Plays and Events That Shaped the Steelers—and Explain Their Six Lombardi Trophies

The “Immaculate Reception” is the greatest play in NFL history and it delivered the Steelers’ first-ever playoff win.

Strip away the dramatic ending, the euphoria that ensued and the white-hot rivalry it created with the Raiders and it is fair to pose this question: Did the play fundamentally alter the Steelers’ course of history?

The Steelers lost the following week in the AFC Championship Game to the Miami Dolphins, who then completed the only perfect season in NFL history by winning Super Bowl VII. The Raiders exacted a satisfying measure of revenge the following season when they drilled the Steelers 33–14 in the divisional round of the AFC playoffs.

It wasn’t until 1974 that the Steelers broke through, winning at Oakland in the AFC Championship Game and then beating the Vikings in Super Bowl IX. That came after the draft that produced four future Pro Football Hall of Famers and remains the gold standard in the NFL (more on that draft later in this chapter).

Santonio Holmes (10) is congratulated by his teammate Mewelde Moore after scoring a touchdown during the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XLIII against the Arizona Cardinals, Sunday, February 1, 2009, in Tampa, Florida. The Steelers won 27-23. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

That influx of talent put the Steelers over the top and led to the organization winning four Super Bowls from 1974 to ’79. Sure, the “Immaculate Reception” provided a shot of confidence to a franchise that needed it, but the Steelers’ course probably doesn’t change if Franco Harris gets to the ball a fraction of a second later or if his catch is illegal because officials rule that teammate Frenchy Fuqua touched the ball first.

Something much more significant, in fact, happened three years earlier than the “Immaculate Reception” even if nobody knew it at the time. Such is the whim of history that a game between two teams in the midst of lousy seasons played a huge part in shaping the Steelers of the 1970s.