Steelers Nation: "Generation Immaculate Reception" Celebrates 40 Years

Terry Bradshaw and Franco Harris connected through the Immaculate Reception on December, 23rd 1972, combining to make the most spectacular play in football history.

The play happened precisely a week before my 4 month birthday, making me a member of Steelers Nation’s post Immaculate Reception generation.

Comprehending what that means requires knowing what came before, experiencing what followed, and appreciating the almost super natural aspect of what occurred on that day. Scroll down or click on the links below to reach each thread of this incredible story.

The Post Immaculate Reception Steelers
The Pre-Immaculate Reception Pittsburgh Steelers
The Immaculate Reception – A Franchises’s Fortunes Change

The Post Immaculate Reception Steelers

While the Steelers lost in the following week to Don Shula’s perfect 1972 Dolphins team, the Immaculate Reception ushered in an unheralded era of pro football prosperity. Since that fateful the Pittsburgh Steelers have:

• Won 6 Super Bowls, more than any other team
• Played in 8 Super Bowls, tying the mark for championship appearances
• Achieved a winning record in 32 of those 40 years, again, more than anyone else
• Posted an overall winning percentage that is better than any other NFL team
• Sent 64 players on the NFL's All Pro Teams, more than any other franchise
• Never once did they win fewer than 5 games something that no one else in the NFL can say 

These stats come courtesy of Tim Gleason, author of From Black to Gold, whose article on the Immaculate Reception on Behind the Steel Curtain is simply one of the best articles on the Pittsburgh Steelers I have ever read (full disclosure - I also writer for BTSC.)

Pittsburgh measures success in Super Bowls. Few other NFL cities can make that claim. Its often said that Steelers fans are spoiled, and to a large extent that’s true.

No other NFL franchise can match the Steelers record of success, stability and sustained since that day in December 1972.

The Pre-Immaculate Reception Steelers

The Immaculate Reception was also the Steelers first playoff victory.

• That’s hard for many fans to fathom, just as it was hard for me to grasp as a child.

The morning after the Penguins most recent Stanley Cup victory, I declared that Pittsburgh was once again the City of Champions.

In doing so, I shared memories of seeing framed copies of the Sports Illustrated cover featuring Terry Bradshaw and Willie Stargell adorning walls that overlooked barbershop counters where Iron City Steelers Championship cans were proudly displayed.

An unremarkable memory, until you consider the fact that Dino’s barbershop lay in Aspen Hill, Maryland, which is about 10 miles from the DC border.

But to a 7 year old all of this was "normal." Neither of my parents followed sports closely, but as a child I naturally asked them if they’d similarly been Steelers fans growing up.

“You don’t understand, the Steelers and Pirates were terrible when we were growing up,” was the response.

The Pirates did have their moments in the sun, but the Pittsburgh Steelers were a paragon to futility for 40 years. Aside from failing to win a playoff game, the pre-Immaculate Reception Steelers could “boast” of:

• A single playoff appearance (a 1962 loss to Detroit)
• A mere 8 winning seasons and 5 more seasons at .500
• Not even allowing Johnny Unitas, perhaps the best quarterback ever to play, to throw a pass in practice before giving him his walking papers
• Cutting Len Dawson, future Super Bowl Champion and NFL Hall of Famer
• Trading Bill Neilson away for nothing to the arch-rival Cleveland Browns where he’d appear in two NFL Championships
• Passing on future Hall of Famers Bill Schmidt and Lenny Moore opting to pick dud Gerry Glick in the later case
• Stubbornly sticking to the obsolete Single Wing formatting deep into the 50’s

The pre-Immaculate Reception Pittsburgh Steelers also suffered their share of bad luck.

Legendary Pitt coach Jock Sutherland coached the Steelers two winning seasons following World War II, but unfortunately died after the 1947 season on a scouting trip. Joe Bach was also making progress towards building a winner, until health problems forced him form the game.

Then there was Gene Lipscomb aka “Big Daddy” tragic death to heroin in 1963. Former Colorado stand out Byron White led the NFL in scoring, rushing, and total offense in 1938, but decided to study for a year at Oxford and played for Detroit in 1940. (White later went on to the US Supreme Court.)

The Steelers just couldn't seem to get a break.

The Immaculate Reception -- A Franchise's Fortunes Change

The root of many if not all of the Steelers ills for those 40 years was the simple fact that Art Rooney Sr., for as decent and honorable of a man he was, was as bad at picking coaches as he was good at handicapping horses.

Dan Rooney began to take over control of the Steelers in the 1960’s while Art Rooney Jr. began building the scouting department. Rooney in fact influenced his father’s decision to fire the mercurial Buddy Parker, yet could not persuade The Chief to ignore Vince Lombardi’s advice to hire Bill Austin.

Austin failed after just two seasons, and Art Rooney Sr. finally relented in allowing Dan to conduct a thorough coaching search. Then, things began to change for the Pittsburgh Steelers:

• Rooney hired Chuck Noll, the first and as yet only NFL coach to win four Super Bowls
• The city of Pittsburgh agreed to build Three Rivers Stadium, giving the Steelers a modern home
• Noll selected future NFL Hall of Famer Joe Greene with his first pick in 1969 NFL Draft
• Terry Bradshaw, a future Hall of Famer, came to Steelers in the next year as the number one overall pick in the 1970s NFL Draft
• Jack Ham, another future NFL Hall of Famer followed in the second round of the 1971 NFL Draft

Chuck Noll entered the 1972 NFL Draft actually wanting to draft Robert Newhouse. But Art Rooney Jr. and Dan Radakvoich and prevailed on him to ignore Newhouse and instead take Penn State fullback Franco Harris.

• Finally, reason intervened in the draft room and tipped the scales in the Steelers favor to another Hall of Famer.

Still, when Harris first joined the Steelers, team capital Andy Russell feared he wouldn’t make it, as Harris seemed to shy from hitting holes.

Yet, in his first exhibition game start off tackle to the left, found nothing, planted his foot, and cut back to the right, exploding for a 75 yard touchdown. After the play Noll offered his running backs coach, Dick Hoak a simple instruction:

• “Dick, don’t over coach him.”

At 6’2” 220 lbs., Franco Harris was a big back for his day. Yet he was fast. He was also cerebral.

According to The Ones Who Hit the Hardest Harris once confided to NFL Films that “The art of running is being able to change and do things because what you thought would be there is not there.”

• That ability served Franco Harris, the Pittsburgh Steelers, and Steelers Nation extremely well on December 23rd 1972.

The Raiders and Steelers staged the first of many hard-fought battles those two teams would fight throughout the 1970’s. The score stood at 0-0 at the half, and the fourth quarter found the Steelers clinging to a 3 point lead.

John Madden benched starter Daryl Lamonica for of “The Snake” Ken Stabler. With just over a minute to play, Stabler exploited the weakness of a the Steeler Curtain without Dwight White, and ran 30 yards for a touchdown.

• Art Rooney Sr. had waited 40 years to taste playoff victory, and the Chief concluded he’d have to wait one more, heading to the locker room to console his team.

The Steelers got the ball back, but only advanced to their 40 by the time 22 seconds remained. The call was “66 Circle Option Play” to Barry Pearson.

Terry Bradshaw faded back. The Raiders laid in the blitz. Bradshaw evaded. Bradshaw stepped up. Bradshaw fired a missile downfield to Frenchy Fuqua. The ball soared downfield carrying with the momentum of 40 years of losing.

As the ball reached about the 30 it slammed into a wall created by a hellacious collision between Jack Tatum and Frency Fuqua ricocheting it backwards.

And in that instant, the fortunes of the Pittsburgh Steelers changed (available as of 12/31/12):


Certainly no one diagrammed “66 Circle Option Play” to end that way.

Was it luck or did a divine hand intervene to push the ball in Franco’s? I’ll lean towards the later, but you decide that question for yourself.

But there was nothing super natural about Franco being in the right place at the right time.

Franco Harris role in “66 Circle Option Play” was to block the outside linebacker. He wasn’t even supposed to be downfield. But when the linebacker didn’t appear, Franco took off feeling he might contribute elsewhere.

• As Chuck Noll explained, “Franco hustled on every play.” 

Fortune’s hand, in one form or fashion, opened the door between winning and losing for Pittsburgh, but it was Franco’s dedication and determination that drove the Steelers through it.

• And for 40 years the franchise has continued moving forward. 

Since then more Steelers seasons have ended at the Super Bowl than have ended as losing efforts.

Since that fateful day, “Steelers” has been synonymous with success, winning, and championships for an entire generation within Steelers Nation.

You can simply call us Generation Immaculate Reception.

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Ray Anderson's Blind Spot Obscures NFL Justice

Take a look at the sequence below:

Image courtesy of www.assets.sbnation.com

Do you see any problem with what happened? Good so do I.

Ray Anderson, however does not, and that is an issue.

This is no “Roger Goodell’s out to get the Steelers” piece. Yes, the Steelers have fallen on the short end of the NFL’s kangaroo justice system with startling frequency.

But Goodell stood foursquare behind Dan Rooney and Art Rooney II in 2008 when Tim, John, Pat and Art Rooney Jr. flirted with selling out to Stanley Druckenmiller. In stark terms, Goodell made clear that the NFL was intent on keeping team under Rooney control.

So save your "Goodell Hates the Steelers” speech. For whatever his faults are, Roger Goodell has no axe to grind with the Black and Gold.

• Mounting evidence suggests something quite different about Ray Anderson.

Steelers Nation:  Mees Ray Anderson, NFL Discipline Czar

Is there any reason to like Ray Anderson? OK, hopefully he's a fine man, nurturing father/husband and upstanding citizen, because his administration of justice in his role as NFL Executive Vice President of Football Operations is far from impartial.

In October 2008 Hines Ward delivered a devastating hit to Cincinnati linebacker Keith Rivers (video available as of 10/6/12).


At the time, Hines block was perfectly legal. But the incident nonetheless drew a visit from Ray Anderson.

After meeting privately with the Steelers Anderson proclaimed: "We are going to look at that, but under the current rules as written now, it was a clean hit. It was a legal hit." The Post-Gazette counted the term “under the current rules” four times in Anderson’s press briefing.

At the time, Steelers Digest lambasted Anderson, honing in on Anderson decision to single Hines Ward out with a very public non-accusation accusation and asked, if the hit was legal, then why “look into it”?

• That was the first time Steelers Nation heard the name "Ray Anderson." Unfortunately, it was not the last.

A year later Steelers Digest editor Bob Labriola praised, of all people, the Baltimore Ravens Ray Lewis. It issue was Lewis' tirade denouncing a flag that had been thrown on Terrell Suggs after he'd barley touched Tom Brady. The worst part about it? The referee only threw a flag after Tom Brady's request.

While Labriola made no bones about his disdain for the coddling the NFL was showering on Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, he took it as a hopeful sign that Ray Anderson declined to fine Ray Lewis and Jim Harbaugh for berating the officials. Perhaps a corner had been turned, the Steelers Digest editor suggested….

The NFL was turning a corner, unfortunately it wasn't the one Labriola wanted it to turn.

2010 - Welcome to the National Fine League

Steelers Nation is well versed in this narrative. Suddenly, six weeks into the season, the NFL decides to get tough on helmet to helmet hits especially ones involving quarterbacks. Player safety is important, but uniform enforcement of the rules is an essential requirement to player protection.

Alas, Anderson and Goodell are anything but consistent:

•  In November, James Harrison gets flagged and fined for a hit vs. that arrives .33 seconds late and where his face mask barely grazes Ryan Fitzpatrick’s numbers
• A week later, Roy Williams hits Ben Roethlisberger 1.3 seconds after releasing the ball – needless to say he is neither flagged nor fined
• Richard Seymour cold cocks Ben Roethlisberger between plays, gets fined less than Harrison has been fined for lesser offenses
• In 2011, Harrison suffers helmet to helmet hit in Arizona and breaks the orbital bone around his eye. The league does nothing
• Later that season, Ryan Clark makes textbook, clean tackle, vs. the Ravens league fines him for it
• Two games later, James Harrison gets suspended for one game for his hit on Colt McCoy
• Yet the Browns get little more than a slap on the wrist for putting badly concussed McCoy back in the game

See any sort of trend there?

Philip Wheeler Gets a Pass for Illegal Hit on Ben Roethlisberger

Image courtesy of www.assets.sbnation.com

As the GIF image above so clearly illustrates, Philip Wheeler hits Ben Roethlisberger:

• After he releases the ball (illegal)
• Below the knee (also illegal)
• From behind (not illegal, but hardly justifiable given the points above)

Behind the Steel Curtain’s Neal Coolong analyzed this play right after it happened, and predicted that Wheeler would not be hit because he was blocked towards Roethlisberger by Kelven Beachum.

Wheeler could argue, reasoned Coolong, that his momentum carried him into Roethlisberger.

While Wheeler was clearly blocked towards Roethlisberger and I respect Coolong’s objectivity, there is no way momentum was responsible for that hit.

Wheeler tired to play it off, but he clearly kept himself moving, and with Roethlisberger’s lower leg in sights.

• Clear to everyone it would seem, but Ray Anderson.

Justice is supposed to be blind.

• But Ray Anderson simply as a blind spot when it comes to illegal hits suffered by Steelers.

In other words, can anyone imagine James Harrison or Ryan Clark escaping punishment had they taken out Carson Palmer the way Wheeler took out Roethlisberger?

I don’t think so either.

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Steelers Report Card vs. Raiders @ Oakland

From the grade book of a teacher who worries that his star student capable of authoring an epic master piece will fall prey to failure due to poor attention to fundamental nuts and bolts issues, here goes the report card for the Steelers loss to the Raiders. Caveat, no other grades were consulted prior to this post.

Quarterback
Has Ben Roethlisberger ever played better? You’d be hard pressed to make that argument. Ben made good decisions, bought time with his feet, spread the ball around, coverted third downs and threw touchdowns.  Grade: A

Running Back
Baron Batch, Isaac Redman, and Chris Rainey all had some good individual runs. But again, consistence remained absent. Remove Roethlisberger’s scramble, and Pittsburgh for 44 yards. Total. The backs caught the ball well. But rushing is their primary role and never, have I ever seen a Steelers team run the ball so poorly. Run blocking is an issue, but someone must find a way to get it done.  Grade:  D

Wide Receivers
The stat sheets says this was another banner day for Young Money and company, and in many ways it was. Health Miller? All he does is make tough catches and catch touchdowns. But for a strong as this unit played at times, they did commit three fumbles, one quite costly and the other two indicated a lack of focus that plagued the team. The fact that the wide receivers are the strength of the team gives them no license to take plays off. Grade:  B-

Offensive Line
Another game and no major injuries, good. Another game and a sub 3 yards per carry rushing average, bad. Willie Colon committed a holding penalty when the team could least afford it and the only sack the unit gave up was later on that same drive when the Steelers needed to score. Strong pass protection is nothing to sneeze at, but more progress in the running game and more consistency in crucial moments are needed if the unit is to transform itself into an asset. Grade:  C

Defensive Line
The Steelers run defense contained the Raiders’ rushing attack. Except for the 64 yard run. Other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how was the… You get the picture. Statistics aside, this unit fails to distinguish itself. Ziggy Hood was supposed to have a break out year, instead he’s invisible. Brett Kesiel had gotten better with age, is age now getting the better of him? Individually the defensive lineman are not winning their match ups, collectively they’re getting no penetration.  Grade:  D

Linebackers
Why are the Steelers paying Lawrence Timmons 60 million dollars? Timmons is supposed to be the unit’s athlete, but Larry Foote, the man he made expendable, is out performing him. LaMarr Woodley made some noise, but mostly in the first half. Neither Jason Worilds nor Chris Carter come close to convincing anyone he’s James Harrison’s heir apparent. Carson Palmer picked the Steelers defense apart with audiles, the no huddle and short, quick release passes. Those are difficult to defend, but that’s what linebackers are paid to do.  Grade:  D

Secondary
Even if the Steelers win the Super Bowl this year, no one will remember that the secondary helped force a few 1st half 3 and outs, they’ll recall the Raiders scoring  every second half possession. That’s the second time an offense has accomplished this feat. The secondary hardly deserves the all blame for that, but they sure could step up to contribute to a solution. Ryan Clark’s interception nudges this group’s grade up.  Grade:  D+

Special Teams
After two weeks of nearly flawless play special teams served up…. A touchdown nullified by a penalty, a 50 kickoff return, a 29 yard punt, and a facemask that puts the Steelers back to their own 8. You cannot hang all the blame for the loss here but, early on, special teams breakdowns gave the Raiders multiple chances to get back into the game when they were on the ropes. Grade:  D+

Coaching
The fumbles, penalties, and special teams breakdowns indicated a chronic failure to focus. That blame falls squarely on Mike Tomlin’s shoulders. Any temptation to say “yeah, well that happens” should be met with the realization that losses to inferior opponents doomed the 2009 Steelers. Its hard fault Todd Haley, but he must take some blame for the running game. On defense, the Steelers are below the line. While execution is an issue, Palmer’s familiarity with Dick LeBeau’s offense keyed his success.  Grade:  D-

Unsung Hero
The unit did not escape criticism above, but the fact is that Ben Roethlisberger, Mike Wallace, Antonio Brown, and Health Miller cannot put up a fantasy owners dream come true like numbers of Number Seven is on the Ground. Pass protection needs to hold up better on key plays, but overall Ben is getting the time he needs to thrive, and for that the offensive line is the Unsung Hero of the Raiders game.

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Steelers Self Destruct in Oakland vs. the Raiders

So you put Ben Roethlisberger on the same field as Carson Palmer and:

• Roethlisberger nearly doubles Palmer in passing yardage
• The Steelers gain nearly a 13 minute advantage in time of possession
• Mike Wallace, Antonio Brown, and Health Miller combined for 4 touchdowns
• Steelers go 2-2 on fourth down attempts

Sounds like the recipe for another Steelers win, right?

Those very well should be the ingredients for victory, but unfortunately the Steelers latest fiasco on the road drives home a time-honored lesson:

• You can’t take plays off.

(Oh, yeah, and it also helps when your secondary actually covers guys.)

Steelers Give Raiders Second Chances in the First Half

By all rights, the Steelers should have established firm control of the game by the half.  In Steelers Report Card on the Jets game, Steel Curtain Rising noted that to defeat the Steelers, you’ve got to score quickly.

• Dennis Allen certainly didn’t read my evaluation, but he absolutely took the advice to heart. 

After the Steelers drew first blood in converting Ryan Clark's interception with a Ben Roethlisberger to Health Miller Red Zone touchdown connection, the Raiders responded in 3 plays, as Darren McFadden streaked 64 yards to a touchdown through a gaping hole to touchdown.

• Larry Foote, Lawrence Timmons, and especially Ryan Mundy took the play off. Costly mistake.

Allowing quick scores is disturbing, but this Pittsburgh Steelers team has the firepower to go touchdown-for-touchdown with any team in this league

Case in point the Steelers immediately answered, as Ben Roethlisberger led the team on another time consuming 81 yard drive the culminated in another Roethlisberger-Miller patented touchdown hook up.

The Steelers seemed to be on a roll. The defense forced consecutive three and outs and Antonio Brown took the second punt 72 yards to the house!

• …which was called back because of a penalty on the Steelers – special teams took a play off

Instead of defending a 14 point lead, Pittsburgh had to slog forward from their 18 yard line making their way to their own 31 where things stalled.

Drew Butler shanked the punt badly, giving Oakland the ball at their own 40.

• Special teams took another play off

Unlike the incarnation that presented itself in the second half, the Steelers defense did its job, and forced another 3 and out with Antonio Brown signaling fair catch at the 15.

Unfortunately, Jason Worilds got flagged for a face mask, pushing the Steelers back to their own 8

• Make that three consecutive plays taken off by the special teams.

But the special teams were far from the only unit of the Pittsburgh Steelers guilty of clocking out at the wrong time, as Jonathan Dwyer put the ball on the ground, and the Raiders quickly recovered.

• Dwyer picked the wrong time to literally let something slip.

The Raiders immediately advanced into the Red Zone, but the Steelers defense responded with a strong goal line stand, until they got flagged on 4th and 2 for a neutral zone infraction…

• The defensive line took a play off and one play later the Raiders tied the game.

Credit Ben Roethlisberger and the offense for moving the Steelers into position to kick a field goal before the half. At the time, three points seemed like a reasonable consolation prize after such a disappointing turn of events.

Unfortunately, those extra three weren’t enough.

Second Half Shoot Out

Those content to see the NFL transformed into a Madden-style game, the second half of the Steelers-Raiders game was a thing of beauty.

• For those of us who believe defense and physical football are important to the game… “It is what it is” is about all I can offer.

The Steelers opened the second half with a 9 play, 80 yard scoring drive that ended with a Mike Wallace touchdown. With a ten point lead, the Steelers again had a chance to settle into control of the game.

Oakland’s Mark Goodson responded with a 51 yard kick return, giving the Raiders perfect field position at the Steelers 48.

• Make the four plays taken off by the special teams.

The kick return gave new life to the Raiders, and 10 plays later the cut the Steelers lead to 3 again.

Pittsburgh responded with a touchdown drive of its own, but Antonio Brown's end zone fumble and recovery foreshadowed things to come.

The Steelers special teams finally managed to do their jobs right, but unfortunately by this time the secondary had checked out. Carson Palmer no longer needed short fields, taking the Raiders on an 80 yard touchdown drive, again, cutting the Steelers margin to 3.

Pittsburgh seemed up to the “touchdown for touchdown” game, until Antonio Brown transformed a midfield crossing 20 yard pass into disaster by fumbling the ball away. (He made a nice tackle on the return, however.)

This time, the defense held Oakland to a field goal, but that was all it needed to tie the game.

The Steelers had moved the ball on the Raiders with ease, and so with 6:31 left, plenty of time remained. The Steelers offense just needed to execute as it had done all afternoon. Sounds simple, right? Guess again:

• On first and 10 at the Steelers 20 Willie Colon got flagged for holding
• Mike Wallace responds with a 14 yard pass, but then fumbles and recovers. Slip ups like that with the game on the line are unacceptable.
• The Steelers fail to convert a 2nd and 3 then and fail to convert a 3rd and 1.

From their own 29 yard line, Mike Tomlin risks its all on 4th and 1, and Isaac Redman barrels through for 6 yards. Statement has been made, momentum established, right? Don’t count on it.

The offensive line, which had pass protected so well all day, took their turn to take a play off, and Roethlisberger suffered sacked on the next play. He completed his next pass to Heath Miller, but misfired on third down, forcing the Steelers to punt.

• The only time the Steelers needed to score in the second half, they couldn’t.

The Raiders got the ball back and kicked a field goal with time expiring. End of game.

And so goes the Steelers 1-2 start to the 2012 season. When the schedule came out the Steelers week 4 bye seemed way too early for comfort. Now it seems like a Godsend.

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Raiders Rushing Game is More Anemic Than the Steelers....

The Pittsburgh Steelers running game remains stalled, badly stalled, two games into their 2012 season. Mike Tomlin minced no words about the subject at his Tuesday press conference declaring "We haven't run the ball as well as we have liked."

• That’s some what of an understatement.

In two games the Steelers have only rushed for a combined total of 141 yards – that was often times a single days work for Barry Foster, Jerome Bettis, or Willie Parker.

What’s more, they’re averaging 2.6 yards per carry, which is well below the respectable 4.4 average the achieved in 2011.

Issac "Redzone" Redman, the man who electrified with 100 yard performances against Cleveland in the regular season finale and in the playoffs vs. Denver, is barely eeking out two yards a pop.

Jonathan Dwyer has done a little better, who 3.4 yards per carry verges in respectability, yet after two games he only has 71 yards to his name.

• Those aren’t the totals of even an average, let alone an elite NFL rusher.

But you know what?

Jonathan Dwyer has more rushing yards than the entire Oakland Raiders combined.

That’s right, as a team, the Raiders have only totaled 68 yards rushing. Their star running back Darrell McFadden only has 54 yards to his name (at 2.1 yards a pop.)

Oakland’s number two rusher?

• Quarterback Carlson Palmer.

You know your rushing game is in trouble when your quarterback is your number two rusher and that quarterback happens to be Carlson Palmer (for those who must know, Palmer has carried the ball twice, for 7 yards.)

Mendenhall to Play?

Rashard Mendenhall has been practicing since the Steelers activated him back in training camp and the conventional wisdom is that he will not play until after the Steelers upcoming bye week.

Steelers Digest suggested as recently as a week ago that Mendenhall’s return might not come until Halloween.

Or it could come as early as this week, per Mike Tomlin.

The smart money says that this is a feign by Tomlin, that he won’t risk Mendenhall. But press accounts indicate that Mendenhall has looked very good in practice, and the Steelers rushing game could use a jolt of power.

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Watch the Steelers vs. the Raiders in the 1975 AFC Championship

Missed seeing Bradshaw, Lambert, Franco, Greene, Swann, Blount and Stallworth in their primes?
(Scroll down for the video.)

Fortunately those you too young to remember or those who remember but were too young to appreciate get a second chance thanks to Dan Gigler’s Blog ‘n Gold over at the Post Gazette.

Gigler’s Blog and Gold, long a supporter of this site, is a veritable trove of treasures from Steelers Nation. Dan’s schedule for updating the site is irregular, but when he does update it he always delivers.

This time he’s out done himself by securing a copy of the 1975 AFC Championship game between the Steelers and the Raiders.

You can watch a commercial free, edited version of the game here (available as of 6/17/12):

Folks, this has been up since October 2011 but its unlikely the NFL’s lawyers will allow YouTube to keep this up for much longer. So watch it while you can, it’s a good investment of an hour.

Steelers vs. the Raiders – a Legendary Feud that Defined a Decade

The Patriots and Colts of the ‘00’s can have their rivalry. Compared to the Steelers vs. the Raiders, theirs is a high school popularity between opposing pretty boys who fear dirtying their hands.

• The Steelers and the Raiders fought a grown up fight. And they played for keeps.

No one ever uttered the words “criminal element” following a Patriots-Colts match up.

This game featured the first of several illegal George Atkinson close line tackles of Lynn Swann  that prompted Chuck Noll to level the "criminal element" charge.

• The Steelers and Raiders dueled in many an epic battle in the ‘70’s but this game perhaps more than any other defines the rivalry.

Winter is bitterly cold in Pittsburgh and the Steelers had tarpped and heated the surface of Three Rivers Stadium the night before the game. But winds whipped in off of Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohiotore open the tarp, creating slick spots throughout the field, but especially on the sidelines.

Al Davis had (allegedly) watered down the field in Oakland to give his slower running backs an advantage. Davisreflexively assumed that all NFL owners were as unscrupulous as he, and accused Dan Rooney of intentionally icing down the field to stifle his sideline passing game.

The Californian Davis failed to realize this game was simply played as January football is meant to be played: in an open air stadium in single-digit temperatures in front of over 50,000 rabid fans.

Both Ken Stabler and Terry Bradshaw made some impressive throws to give Dave Casper and John Stallworth breakout moments.

• But defense defined this game.   

Monte Johnson and Jack Tatum notched three interceptions for the Raiders, while Mike Wagner had two picks, including one that was downright Troy Polamaluesque. 

Chuck Noll declared that the game featured some of the hardest hitting he had ever seen. He was right, there were 9 fumbles in this game, including three recovered by Jack Lambert.

Breaking Down the 1975 AFC Championship Game, the Steelers vs. the Raiders

While the editing on this video does make for some disjointed viewing at times, watching the raw, NBC footage allows you to enjoy the flavor of the moment in a way that NFL Films, for however much they’ve immortalized key moments in the game, misses.

Seeing the original Steel Curtain Joe Greene, Dwight White,Ernie Holmes and L.C. Greenwood play snap-by-snap in front of greats such as  Jack Ham, Andy Russell and Mel Blount lets you understand just how great they were.

It gives you a chance to appreciate things that don’t show up on the stat sheet nor make it into highlight reels, such as the way the RayMansfield, Mike Webster, and Sammy Davis kept Terry Bradshaw clean.

• The video also offers some important reminders. Yes, the Hall of Fame contingent of the Super Steelers made them great, but they were only a necessary, and not a sufficient element in the Championship runs.

Watch the AFC Championship game video and you’ll see players like J.T. Thomas and Glen Edwards make fumble forcing hits or guys like Larry Brown and Frank Lewis coming up with key hits.

• It’s also good to see guys like Franco Harris get stuffed, repeatedly by the Raiders defense.

That might sound strange, but it’s true. Franco had a hard day against the Raiders and his partly 79 yards on 27 carries shows that.

For most of the day, John Madden’s defense left nowhere for Franco to run. Nowhere at all until he ripped off 25 yard burst that ended in the end zone with Pittsburghclinging to a 3-0 lead early in the 4^th quarter.

Seeing Franco struggle then soar underscores the oft forgotten fact that the Super Steelers weren’t gods – instead they great athletes blessed with the On the Field Presence necessary to step it up and make plays when the game was on the line.

Enjoy.

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Al Daivs, Steelers Nemesis, 1929-2011

Al Davis, long time Steelers nemesis, has passed away at age 82, as the Oakland Raiders have announced and numerous sources have confirmed.

The Pittsburgh Steelers have enjoyed their share of rivalries during their 79 years of existence, from their historic rivalry with the Browns, from rivalries in the ‘70’s and ‘80’s with the Oilers and Bengals, to the inter-conference rivalry with the Cowboys, and of course their current rivalry with the Bengals.

But with the Raiders it was different. Certainly the Steelers other rivalries have had their heros and vilians. But no one, not even someone as arrogant as Brian Billick or as obnixous as Jerry Glanville could personify the entire rivalry.

With the Raiders, it was different. Different because it was personal at its core, and it all came down to Al Davis. Davis didn’t like Pittsburgh, didn’t like the Steelers and make no secret about it.

In his book, My Steeler Odyssey, Andy Russell talks about how when he got drafted by the Chargers of the AFL and the Steelers of the NFL, Al Davis attempted to entice him not by selling him on the Chargers, but rather by bad mouthing the Steelers organization and the city of Pittsburgh.

From the Immaculate Reception to the Criminal Element

The 1970’s gave Al Davis the perfect opportunity to channel his hatred of the Black and Gold onto the field – to the delight of NFL Fans every where.

It was against Al Davis’ Raiders that Franco Harris made the greatest play in NFL, if not sports, history, the Immaculate Reception. In a single play, the fortunes of a franchise changed.

Five more times the Steelers and Raiders would meet in titanic clashes in the playoffs during the 1970’s. The Steelers would get the better of their West Coast rivals 3 times.

Davis simply refused to accept the Steelers were in fact the better team, never tiring of making excuses, questioning the legitimacy of the Immaculate Reception, or complaining that the Steelers have iced down the field prior to the 1975 AFC Championship game.

It was during that game that Lynn Swann suffered such a tremendous illegal hit at the hands of George Atkinson that Chuck Noll labeled him part of the NFL’s “Criminal Element.”

At Al Davis’ prodding, George Atkinson sued Chuck Noll for libel. Although Davis recruited rising political star Willie Brown to try the case, the California jury exonerated Chuck Noll. Still, the case was tried in the summer, disrupting the Steelers training camp and the rest of their season.

Al Davis may have won the battle, but he lost the war. The Steelers closed the decade with 4 Super Bowls to the Raiders 1.

Al Davis and The Rooneys

Al Davis relationship with the Rooneys saw its ups and downs. Art Rooney Sr. went out of his way to comfort Davis when his wife Carol suffered a stroke. Davis was sure to send flowers to Dan Rooney after a car accident in 1980.

Yet Dan Rooney fought Al Davis tooth and nail as Davis thumbed his nose at the league, not to mention the fans in Oakland, in establish the awful precedent that allows NFL to abandon their fans in search of a new home.

Davis, publicly and falsely castigated Rooney for “…flagrantly cheating on the salary cap” in 2001, to which Dan Rooney defend himself by calling Davis a “lying creep.” (Quotes as reported by Jim O'Brien in Art Rooney.)

In the end, it appears that Rooney remained true to his Catholic faith and made his peace with Davis, saying good things about him in his autobiography Dan Rooney, but reminding readers that “Al is Al,” and upon learning of Davis’ death, Rooney issued the following statement:

Al Davis was a good man and we were friendly rivals. He was a football man and did a lot for the game of football. I had a lot of respect for him and he will be missed throughout the entire NFL.

How much the rest of the NFL will “miss” Al Davis is an open question. But neither the NFL nor the Steelers-Raiders rivalry will ever be the same.

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