It was two days before Christmas in 1972, and the Steelers needed a miracle. Down a point at Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers Stadium in the Divisional playoffs against Oakland with 22 seconds and no timeouts left, it was fourth-and-10 from their own 40.
In their four decades of existence, the Steelers had never won a playoff game. QB Terry Bradshaw dropped back, looked for receivers, and niftily avoiding two would be sacks a long pass down the middle towards running back John Fuqua.
But arriving along with the ball was hard-hitting Raiders safety Jack Tatum, who ricocheted the ball back toward Steeler territory, destined for the turf.
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Incredibly, Pittsburgh’s Franco Harris, a 230-pound rookie running back, nabbed the ball within millimeters of the ground and scampered down the left sideline for a 60-yard touchdown and a 13-7 victory.
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Although Pittsburgh would fall, 21-17, in the AFC Championship to the eventual Super Bowl winning Dolphins.
The “Immaculate Reception” represented a sort of beginning to the magical stretch of four Super Bowl titles in six years that would cement the 1970s Steelers as one of the NFL’s great dynasties.
