History lesson for the younginz...

Well, as big of a fan as I am, it hadn`t dawned on me, that this is the 40th anniversary of "The Immaculate Reception".
Apparentley, the Post gazette is doing a series, every Sunday, about the play, and this is the first...
http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/spo ... ty-652468/
Very interesting reading. Hard to believe how much times have changed... and how offended I`m sure some will be by some of the content in this article.
That`s not my intention, tho... I just wanted to put it out there, so some of the younger fans, could get a sense of where the team they root for came from.
A lot of what this article talks about, happened before I was born too, or shortly thereafter, but I knew most of it already.
Not sure some of the fans born in the 90`s or so, do.
There is a second article, that I didn`t get to yet, but will post after I read it.
Just thought it would make for some good reading for the younger crowd, and maybe put a thread out there, that wasn`t directly related to the hysteria good or bad, about the current season. (Didn`t see a current forum, for "Steeler History Lessons"...)
Enjoy, if ya wanna...

 

i remember it like yesterday. they hit the nail on the head with the article. it was the start of a good time to be a pittsburgh fan. i enjoyed them before this too. losing or not. when noll got here it just felt different and better. we just had no idea of how good it could be.

 

O.k. ... Lesson #2...
http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/spo ... ry-653544/
Got distracted, by the little woman getting home, mid-article, but finished reading it, and here `tis.
Good Stuff!
Embedded in the article, is a VERY enjoyable interview with Frenchy Fuqua, who the ball either did, or did not bounce off of, as he was being drilled by Tatum.
A big part of the article, is simply what he said in the interview, but good read, anyhow.
Man, what an amazing play!!!
I know there is a video, somewhere on youtube, and, I THINK, somewhere in the "Favorite Steeler Media of All Time", thread, that shows a good angle of Franco catching the ball before it hits the ground, but NOT, whether it bounced off him or Tatum first.
Some things are better left in mystery...
Honestly, I never realized the difference in the rules, then, about it not still being a catchable ball, if it didn`t hit the defender first.
I always just thought the big deal was whether he caught it before it hit the ground, or not...
Amazing, the things you keep learning as you grow older...

 

I saw a few months ago that the Hall of Fame actually has an exhibit commemorating 40th anniversary of the play. In 1976 they removed the turf from 3 Rivers and Franco actually made a guy get him a piece of the turf where the play actually occured. Franco has held on to it for all these years and has allowed the Hall in Canton to display it for a short time. You can actually walk right up and look right at it. Talk about Holy Ground! For a Steelers fan that is DEFINITELY some HOLY GROUND! It's just great the Franco had the wherewithal to envision how truly legendary the play would become.

 

Here's another tidbit that people tend to forget:

Eight days after the Immaculate Recption, Roberto Clemente died.

Talk about a crazy eight days, from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows. I don't think any city has experienced something like that, in so short a time, as Pittsburgh did in late December, 1972.

 

I go to church with a guy who used to like the Steelers when he was a kid and one day he was like " I can even remember when Franco caught that ball of the ground!" How many times in your life can you say that you remember a football play that happened 40 years ago? That's like the moon landing or something!

 

I didn't read the article yet but everytime the topic comes up I still wonder why that Idiot Pittsburgh reporter Mark Madden kept dissing on it. If it weren't for that single play he may not have been employed as long as he was. What a bafoon!

 

Yeah. That is one of the things mentioned in the first article.
Dunno if you read it, or if that was just from your memory(which I`m guessing it was),.
Either way... Wasn`t trying to call ya out for not reading the article. Just tryin to say, if you didn`t read it, you should.
Will probably bring back a LOT of memories... Hopefully mostly good ones of going thru tough times, to come out into better ones...

 

In the ACTUAL original TV broadcast the guy that was calling the game said during the replay that "Jack Tatum DEFLECTED the ball in to the hands of Harris"! The one thing about this play is how the Raiders are always crying about it on NFL network and acting like the NFL was always trying to screw them. I think the great thing about this play is that it is also one of the greatest plays even in RAIDERS HISTORY! This is right up there with the "Holy Roller" and "Sea of hands" and "Ghost to the post" plays. Oh and can we ever forget.... "THE TUCK RULE"! As great as all these plays are the immaculate reception dwarfs them all!

 

Madden is a big you know what--and I think most of what he does is just for attention. Yet, I still follow him on Twitter. The guy constantly re-tweets pics of naked women. Seriously. He does.

 

I'll have to check it out. Thanks.

 

The Immaculate Reception play was the moment when I, as a first grader just starting to watch football, got forever hooked on the Pittsburgh Steelers. So, in a way, it's my 40th anniversary too. Thanks for posting the link to this.

 

I remember watching the game on TV. Everyone else in my family were Raiders fans at the time but there was just something about the Steelers that drew me in. The defense, the team colors, the blue collar work ethic. To this day, my oldest brother maintains that the ball hit the ground. He and John Madden. I tell him that what he should be looking at is whether the ball came off of Fuqua or Tatum. He conveniently forgets about the old rule and stubbornly insists that Franco caught the ball on the hop and there's a conspiracy to cover up the fact that the refs only ruled in our favor because they would have been beaten by the crowd. I took a picture of the statue in Pittsburgh airport and I'm going to give him a poster-sized copy! :thumbsup:

 

Glad you had a good trip, Santee... Always better, when it`s a win for the home team!!!

 

Thanks. It is a cool place. Even better stadium!

 

The double edged sword of the immacutlate reception is it will forever tell your age. LOL.

 

As a kid growing up in that era, it just doesn't get any better than that.
Especially your hometown team, and being so bad for so long. And the Chief finally
assembling a team he could be proud of. It was great, I wish I was back there.

 

Exactly, I was born and raised........and I was a HUGE Pirate fan too (they were a different francise back then), so the death of Clemente just after as a very, very young boy was surreal. I can remember where I was and how I received that news - just like 911 terror attacks for those other yungins..........

 

yea, but getting to see it was unforgettable. you all will get to be this age hopefully. we older folks remember it as the start to what we see today. we or at least i have never seen the offensive and defensive certainty that we had back then. we were a cocky bunch of fans after this. this team could beat you with the offense or the defense it was that balanced within the next few years of the IR. they were good, no very good, i mean real good, and as nasty as they come. they had to be to keep up with oakland. the pieces of the puzzle just kept coming. the guys on those o'lines to this day have never got their due because of the steel curtain, but as fans we knew. top to bottom front to back, we were loaded and let's not forget the coaching we had and the scouts we had were all top shelf. it was fun.

 

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/spo ... on-659543/
Sorry to dig up an old thread, but this play is pretty important in the history of this team, and I just saw another cool article about it...
BTW... It`s amazing what kinda thread titles you see when diggin back just a few weeks... LOL!
Way to go against the Skin`s today! Best game I`ve seen so far...At least by the offense. Got lucky they couldn`t catch the ball, but I ain`t tryin to throw cold water on a hot fire...
WAY TO GO STILLERS!!!