The Immaculate Reception is one of the most famous plays in the history of American football. It was a touchdown which occurred in the AFC divisional playoff game of the National Football League (NFL), between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Oakland Raiders at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on December 23, 1972.
With his team trailing 7–6, on fourth down with 22 seconds left in the game, Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw threw a pass targeting Steelers running back John Fuqua. The ball may have bounced off the helmet of Raiders safety Jack Tatum, although many observers believe that Tatum never contacted the pass. Steelers fullback Franco Harris caught it just before it hit the ground and ran for a game-winning touchdown. The play has been a source of much controversy and speculation ever since, with many contending that the ball touched only Fuqua (and did not in any way touch Tatum) or that it hit the ground before Harris caught it, either of which would have resulted in an incomplete pass by the rules of the time. Kevin Cook's The Last Headbangers cites the play as the beginning of a bitter rivalry between the Steelers and the Raiders that fueled a historically brutal Raiders team during the NFL's most controversially physical era.
NFL Films has chosen the Immaculate Reception as the greatest play of all time, as well as the most controversial.NFL Top 10 – Controversial Calls The play was also selected as the Greatest Play in NFL History in the NFL Network's 100 series. The play proved to be a turning point for the Steelers, reversing four decades of futility with their first playoff win ever; they went on to win four Super Bowls by the end of the 1970s.
The play's name is a pun derived from the Immaculate Conception, a dogma in the Roman Catholic Church. The phrase was first used on air by Myron Cope, a Pittsburgh sportscaster who was reporting on the Steelers' victory. A Pittsburgh woman, Sharon Levosky, called Cope before his 11:00p.m. sports broadcast that night and suggested the name, which was coined by her then-boyfriend Michael Ord during a celebration at a local bar after the two attended the game in person. Cope used the term on television and the phrase stuck. The phrase was apparently meant to imply that the play was miraculous in nature (see Hail Mary pass for a similar term).
Background Playoff history The Oakland Raiders had been to the postseason four previous times. In 1967 they won the AFL Championship before losing Super Bowl II against the Green Bay Packers. The following three seasons they made it back to the playoffs but lost to the eventual champions in all three instances (New York Jets in 1968, Kansas City Chiefs in 1969, Baltimore Colts in 1970). The "Immaculate Reception" game thus marked their return to the postseason after missing out on a playoff berth the year before.Las Vegas Raiders Playoff History, Pro Football Reference. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
The Pittsburgh Steelers, on the other hand, had appeared in the postseason only once, losing against the Philadelphia Eagles, 21–0, in an NFL divisional playoff game on December 21, 1947. The Steelers' fortunes began to change, however, in 1969, when they hired head coach Chuck Noll, who won four Super Bowls in six years with the team between the 1974 and 1979 seasons. That streak began two years after the "Immaculate Reception" game.Pittsburgh Steelers Playoff History, Pro Football Reference. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
1972 season The 1972 season marked the third year after the AFL-NFL merger, which had the Steelers move to the newly formed American Football Conference despite not having been a member of the American Football League. Thus, this was the third year in which a playoff meeting between the Raiders and the Steelers could take place outside a Super Bowl.
Having missed the playoffs the year before, the two teams met in the opening game of the season (on September 17), which Pittsburgh won, 34–28. In that game, the Steelers took leads of 17–0 and 27–7 on a blocked-punt return touchdown and two rushing touchdowns by quarterback Terry Bradshaw. Oakland fought back with three touchdowns in the fourth quarter, including a 70-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Daryle Lamonica to wide receiver Mike Siani, but Pittsburgh prevailed.Oakland Raiders at Pittsburgh Steelers - September 17th, 1972, Pro Football Reference. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
Both teams won their respective divisions. Pittsburgh's 11–3 record put them one game over the Cleveland Browns, who earned the AFC's wild card spot, and Oakland's mark of 10–3–1 ousted the Kansas City Chiefs by 2½ games. Until 1975 the home teams in the playoffs were two of the three division champions decided based on a yearly divisional rotation. The Miami Dolphins hosted the wild card team in the first round of the playoffs, which set up the matchup between Pittsburgh and Oakland.1972 NFL Standings & Team Stats, Pro Football Reference. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
Game synopsis The teams played to a scoreless tie at halftime, with Oakland's longest gain coming on an 11 completion from Daryle Lamonica to Fred Biletnikoff. Pittsburgh, meanwhile, came fairly close to a scoring chance, but passed up on a field goal attempt from the Oakland 31 line. Instead, Steelers running back John Fuqua was stopped by Raiders safety Jack Tatum on a fourth-and-2 run to turn possession over to the Raiders.NFL Game of the Week, 1972 Divisional Playoffs On its first possession of the second half, however, Pittsburgh opted for a field goal, with placekicker Roy Gerela's successful 18-yard attempt accounting for the first score of the game.Divisional Round - Oakland Raiders at Pittsburgh Steelers - December 23rd, 1972, Pro Football Reference. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
Later in the third quarter, Lamonica was intercepted for the second time in the game both times by a Steelers linebacker (Andy Russell in the first quarter, Jack Ham in the third). Lamonica's latest turnover prompted Raiders head coach John Madden to put Ken Stabler into the game at quarterback.
After an interception thrown by Bradshaw in Oakland territory the Steelers' only turnover of the game Stabler turned the ball back over to Pittsburgh, when he fumbled the ball inside the Oakland 25-yard line. This led to another field goal by Gerela to extend the Steelers' lead to 6–0. Stabler, however, successfully led Oakland down the field, when he capped a fourth-quarter drive with a 30-yard touchdown run. The ensuing extra point by placekicker George Blanda gave Oakland a 7–6 lead with 1:17 left, setting up the dramatic ending to the game.
Events of the play
Trailing Oakland 7–6, the Steelers faced fourth-and-10 on their own 40-yard line with 22 seconds remaining in the game and no timeouts. Head coach Chuck Noll called a pass play, 66 Circle Option, intended for receiver Barry Pearson, a rookie who was playing in his first NFL game.
Bradshaw (1 in diagram) dropped back and, under great pressure from Raiders linemen Tony Cline and Horace Jones, scrambled to his right and threw the ball from his 29-yard line to the Raiders' 34-yard line, toward Fuqua. Raiders safety Tatum collided with Fuqua just as the ball arrived (2). Tatum's hit knocked Fuqua to the ground and sent the ball sailing backward several yards, end over end.
Steelers fullback Franco Harris, after initially blocking on the play, had run downfield in case Bradshaw needed another eligible receiver. After Bradshaw threw the pass towards Fuqua, Harris recounted the advice of his college football coach Joe Paterno, who always told his players, "Go to the ball." Harris, in the vicinity of the deflected pass, scooped up the sailing ball at the Oakland 44-yard line, just before it hit the ground (3). Harris ran past Raiders linebacker Gerald Irons, while linebacker Phil Villapiano, who had been covering Harris, was blocked by Steelers tight end John McMakin (4). Harris used a stiff arm to ward off Raiders defensive back Jimmy Warren (5) and went in for a touchdown. The touchdown gave the Steelers a 13–7 lead when Gerela added the ensuing extra point.
Referee call
After the play, a critical question remained: whom did the football touch in the Fuqua/Tatum collision? If it bounced off Fuqua without ever touching Tatum, then Harris' reception was illegal. If the ball bounced off only Tatum or if it bounced off both Fuqua and Tatum (in any order) then the reception was legal. The rule stated in the pertinent part that if an offensive player touches a pass first, he is the only offensive player eligible to catch the pass. "However, if a [defensive] player touches [the] pass first, or simultaneously with or subsequent to its having been touched by only one [offensive] player then all [offensive] players become and remain eligible" to catch the pass. (This rule was rescinded in 1978.) If the reception was illegal, the Raiders would have gained possession (by a turnover on downs), clinching the victory.
One official, back judge Adrian Burk, signaled that the play was a touchdown but the other game officials did not immediately make any signal. When the officials huddled, Burk and another official, umpire Pat Harder, thought the play was a touchdown because Tatum and Fuqua had both touched the ball, while three others said that they were not in a position to rule.
Referee Fred Swearingen approached Steelers sideline official Jim Boston and asked to be taken to a telephone. Boston took Swearingen to a baseball dugout in the stadium. There was a video monitor in the dugout but it was not used by Swearingen. (Bradshaw's assertion that a special television was rigged up on the sideline so that Swearingen could watch the replay is not supported by other accounts.) From the dugout telephone, Boston put in a call to the press box to reach the NFL's supervisor of officials, Art McNally. Before the call, McNally had "an opinion from the get-go" that the ball had hit Tatum's chest, which he confirmed by looking "at one shot on instant replay". In the press box the telephone was answered either by Dan Rooney, son of Steelers owner Art Rooney, or by Steelers public relations director Joe Gordon (reports vary) and McNally was put on the line. According to McNally, Swearingen "never asked me about the rule and never asked what I saw. All he said was, 'Two of my men say that opposing players touched the ball.' And I said, 'Everything's fine then, go ahead.'" After Swearingen hung up the phone Boston asked, "What do we got?" "We got a touchdown," answered Swearingen, who then went back onto the field to signal the ruling to the crowd.
Harris crossed the goal line at approximately 3:29 PM EST. Fans immediately rushed the field; it took fifteen minutes to clear them so the extra point could be kicked to give the Steelers what turned out to be their final margin of victory, 13–7. Although this has been described as the first known use of television replay to confirm a call (there was no instant replay review then), at the time the NFL denied that the decision was made in the press box or using a television replay. An Oakland Tribune article two days after the game reported that Gordon told reporters in the press box that the decision had been made using the replay. (Reprinted in One for the Thumb: The New Steelers Reader, University of Pittsburgh Press, 2006, , pp. 171–172) Gordon has dismissed this as "a total fabrication". NFL officials Jim Kensil and Val Pinchbeck, who were in the press box with McNally, also deny that replay was used in making the decision on the play. (Reprinted in One for the Thumb: The New Steelers Reader, University of Pittsburgh Press, 2006, , pp. 169–171)