: “I thought it was a well-officiated game.”

The Walking Dead star, as expected, wasn’t having it: “No, you don’t. No, you don’t.” All told … this frustration isn’t without foundation.

Super Bowl XL remains one of the most controversial big games in NFL history. For starters, a Darrell Jackson touchdown was wiped out by a questionable offensive pass interference. Then, a game-shifting 18-yard Hasselbeck completion to Jerramy Stevens was erased by a holding flag on Sean Locklear, pushing Seattle from the 1-yard line back to the 29.

Perhaps the biggest proof of this matchup being an officiating disaster-class came years later, when referee Bill Leavy admitted:

“It was a tough thing for me. I kicked two calls in the fourth quarter, and I impacted the game, and as an official, you never want to do that… It left me with a lot of sleepless nights. I think about it constantly. I’ll go to my grave wishing that I’d been better. I know that I did my best at that time, but it wasn’t good enough.”

For Seahawks fans, those words offer little comfort. As evident with Jeffrey Dean Morgan, the sour taste of losing a Super Bowl still hasn’t gone away. Because losses sting hard when the nature of the defeat is disappointing. And to see the most important game of the year get affected by external factors is heartbreaking for any sports fan.