Holmes Toes Line For Steelers

TAMPA - It didn't take a Steel Curtain.

It took two twinkling toes.

It took two toes to stop hearts one last time.

They belonged to someone named Santonio Holmes and they barely scraped the right corner of the north end zone at Raymond James Stadium, spray-painted Arizona Cardinals red for Super Bowl XLIII.

That's how the referee announced it with 35 seconds left. After review, he said "the receiver came down with both toes inbounds."

Both toes.

"I knew my toes were on the ground the whole time," Holmes said.

That's how the Steelers came back on the Arizona Cardinals to win 27-23 and become Super Bowl champions for a record sixth time. And that's how a 5-foot-11 receiver from the sugar cane fields of Belle Glade, where he chased rabbits as a kid - and later sold drugs - became Super Bowl MVP. Only in America, and America's game.

Holmes' toes join David Tyree's noggin as famous body parts in Super Bowl history. True, Holmes' hands were in on it, reaching high into the night. And Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger's arm also was part of a remarkable 6-yard touchdown to cap a breathless fourth quarter and win this rousing game.

There was Holmes, having already caught eight balls for 125 yards, including three on the final drive, including one for 40 yards down to the Arizona 6, stretching over leaping Cardinals safety Aaron Francisco for the grab of his or most anyone else's lifetime.

Larry Fitzgerald, the Cardinals' interstellar receiver, could not have done better, though he tried mightily, with two fourth-quarter touchdown catches, including 64 yards on a slant and run for a 23-20 Cardinals lead with 2:37 left.

Kurt Warner, one of the great comeback stories in Super Bowl history, couldn't have done better, though he led the Cardinals back into the lead. He became the first quarterback to throw for 300 yards in three Super Bowls. Fitzgerald set postseason records for catches and touchdowns. Holmes' toes beat them all.

The Steelers' defense, ranked first in the NFL, couldn't hold off the Cardinals, not even with James Harrison's 100-yard interception return. Warner and Fitzgerald kept coming. They were going to be the stars. Then the brightest one appeared.

Santonio Holmes.

Only in America, and America's game.

He grew up poor, like a lot of kids in Belle Glade. He chased and hunted down rabbits in the muck and cane fields and sold them, or his family ate them. Like a lot of kids down there, he dreamed of getting out.

"Growing up there, it was real tough," Holmes said last Thursday. "We didn't have any jobs, we didn't have opportunity for jobs. ... We didn't have many opportunities to do anything."

He made mistakes. Holmes talked about them Super Bowl week. He told The Miami Herald about selling drugs, for food, for shoes, for pocket money. He told his story for a reason.

"I feel it's time to share things," Holmes said. "Everybody's going to be watching. I'm pretty sure some kids can get a feel for changing their lives and not doing those type of things and can get an opportunity to get out of the ghetto, the 'hood, to be successful."

He found a way out. To Ohio State, to the first round of the 2006 NFL draft, to Steelers deep threat and big playmaker, to helping his family, to trying to teach kids that they can make it, too, if they keep their dreams. And on Sunday night in Tampa, he found his way to the back corner of the end zone in the 60th minute of Super Bowl XLIII. Ben Roethlisberger threw. Only in America, and America's game.

"My feet never left the ground," Santonio Holmes said. "All I did was extend my arms and use my toes as extra extension to catch up to the ball."

That's all he did.

Beats chasing rabbits.