Celebrating 40 Years Since The Immaculate Reception

outofplace · Nov 7, 2012

DanOregon said:

Does Pittsburgh commemorate their loss to Miami a week later?
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One of many reasons too much fuss is made of the Immaculate Reception.

93Devil · Nov 7, 2012

DanOregon said:

Does Pittsburgh commemorate their loss to Miami a week later?
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You are right. This was not a year they won the Super Bowl.

The pass to Swann in X where Bradshaw was knocked out, to me, is a far more important play in Steeler history.

The Big Ragu · Nov 7, 2012

Regardless of whether Fuqua touched it, Tatum touched it, the ball hit the turf. ... for me, what makes the play worthy of conversation after all this time is that Harris never gave up on the play. If he isn't hustling his butt toward the action -- what coaches tell you to do, but on one does -- it is an incomplete pass, game over, no debate over whether it was a catch. You always hear the cliches not to give up on a play, play until the whistle blows, etc. Coaches always tell you to head toward the action / head toward the ball, because you never know what might happen. That play is Demonstration A of why you do it.

93Devil · Nov 7, 2012

The Big Ragu said:

Regardless of whether Fuqua touched it, Tatum touched it, the ball hit the turf. ... for me, what makes the play worthy of conversation after all this time is that Harris never gave up on the play. If he isn't hustling his butt toward the action -- what coaches tell you to do, but on one does -- it is an incomplete pass, game over, no debate over whether it was a catch. You always hear the cliches not to give up on a play, play until the whistle blows, etc. Coaches always tell you to head toward the action / head toward the ball, because you never know what might happen. That play is Demonstration A of why you do it.
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Players from Penn State always hustle their butts.

- Sorry. I could not resist.

Boom_70 · Nov 7, 2012

Makes you wonder what it would have looked like in high def instant replay for various camera angles.

Whatever really happened I'm glad it was not overruled. Too great a play not to end up in a TD.

93Devil · Nov 7, 2012

Boom_70 said:

Makes you wonder what it would have looked like in high def instant replay for various camera angles.

Whatever really happened I'm glad it was not overruled. Too great a play not to end up in a TD.
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That is a long freaking list of possible NFL rewrites if we had today's technology.

cyclingwriter · Nov 7, 2012

The Big Ragu said:

Regardless of whether Fuqua touched it, Tatum touched it, the ball hit the turf. ... for me, what makes the play worthy of conversation after all this time is that Harris never gave up on the play. If he isn't hustling his butt toward the action -- what coaches tell you to do, but on one does -- it is an incomplete pass, game over, no debate over whether it was a catch. You always hear the cliches not to give up on a play, play until the whistle blows, etc. Coaches always tell you to head toward the action / head toward the ball, because you never know what might happen. That play is Demonstration A of why you do it.
Click to expand...

of course, the only reason Harris was there was because he completely blew his blocking assignment which busted the play open and led to Bradshaw throwing wildly to fuqua, who was not supposed to be the original target.

That being said that is part of the beauty/mythos of the play....so many things went askew to make it happen.

As for Fuqua, I read recently in The Last Headbangers, which is a pretty good book about the 1970s in the NFL. There was an interesting part of the story I had never heard before. Allegedly Fuqua said immediately in the locker room the ball hit him (not knowing that would have nullified the play) and Bradshaw shut him up quickly before too many media started asked questions.

joe king · Nov 7, 2012

cyclingwriter said:

The Big Ragu said:

Regardless of whether Fuqua touched it, Tatum touched it, the ball hit the turf. ... for me, what makes the play worthy of conversation after all this time is that Harris never gave up on the play. If he isn't hustling his butt toward the action -- what coaches tell you to do, but on one does -- it is an incomplete pass, game over, no debate over whether it was a catch. You always hear the cliches not to give up on a play, play until the whistle blows, etc. Coaches always tell you to head toward the action / head toward the ball, because you never know what might happen. That play is Demonstration A of why you do it.
Click to expand...

of course, the only reason Harris was there was because he completely blew his blocking assignment which busted the play open and led to Bradshaw throwing wildly to fuqua, who was not supposed to be the original target.

That being said that is part of the beauty/mythos of the play....so many things went askew to make it happen.

As for Fuqua, I read recently in The Last Headbangers, which is a pretty good book about the 1970s in the NFL. There was an interesting part of the story I had never heard before. Allegedly Fuqua said immediately in the locker room the ball hit him (not knowing that would have nullified the play) and Bradshaw shut him up quickly before too many media started asked questions.
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That Bradshaw guy -- always thinking.

Corky Ramirez up on 94th St. · Nov 7, 2012

Here's the original clip from NBC:

My hobby is collecting original broadcasts of sporting events, and there's always a hope that this game will surface.

Inky_Wretch · Nov 7, 2012

Corky Ramirez up on 94th St. said:

Here's the original clip from NBC:

My hobby is collecting original broadcasts of sporting events, and there's always a hope that this game will surface.
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Clearly a catch.

Johnny Dangerously · Nov 7, 2012

cyclingwriter said:

The Big Ragu said:

Regardless of whether Fuqua touched it, Tatum touched it, the ball hit the turf. ... for me, what makes the play worthy of conversation after all this time is that Harris never gave up on the play. If he isn't hustling his butt toward the action -- what coaches tell you to do, but on one does -- it is an incomplete pass, game over, no debate over whether it was a catch. You always hear the cliches not to give up on a play, play until the whistle blows, etc. Coaches always tell you to head toward the action / head toward the ball, because you never know what might happen. That play is Demonstration A of why you do it.
Click to expand...

of course, the only reason Harris was there was because he completely blew his blocking assignment which busted the play open and led to Bradshaw throwing wildly to fuqua, who was not supposed to be the original target.

That being said that is part of the beauty/mythos of the play....so many things went askew to make it happen.
Click to expand...

This is true of several fantastic-finishes type plays. I had a long conversation with the BC center who snapped the ball for the Flutie pass, and he talked a lot about how Phelan was supposed to stay in the backfield and block, and if he had, he never would have been able to catch the ball. On the Bluegrass Miracle that enabled LSU to beat Kentucky almost exactly 10 years ago, the LSU receivers were in the wrong order downfield.

There are a few other examples that escape me at the moment. I think it would make a fascinating read for someone to put together a collection of what went wrong to make everything go right.

BTExpress · Nov 7, 2012

Regardless of whether Fuqua touched it, Tatum touched it, the ball hit the turf. ... for me, what makes the play worthy of conversation after all this time is that Harris never gave up on the play. If he isn't hustling his butt toward the action -- what coaches tell you to do, but on one does -- it is an incomplete pass, game over, no debate over whether it was a catch.
Click to expand...

Eh, I'm just surprised the guy didn't try to run out of bounds near the goal line when the Raider defender was closing in on him.

{/jim_brown]

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Celebrating 40 Years Since The Immaculate Reception

outofplace Well-Known Member

93Devil Well-Known Member

The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

93Devil Well-Known Member

Boom_70 Well-Known Member

93Devil Well-Known Member

cyclingwriter Active Member

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Celebrating 40 Years Since The Immaculate Reception

outofplace Well-Known Member

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93Devil Well-Known Member

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93Devil Well-Known Member

cyclingwriter Active Member

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