A deflected pass, scooped inches off the turf and run in for the winning touchdown, is the most famous play in NFL history. What almost nobody remembers is that under the rules of the day it was arguably illegal, and referee Fred Swearingen had to work out which of two players the ball had touched before he could decide whether to allow it. Get that wrong and the Steelers lose.
This is the second of three plays so contentious the NFL changed its book because of them, and the Raiders are on the wrong end of this one. Six years later they would even the score against the Chargers with the Holy Roller, a play the losing side named in direct revenge for this one.
What happened at Three Rivers Stadium
Image still is from the NFLs YouTube Channels, ‘The Immaculate Reception’ Raiders vs. Steelers 1972 AFC Divisional Round
It was 23 December 1972, an AFC divisional playoff game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the visiting Oakland Raiders. The Steelers had led 6-0 on two Roy Gerela field goals. With 1:17 left, Raiders quarterback Ken Stabler ran 30 yards for a touchdown, and George Blanda’s extra point put Oakland ahead 7-6. If that name is familiar, it should be: Stabler is the same quarterback who would beat the Chargers with the Holy Roller six years later.
That left Pittsburgh with fourth down and ten yards to go from their own 40-yard line, 22 seconds on the clock, and no timeouts. Fourth down is the last of the four attempts a team gets to advance the ball ten yards, so this was the final play of their season if it failed.
Quarterback Terry Bradshaw scrambled away from the rush and threw downfield toward running back John “Frenchy” Fuqua. Raiders safety Jack Tatum arrived at the same instant, the collision sent the ball flying backwards, and rookie running back Franco Harris caught it just before it hit the ground and for a 60-yard touchdown. Pittsburgh won 13-7.
The rule that made it a coin flip
Here is the part that gets lost behind the highlight. Under the 1972 rules, two offensive players could not legally touch the same pass one after the other. If the ball came off Fuqua and went straight to Harris, both Steelers, the catch was illegal and the pass incomplete.
A defender touching it changed everything. If the ball hit Tatum, or hit both men in any order, the play was legal and the touchdown stood.
So the entire game hung on a contact nobody could see clearly at full speed: did the ball graze Tatum, or only Fuqua?
How the referee decided
Swearingen could not call it alone. He consulted umpire Pat Harder and field judge Adrian Burk, who both reported seeing the ball hit Tatum as well as Fuqua. He then went to a sideline telephone to speak to Art McNally, the NFL’s supervisor of officials, before emerging and signalling touchdown.
There was no instant replay in 1972, so nobody could go to a screen and settle it. The crew’s own eyes were the entire evidence base, and his position on the field gave him no view of the collision at all.
Raiders coach John Madden ran onto the field to argue. Fans still argue. The honest answer is that the play was too fast and the footage too limited for certainty, which is precisely why it remains contested.
Why the NFL scrapped the rule
The double-touch rule survived this game, but not for long. The NFL repealed it for the 1978 season, and today there is no restriction on deflections at all. A pass can bounce off any number of players, attacking or defending, and a catch is a catch.
The Immaculate Reception was not the only reason. The same rule had caused a disputed touchdown in Super Bowl V, and the league took years to act on both.
Run the play under today’s rules and there is no controversy to have. Whoever the ball touched, Harris made a legal catch and the touchdown counts.
The year both these plays point at
Here is what makes this pair worth reading together. The double-touch rule was repealed for the 1978 season. The Holy Roller happened in September 1978, and its rule change followed that same winter.
So 1978 is the hinge: the league scrapped the rule that nearly voided this touchdown, then within months wrote a new one to void the Raiders’ trick against the Chargers. Two plays, one short stretch of rewriting, and Ken Stabler on the field for both.
Watch it: the NBC broadcast footage is on YouTube, and there is a slow-motion version if you want to judge the deflection for yourself. Fair warning: fifty-odd years of people staring at it has not produced agreement.
That leaves one more play in this series, and one more Raiders rule change. The third is the one still shouted about in bars, and the only one where the league took eleven years to admit the rule was the problem.
Leave a Reply