John Madden says he's still haunted by some of his biggest losses in the NFL, almost 40 years after he retired as a coach.
So he knows that Pete Carroll's play call in the closing seconds of this year's Super Bowl will haunt him always.
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"That will torment him forever," Madden told the Los Angeles Times.
Carroll, of course, was widely criticized for his controversial late-game call. With 26 seconds remaining, the Seahawks had the ball on second-and-goal a yard away from the end zone. Almost everyone expected Marshawn Lynch to get the ball, but Carroll called a pass play. Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler intercepted Russell Wilson's pass to preserve the Patriots 28-24 victory.
Madden, who won one Super Bowl and boasts the highest winning percentage (.759) of any coach in the modern NFL era, says he's been in Carroll's shoes before, and losing such a big game under those circumstances stays with a coach.
"Winning one game is hard. Getting to the Super Bowl is hard," he said. "Then getting that close and losing has to be tough, because we only remember the winners of the Super Bowl. One of the biggest gaps in sports is the difference between the winning and losing teams of the Super Bowl. They don't invite the losing team to the White House. They don't have parades for them. They don't throw confetti on them.
"Does it haunt you? Hell yes, it haunts you. I'm still haunted by some championship games."