It has been 50 years since one incredible, barroom-debating, physics-defining, still-disputed moment changed the course of a franchise, exhilarated a city and would come to be known as the greatest single play in NFL history.
December 23, 1972. Appropriately, the (black and) golden anniversary.
The Immaculate Reception.
A moniker as great as the play itself.
It spawned five decades of countless replays, narratives and debates among cities more than 2,500 miles apart — did it or didn’t it? Did the ball hit off Steelers running back John “Frenchy” Fuqua, or was it propelled backward by Oakland Raiders defensive back Jack Tatum before it was snatched from the shoe tops by Franco Harris?
Only two types of people think they know for certain: Those who root for the Steelers and those who live and die with the Raiders.
