A Raiders' First-Hand Account of "The Immaculate Reception"
Somebody in the National Football League’s scheduling department must have a sick sense of humor for scheduling the Las Vegas Raiders to play the Pittsburgh Steelers on virtually the 50th anniversary of the famed play, or infamous for the Raiders, known as the “The Immaculate Reception.”
This is the most disputed and despised game, not to mention play, in the history of the Silver and Black, and Raiders fans on hand in person and watching the game on television will be forced to watch the Steelers celebrate Terry Bradshaw’s supposed 60-yard touchdown pass to fullback Franco Harris in the 1972 AFC playoff game at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.
Harris, sadly, died on Wednesday at the age of 72.
This reporter was in the press box at that game, and here is what happened:
Quarterback Kenny “Snake” Stabler came off the bench to replace Daryle Lamonica and rolled out when pressured before running 30 yards for a touchdown to give the Raiders a 7-3 lead in the final minutes.
With 22 seconds left, Bradshaw was chased out of the pocket by Raiders defensive ends Horace Jones and Tony Cline before throwing a desperation fourth-down pass down the middle toward running back John “Frenchy” Fuqua.
The ball was on target, but so was Oakland safety Jack Tatum, who smashed into Fuqua from behind as the pass arrived.
Tatum, who died in 2010, always said: “I never touched the ball,” and fellow Raiders safety George Atkinson said of his bird’s-eye view: “Jack hit (Fuqua) from behind and he didn’t touch the ball.”
In those days, two offensive players touching the ball would have made a pass incomplete by rule.
The ball ricocheted several yards back to Harris, a future Hall of Famer, running downfield after blocking for Bradshaw.
Harris apparently caught the ball inches off the ground, which also has been disputed, and, without breaking stride, he sprinted into the end zone for the apparent winning touchdown as the crowd went crazy.
However, officials on the field apparently didn’t immediately know what had happened and didn’t signal anything.
“If the officials really knew what happened, they would have called it right away,” Raiders Coach John Madden said. “But first, they went into a huddle. That has to mean they didn’t know.
“They said: ‘We don’t know what happened.’ I said: 'I know you don't know what happened. I’ll tell you what happened.’ I said, ‘It hit Frenchy Fuqua, so legally, Franco Harris can’t get it.’ Well, they told me to get the hell off the field.”
In the press box, public relations director Joe Gordon of the Steelers told reporters that officials were looking at the replay to determine exactly what happened, and several Bay Area reports will verify that. Still, Gordon and the NFL later denied he said it.
The NFL had no official replay system back then.
“Writers covering the Raiders said Steeler Public Relations Director Joe Gordon told reporters in the press box that NFL officials had made the decision from the replay,” United Press International reported.
Gordon has called that “a total fabrication,” but this reporter and several others from the Bay Area can verify that it happened.
However, the great photographer Russ Reed of the Oakland Tribune took a picture of referee Fred Swearingen looking at the replay on a television monitor in the dugout of the Pittsburgh Pirates, who also played at Three River Stadium. The picture appeared in the Tribune the following day.
Swearingen came out of the dugout and said: “What do we got? We’ve got a touchdown.”
And then there is Raiders linebacker Phil Villapiano, who said he had a bead on Harris and with his tackle, the clock would have run out and given the Raiders a victory, but he claims he was clipped by tight end John McMackin.
Video replays seem to verify that.
“We totally got screwed,” said Villapiano, who, despite the play, became close friends with Harris over the years. “I was definitely clipped. If it wasn’t for that clip, I think I make that play, and we have no “Immaculate Reception.’
“ … Swearingen had a problem. I think, if he would have ever reversed that call, that man might have died. And all the other officials too.”
And then there is Fuqua, who, in the Steelers locker room following the game, said he touched the ball and Tatum did not before he was told to shut up, but he has admitted numerous times over the years that he was the only one who touched the ball because he knows the play can’t be overturned now.
Most of the replays are inconclusive, and one picture actually seems to show the ball resting on Tatum’s shoulder, but the replay from the far-end zone behind Bradshaw shows that the ball never really got close to the Raiders' safety. It hit off Fuqua’s forearm before he was hit in the back by Tatum, and the ball was sent sailing back to Harris.
So whatever the Steelers try to tell or show us on Saturday, longtime members of Raider Nation will tell you this play was anything but immaculate.
The game against the Steelers kicks off on today at 8:15 p.m. EST/5:15 p.m. PST and can be seen on NFLN.
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