Dec 18, 2022 10 min read

Joe DiDonato was selling hot dogs from commissary 243 on the second level of Three Rivers Stadium as he had all season long.

The contest was nearing its end and DiDonato, a senior at North Catholic High School, decided to head back to his station. He was ready to go home.

He had given up on the Steelers, who were about to lose their AFC Divisional playoff game to the Oakland Raiders, 7-6.

Just after that surrender, DiDonato heard a thunderous roar from what was left of the Three Rivers Stadium crowd.

He bent down with his hot dog carrier in front of him and caught a glimpse of rookie running back Franco Harris running into the left corner of the end zone. Harris had caught a deflected ball on a fourth down desperation pass by Terry Bradshaw that ricocheted off Raiders’ safety Jack Tatum, who was defending John Fuqua. Harris, simply following the play downfield, caught the ball just before it hit the turf and rambled in for a franchise changing touchdown and the most remarkable play in Steelers’ and NFL history.

“I bent over with my hot dog carrier in front of me,” said DiDonato, a South Fayette resident. “I saw Bradshaw drop back and roll to his right, trying to avoid two Raiders defenders. I saw the collision and turned and ran up the steps.

“All of a sudden people go crazy. The noise was unreal. I started screaming: ‘What happened? What happened? What happened?’ I didn’t see the catch. I saw Franco in the end zone.

“It was wild, crazy. The noise was unbelievable.”

The Steelers were changed forever. Pandemonium reigned.

It was the Steelers’ first postseason win. It was a sports epiphany in Pittsburgh.

It was accurately dubbed the “Immaculate Reception.”

The Raiders complain still today. The Steelers revel in that win and that moment. To any Steelers fan, player, or any team associate, it certainly is – and will forever be – a most beautiful thing.

And as he is called now, Pastor Joe (DiDonato) – a popular figure at The Meadows racetrack – knows it was a miraculous play and a religious sports experience for the long woebegone Pittsburgh professional football franchise.

While he did not completely see the moment, he felt it. It moved him and still does.

“It took a really long time for the referees to make a decision on the play,” said John Baldigowski of McDonald. “That moment stays with you. It was an exciting time. It changed the course of history.

“I was screaming for Franco to run out of bounce so time wouldn’t run out. Obviously, he took it all the way.”

The Steelers went on to outplay but lose to the undefeated Miami Dolphins in the AFC Championship game a week later. Miami went on to defeat Washington to win the Super Bowl and finish as the NFL’s only undefeated team in the Super Bowl era.

Clearly though, 1972 set the course for the next 50 years of Steelers’ football. Six Super Bowl trophies later and a Hall of Fame roster that is second to no other franchise, it was that day – Saturday, December 23, 1972 – the Steelers finally were winners.

The Steelers will celebrate the Immaculate Reception Saturday at Acrisure Stadium when they meet the Las Vegas Raiders in primetime. Harris’ No. 32 will be retired – only the third Steeler to have his jersey retired. All-time great defensive tackle Joe Greene (No. 75) and Ernie Stautner (No. 70) are the other two players who have had their numbers retired by Pittsburgh.

The star power in the game was incredible. Eight Raiders’ (placekicker George Blanda, cornerback Willie Brown, receiver Fred Biletnikoff, tackle Bob Brown, center Jim Otto, tackle Art Shell, quarterback Ken Stabler and guard Gene Upshaw) are Hall of Famers. Four Steelers players made it to the Hall of Fame, including Harris, Greene, Jack Ham, Terry Bradshaw and Mel Blount. Both coaches – Oakland’s John Madden and Chuck Noll of the Steelers are enshrined in Canton. Five team executives from those teams, Al Davis and Ron Wolf of Oakland and Art Rooney Sr., Dan Rooney and Bill Nunn of the Steelers are all Hall of Famers. Twenty player in all.

Perhaps the Steelers lone rookie offensive starters summed it up best.

“I always say that the Immaculate Reception was the biggest play in Steelers history and beating the Raiders in the (1974 AFC) championship game was the biggest game in Steelers history,” Harris has been quoted as saying. “The Immaculate Reception gave us the winning attitude we didn’t have before. The ’74 game – when we won that and went to the Super Bowl – we knew then that we were the best team in the NFL. The ’72 win was about attitude. The ’74 win was when we knew we were the best.”

Said tight end John McMakin: “Well, I was in the middle of the Immaculate Reception of course. Less than a minute left, on third down Terry threw a pass to me after I ran a hook pattern about 15 yards downfield, but Jack Tatum broke that pass up.

“On fourth down I ran a post and Frenchy ran the hook out of the backfield. I looked back and saw Tatum run into Frenchy and had a great view of Franco picking the ball out of the air. I blocked (linebacker Phil) Villapiano, who (complained) I clipped him, but that isn’t true. I call it the ‘Immaculate Obstruction.'”

Sun shines on Steelers

It was an overcast day and not much was happening offensively for the Raiders or the Steelers.

“The crowd was so dead and quiet,” said David Chitester, a member of the Pitt band and a 1970 Monessen High School graduate who now lives in Miami. “I was wondering how we were going to win with no one cheering.

“I was amazed it was so quiet. I was stunned.”

The teams played to a scoreless tie at the half, with Oakland’s longest gain coming on an 11-yard completion from starting quarterback Daryle Lamonica to Fred Biletnikoff.

The Steelers’ best chance was thwarted when Fuqua was stopped by Tatum on a fourth-and-two. Pittsburgh passed on a Roy Gerela field goal attempt from the 31.

Gerela gave the Steelers a 3-0 lead on the first possession of the second half with an 18-yard field goal.

Also in the third quarter, Lamonica was intercepted for the second time in the game. Madden pulled him from the game and inserted Stabler.

A Stabler fumble led to another Gerela field goal. But Stabler redeemed himself when he ran 30 yards for a TD in the fourth quarter.

The Steelers were bewildered in the fourth quarter when Stabler, known for his passing, carousing and late-night partying but not his ability to run, deflated Pittsburgh with a fourth-quarter, 30-yard run – the longest rush of his career – to give the Raiders a 7-6 lead with Blanda’s extra-point late in the game.

Game records show the attendance that day was 50,327. It was blacked out in Pittsburgh because of a league rule. The next year, the league changed that rule.

With TV unavailable locally, people scrambled to find hotels, motels and bars or lounges, friends and family in neighboring states – Ohio and West Virginia – or Erie and other parts of the state, specifically to be able to watch the game on TV.

Others simply were reduced to listening to the radio – transistors or box style – or their 1970s style upright stereos in their homes.

The game was about to take an exciting twist and dramatic finish.

The following is Steelers’ radio play-by-play man Jack Fleming’s call of the play:

“Hang onto your hats, here come the Steelers out of the huddle. Terry Bradshaw at the controls. Twenty-two seconds remaining. And this crowd is standing. Bradshaw back and looking again. Bradshaw running out of the pocket, looking for somebody to throw to, fires it downfield and there’s a collision. And it’s caught out of the air. The ball is pulled in by Franco Harris. Harris is going for a touchdown for Pittsburgh. Harris is going. Five seconds left on the clock. Franco Harris pulled in the football; I don’t even know where he came from. Fuqua was in a collision. There are people in the end zone. Where did he come from? Absolutely unbelievable. Holy moly.”

The ball either bounced off Tatum’s helmet or off the hands of Fuqua, and, as it fell, Harris caught it just before it could hit the ground and ran for the game-winning TD. The play has been a source of unresolved controversy and speculation since then, as many people have contended that the ball only touched Fuqua or that it hit the ground before Harris caught it, either of which would have resulted in an incompletion.

The play is considered the beginning of a bitter rivalry between Pittsburgh and Oakland that fueled a historically brutal Raiders team during the NFL’s most controversially physical era.

Hall of Fame great Greene has said Harris’ play started the winning era.

“We became the Pittsburgh Steelers,” Greene said.

Said Hall of Fame cornerback Mel Blount of Harris: “Some guys are just big-game players. Franco was that.”

The Jubilation

“You really didn’t know what happened,” said Mike Popovich, a Monessen resident who was just a kid that day in ’72. “You see the ball deflect back and there’ s a sigh. The next thing you know, Franco’s running along the sideline.

“It was a great day and a great win. Just watching the fans and the reaction was surreal. It was one of the greatest days of my life.”

Howard Weiss, a Monessen native, said he had an excellent view.

“I was in Section 622,” he said. “That season was so much fun. Steelers Nation became a thing, ‘Franco’s Italian Army’ and ‘Gerela’s Gorillas.'”

“It was the beginning of a great decade of sports,” Weiss’ brother, Dr. Malcolm Weiss said.

Said Chitester: “The Pitt band was just a few years removed from being a military-type band. We were never allowed to stand and our movements were restricted.”

Chitester was sitting right behind the end zone Harris scored in.

“I was one bleacher step off the field,” he said.

When Harris scored.

“Our band was jumping up and down. It was crazy. They allowed us because everyone was in a euphoric state. It was the only time in four years we were allowed to stand and cheer.”

Blount, who was part of four Super Bowl championship teams, said the Immaculate Reception game stands apart.

“It was the most incredible play and moment in my career,” said Blount, who owns a farm in a Washington County. “While I was on the sidelines, it’s neat to be part of that.

“It didn’t look good at all. The offenses were sputtering. Terry was under a lot of pressure. He made a hell of a play just to get a pass off and the ball down field. Then it all turned magical.”