The Immaculate Reception

Lore & Background

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. 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 11:00 p.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).

In Their Own Story

The air in Three Rivers Stadium was thick with winter fog and tension. Ken Stabler, cool as ice, scanned the field before launching a desperate spiral toward the end zone. The ball seemed destined to fall incomplete, a final sigh for Oakland's season. But then, chaos erupted. A deflection off a steel-hard shoulder sent the pigskin dancing unpredictably through the air like a leaf in a storm. Franco Harris, eyes locked on the erratic flight, dove and snatched it from the void, securing not just a touchdown, but history.

Reader's Guide

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. 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. 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. 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. The teams played to a scoreless tie at halftime. On its first possession of the second half, Pittsburgh opted for a field goal, with placekicker Roy Gerela's successful 18-yard attempt accounting for the first score of the game. 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 Stabl

Did You Know?

• The play's name was coined by Michael Ord during a celebration at a local bar after he and Sharon Levosky attended the game in person; Levosky suggested the name to sportscaster Myron Cope.
• The Immaculate Reception was 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.