The Pittsburgh Steelers started playing football in 1933 when they finished 3-6-2. The Steelers first 39 years of existence produced seven winning seasons and one playoff appearance in 1947. The black and gold lost their only playoff opportunity to the Philadelphia Eagles 21-0 and then in the offseason, the Steelers Head Coach Jock Sutherland died. Pittsburgh and Art Rooney were the laughingstocks of professional football for another three decades.
OAKLAND, CA - DECEMBER 29: (l-r) Terry Bradshaw #12, Mean Joe Greene #75, head coach Chuck Noll and Glen Edwards #27 of the Pittsburgh Steelers watch from the sideline during the 1974 AFC Championship game against the Oakland Raiders at Oakland Alameda Coliseum on December 29, 1974, in Oakland, California. The Steelers defeated the Raiders 24-13. (Photo by Michael Zagaris/Getty Images)
The Steelers hired Chuck Noll in 1969 and initially, it was more of the same. The Steelers went 1-13 in his first season after drafting Joe Greene in the first round. The dreadful performance delivered Terry Bradshaw in 1970 and the team improved to 5-9. Heading into year four of the Noll era, the Steelers had amassed a 12-30 record, but they had drafted wisely and built a solid foundation of maulers that were about to dominate the NFL.
Noll drafted Franco Harris in 1972 and the transformation was complete. Harris delivered a rookie rushing record for the franchise and carried the Steelers to what would be their first of seven division titles in the next eight seasons. Pittsburgh played dominant defense and ran the ball at will during the 1972 season to win the AFC Central.
They rolled into the playoffs against the Oakland Raiders who were a powerhouse that had lost Super Bowl II after winning an AFL Championship. They lost three consecutive AFL championship games after the Super Bowl appearance and after a one-year absence in their first season in the NFL, they were back in the playoffs. Despite the game being in Pittsburgh, the Oakland Raiders and John Madden were the favorites.
By today’s standards, it was not an exciting game, the teams were scoreless into the third quarter. The Steelers managed two Roy Gerela field goals that gave them a 6-0 lead. Daryl Lamonica was replaced by Ken Stabler in the fourth quarter. The legendary Stabler scrambled 30 yards for what appeared to be the winning score with just 1:17 left on the clock and a dejected Art Rooney started to make his way to the locker room to comfort the boys on a great season.
Two Hall of Famers, Art Rooney and his son Dan signaled that Terry Bradshaw is the Steelers’ pick, and the first player taken in the 1970 NFL draft. Art began the club and created its culture; Dan turned them into the NFL’s best team ever in the 1970s. (Photo Credit: Pittsburgh Steelers Collection).
His dad didn’t see the play but the architect of the Steelers dynasty, Dan Rooney saw everything from above the press box. In a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette interview with Ed Bouchette in 2012, he recounted the events.
"I was upstairs, sort of where the control room was, above the press box," Dan Rooney said. "As soon as that play happened, now Franco's running, I knew it was going to be controversial, and I ran down to the press box. I was standing next to the phone. He said Fred Swearingen wants to talk to Art McNally. I called for Art McNally, who was close by. McNally kept saying 'call what you saw.' He (Swearingen) went back out on the field, had a huddle, put up his hands. It was a touchdown."
The great thing about the Immaculate Reception is that to this day no one can agree with what happened. Oakland fans insisted that the referees feared for their lives and only called it a touchdown because the Steelers did not have enough security on hand for crowd control. Steelers fans got to enjoy the fact that Harris ignited a fire that would later produce four championships in six years on a controversial play that would start one of the nastiest rivalries in professional sports.
Field judge Jimmy Cole (86) and Oakland and Steelers players rush in to break up a squabble between Raiders John Vella (75) and the Steelers' Jack Lambert (58) following the first Oakland touchdown in a Sunday AFC championship game in Oakland on Dec.26, 1976. (Photo Credit: AP Photo)
Whether you understand what the NFL rule was at the time, clearly if you root for the black and gold you know that Jack Tatum was the first to touch the ball making it a legal play. If you root for the silver and black and still dispute that fact, it makes you a loyal fan who is to be admired for your dedication to the Raiders franchise. Raiders fans have been wrong for 50 years about the call, so it seems fitting to celebrate it on the NFL Network on Christmas Eve as the gift that just keeps on giving to the Steelers.
What do you think Steeler Nation? Are you looking forward to seeing the two franchises renew the rivalry on Saturday night? Comment below or on my Twitter @thebubbasq.
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