In the decades leading up to 22-year-old rookie Franco Harris’ “immaculate reception”, considered the greatest game in NFL history, the Pittsburgh Steelers were mostly gruesome. From its inception in 1933 to 1971, the team recorded seven winning records and no playoff wins. .
“It was a poem that didn’t rhyme,” said Bill Hillgrove, the team’s longtime radio broadcaster. “Unhappy, helpless and hopeless,” Ray Didinger, sports reporter and NFL historian, told the Professional Football Hall of Fame.
In the 1960s, the Steelers hit rock bottom with records of 2-12 (1965), 4-9-1 (1967), 2-11-1 (1968) and 1-13 (1969).
Then, on December 23, 1972, Harris, backed by an “army” that included one of the world’s most famous artists, radically altered the Steelers’ sad tale with a miraculous and controversial touch.
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Franco’s Italian army inducts Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra was inducted into Franco Harris’ Italian Army in 1972.
Bettman Archives via Getty Images
After a disastrous 1969 season under the direction of 37-year-old rookie head coach Chuck Noll, the Steelers won five games in 1970 and six the following season. In 1971, the roster included defensive tackle Joe Greene, quarterback Terry Bradshaw, cornerback Mel Blount and linebacker Jack Ham, all future Hall of Famers.
But the Steelers have been looking for a running back to relieve Bradshaw.
In the 1972 draft, Pittsburgh wanted to fill the major void in the first round, but didn’t know who to choose. Art Rooney Jr., the personnel manager and son of the Steelers owner, wanted Harris from Penn State. But Noll wanted Robert Newhouse, a stocky backer from the University of Houston. Rooney Jr. won.
On February 1, 1972, Pittsburgh drafted Harris, a 6-2, 230-pounder, with the 13th pick in the first round. In the coming days Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, sports editor Al Abrams wrote: “[Harris] could be a good target for Terry Bradshaw and Terry Hanratty in the passing department, an issue that will not be overlooked. ”
In 1972, Harris rushed for 1,055 yards and 10 touchdowns, won the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year award, and captivated Steelers loyalists everywhere. Local fans Al Vento and Tony Stagno formed “Franco’s Italian Army” to cheer on Harris, the product of an African-American father and Italian-American mother.
In home games, the military wore WWII helmet liners, drank Italian wine from goblets, and feasted on homemade Italian cuisine in the stands.
In mid-December, on the verge of winning their first playoff appearance since 1947, the Steelers were in California preparing for a game against the San Diego Chargers. At an upscale Palm Springs restaurant, Myron Cope, the team’s colorful radio presenter and Pittsburgh TV sports presenter, had dinner with co-workers. Entered Frank Sinatra, Ol ‘Blue Eyes himself.
On a mission to induct Sinatra into Harris’ army, Cope scribbled a note on a cocktail napkin to the acclaimed singer. “We’re a bunch of newspapers and Steelers front office bums here with the Steelers,” Cope recalls in writing. “I’m sure you’ve heard of Franco’s Italian army. I hope I don’t bother you, but I would like to invite you to train tomorrow to induct yourself as a 1 star general.”
Sinatra agreed.
In training, while members of the military watched sideways, Noll motioned for his rookie star to meet Sinatra. Members of the military circulated wine, cheese and prosciutto. Everyone hugged the chairman of the board. “Like kissing God,” five-star General Stagno said. Sinatra has been officially inducted into the military.
Days later, the Steelers beat the Chargers to cap an 11-3 regular season and clinch their first playoff spot in 25 years.
December 23, 1972: the game of “immaculate reception”
Pittsburgh Steelers fans assault rookie Franco Harris after scoring in the “Immaculate Reception”.
Getty Images
At Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh on December 23, 1972, the Steelers met the Oakland Raiders in the first round of the playoffs. Led by their daring Brooklyn-born owner Al Davis, the Raiders were formidable on offense. The Steelers offense, meanwhile, relied on a cutting edge approach led by Bradshaw and Harris. Both teams presented punitive defenses.
“When you walked off the field, you knew you were in a game,” Oakland coach John Madden told NFL Films years later of defenses. “You didn’t go dancing that night.
Late in the fourth quarter, the Steelers were leading 6-0 thanks to Roy Gerela’s field goals. With 1 minute and 17 seconds to go, Oakland quarterback Kenny “The Snake” Stabler ran 30 yards to tie the score. 45-year-old George Blanda’s extra point put Oakland ahead.
In its last possession, Pittsburgh faced a fourth and 10 from its 40-yard line with 22 seconds left and no time-outs. Jack Fleming, the radio man from Pittsburgh, described what happened next:
“Bradshaw comes out of his pocket, looking for someone to throw at… He pulls him down the field, and there’s a collision! He’s caught in the air! The ball is kicked by Franco Harris!” Harris is aiming for a touchdown for Pittsburgh! “
On the Oakland 35-yard line, Raiders defensive back Jack Tatum crashed into Steelers running back Frenchy Fuqua, apparently hitting the football, which ricocheted towards Harris, who caught it in inches from the turf and ran over the sideline for a 60-yard touchdown. Pittsburgh won, 13-7.
The miraculous score sparked the loudest celebration for Pittsburgh fans since 1960, when a ninth inning home run by Pirates’ Bill Mazeroski won the World Series. After an appeal to the press gallery – the NFL didn’t embrace instant replay until more than a decade later – officials have kept the original touchdown appeal. The game remains controversial – had the ball hit Fuqua last, the touchdown would have been declared an incomplete pass under NFL rules at the time.
“It’s a hell of a game that has to come to someone in the press gallery,” Madden told reporters afterwards.
“A dream piece,” Harris called the Christmas miracle.
“History would have had no other way”, Phil Musick of Pittsburgh Post-Gazette written for the next day’s newspaper. “And after 40 endless years of spilling salt, smashing mirrors and walking under ladders, the Steelers have been blessed with benevolent fate.”
In the Steelers locker room, a telegram was handed to Harris.
“Come on Steelers Go,” he would say.
It was signed: “Colonel Francis Sinatra”.
Who named the “Immaculate Reception”?
In 1972, rookie running back Franco Harris was backed by “Franco’s Italian Army,” a group of rabid fans. Here, they cheer on Harris at the Immaculate Reception game on December 23, 1972.
Ross Lewis / Getty Images
Among the 50,350 people in attendance at Three Rivers Stadium was Michael Ord, an avid Steelers fan. After the game, he and his girlfriend went to party at a bar. Then he had an idea.
“Growing up Catholic,” Ord recalled in an NFL Films documentary on the play, “I remember the feast of the Immaculate Conception, and I thought, ‘Shit. “So I got on the table, and like you do in an old fire station wedding, you know you got a spoon, and I tapped the glass.
“I would like, from that day … to call this day the feast of the Immaculate Reception. And the place has gone nuts. “
Levosky called Cope in his newsroom and suggested the name. Cope loved it, said it on the air and it stuck.
Winning stuck with the Steelers too. Although Pittsburgh lost the following week to future Super Bowl champions Dolphins in the AFC championship game, the Steelers won four Super Bowls in the 1970s. In 1990, Harris was inducted into the Hall of Fame. professional football.
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