SUPER BOWL XXX / Cowboys 27, Steelers 17 : O’Donnell Misreads His Opportunity

Neil O’Donnell was a salesman Sunday, a quarterback one-game away from becoming an unrestricted free agent, who had a chance to market his skills nationwide.

One thing is quite obvious now: O’Donnell is no salesman.

The Steelers handcuffed running back Emmitt Smith, allowing him an average gain of 2.7 yards a carry. They made quarterback Troy Aikman look very ordinary and kept wide receiver Michael Irvin out of the end zone.

If only they could have kept O’Donnell from throwing passes to the Cowboys’ Larry Brown. Perfect passes, the kind that look as if they had been designed to go to Brown.

“Hey, you take away those two plays and I think we are in a great position to win the game,” said Steeler receiver Yancey Thigpen.

Translation: Why did someone give Neil O’Donnell a ticket to this game.

“I thought we played them very good,” said Steeler linebacker Kevin Greene. “The bottom line is that you can’t turn the ball over in this league, especially in a big game like this.”

Translation: O’Donnell choked.

“I definitely feel we played a very good football game; they had a difficult time running and didn’t get much passing either,” Steeler safety Carnell Lake said. “The Cowboys came up with the crucial turnovers, got in the end zone and that pretty much wiped us out.”

Translation: Thanks a lot, Neil.

No, the Steelers were not a happy lot after losing their opportunity to upset the Cowboys.

“I was calm at the beginning,” O’Donnell said. “I’m not going to get all hyped up.”

No, it’s only the Super Bowl. A laid-back O’Donnell was an unremarkable nine for 17 for 92 yards in the first half, and after the break he remained unhyped. He completed only one of his first four passes in the third quarter, then found the mark--connecting with Brown.

Third and nine at the Steeler 48-yard line, and O’Donnell had wide receiver Ernie Mills running wide open. As offensive coordinator Ron Erhardt said later, “if the ball’s there, Ernie is still running with it.”

That wide open. But instead of throwing it to Mills, O’Donnell went to Brown, who was also wide open. There wasn’t anyone in a Steeler uniform near Brown, but O’Donnell’s pass was on the mark, and after Brown returned it 44 yards to the Steeler 18-yard line, the Cowboys needed only two plays to score.

What happened?

“You throw an interception, those things happen,” said O’Donnell, who had only seven passes intercepted during the regular season, but six in three post-season games. “It’s not like it’s a characteristic of Neil O’Donnell.”

But what happened?

“The ball just slipped,” he said.

The Steelers climbed back into the game, and after O’Donnell’s first miscue he connected on his next nine passes. Imagine all the contract offers that would have arrived had that continued. An MVP trophy maybe. Good Morning, America, Neil O’Donnell is free to go to the highest bidder.

“It’s just too bad we fell a little short,” he said. “Because we did have an opportunity to win it.”

Not with O’Donnell at quarterback. O’Donnell was good on five of his next seven passes, but then, as if to prove the first was no fluke, he threw another pass to Brown.

“If I saw Larry,” O’Donnell said, “I don’t think I would have thrown it there.”

But like before, Brown was wide open. Not a Steeler uniform in sight. So what was O’Donnell looking at when he threw the ball?

“I’m not going to comment on that,” said O’Donnell, who finished the game 28 for 49 for 239 yards.

Others weren’t as reluctant.

Wide receiver Andre Hastings said, “Neil and I just weren’t on the same page.”

The Cowboys had blitzed on the play, sending six defenders at O’Donnell, but the Steeler offense picked it up. Hastings failed to read the blitz properly, but then O’Donnell failed to demonstrate patience after his blockers picked up the blitz. Hastings ran a hitch, instead of turning out to the sideline. O’Donnell threw to the sideline and Brown’s name will forever be linked to Super Bowl XXX as the game’s MVP.

“We were right there where we wanted to be, 20-17 with six minutes to go and that’s our kind of game,” Erhardt said. “Neil anticipated the out route and it was just a missed read that we had been very, very good on all year.”

Translation: The guy let us down in the big game.

O’Donnell was already talking about next year’s Super Bowl after giving away this one.

“It was an experience,” he said. “And I hope to return. I really do, because I think this team is going to be extra hungry now and if we can just stay healthy, I think next year we really will be OK.”

With O’Donnell at quarterback?

“I made it clear that I’m happy in Pittsburgh and I want to stay there,” O’Donnell said. “But that’s not my call.”

Any takers?