Editing Immaculate Reception (section)

{{short description|Unusual football play in 1972–73 NFL playoffs}}
{{distinguish|Immaculate Interception|Immaculate Conception|Inaccurate Reception}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox NFL single game
| name = 1972 AFC Divisional playoff
| image =
| caption = Harris running for a touchdown after catching the deflected pass 
| visitor = [[1972 Oakland Raiders season|Oakland Raiders]]
| visitor_abbr = OAK
| visitor_coach = [[John Madden]]
| visitor_record = 10–3–1
| home = [[1972 Pittsburgh Steelers season|Pittsburgh Steelers]]
| home_abbr = PIT
| home_coach = [[Chuck Noll]]
| home_record = 11–3–0
| visitor_qtr1 = 0
| visitor_qtr2 = 0
| visitor_qtr3 = 0
| visitor_qtr4 = 7
| visitor_total = 7
| home_qtr1 = 0
| home_qtr2 = 0
| home_qtr3 = 3
| home_qtr4 = 10
| home_total = 13
| date = December 23, 1972
| stadium = [[Three Rivers Stadium]]
| city = [[Pittsburgh|Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]]
| referee = [[Fred Swearingen]]
| HOFers = '''Raiders:''' [[George Blanda]], [[Willie Brown (American football)|Willie Brown]], [[Fred Biletnikoff]], [[Bob Brown (offensive lineman)|Bob Brown]], [[Al Davis]] (owner/gm), [[Jim Otto]], [[John Madden]] (coach), [[Art Shell]], [[Ken Stabler]], [[Gene Upshaw]]<br />'''Steelers:''' [[Mel Blount]], [[Terry Bradshaw]], [[Joe Greene]], [[Jack Ham]], [[Franco Harris]], [[Chuck Noll]] (coach), [[Bill Nunn (American football)|Bill Nunn]] (scout), [[Art Rooney]] (owner/founder), [[Dan Rooney]] (owner/administrator)
| attendance = 50,327
| odds =
| network = [[NFL on NBC|NBC]]
| announcers = [[Curt Gowdy]] and [[Al DeRogatis]]
}}
The '''Immaculate Reception''' is one of the most famous plays in the history of [[American football]]. It was a touchdown which occurred in the [[American Football Conference|AFC]] [[NFL playoffs, 1972–73#AFC: Pittsburgh Steelers 13, Oakland Raiders 7|divisional playoff game]] of the [[National Football League]] (NFL), between the [[1972 Pittsburgh Steelers season|Pittsburgh Steelers]] and the [[1972 Oakland Raiders season|Oakland Raiders]] at [[Three Rivers Stadium]] in [[Pittsburgh]], [[Pennsylvania]], on December 23, 1972.

With his team trailing 7–6, on fourth down with 22 seconds left in the game, Steelers [[quarterback]] [[Terry Bradshaw]] threw a [[forward pass|pass]] targeting Steelers [[running back]] [[John Fuqua]]. The ball bounced off the helmet of Raiders [[Safety (gridiron football position)|safety]] [[Jack Tatum]]. Steelers [[Fullback (gridiron football)|fullback]] [[Franco Harris]] caught it just before it hit the ground and ran for a game-winning [[touchdown]]. The play has been a source of some controversy and speculation ever since, with some contending that the ball touched only Fuqua (and did not in any way touch Tatum) or that it hit the ground before Harris caught it, either of which would have resulted in an [[incomplete pass]] by the rules of the time. Kevin Cook's ''The Last Headbangers'' cites the play as the beginning of a [[Raiders-Steelers rivalry|bitter rivalry]] between the Steelers and the Raiders that fueled a historically brutal Raiders team during the NFL's most controversially physical era.<ref>{{cite web| last= Cook |first= Kevin|title=Rowdy and Rough|url=https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/8203175/nfl-1970s-football-was-rowdy-rough| website= [[ESPN]]|access-date=2022-05-14|date= 2012-08-13}}</ref>

[[NFL Films]] has chosen the Immaculate Reception as the greatest play of all time, as well as the most controversial.<ref>''[[NFL Top 10]] – Controversial Calls''</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Wells |first=Adam |date=September 20, 2019 |title=Franco Harris' Immaculate Reception Named NFL Network's Top Play in NFL History |url=https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2854640-franco-harris-immaculate-reception-named-nfl-networks-top-play-in-nfl-history |access-date=May 14, 2022 |website=[[Bleacher Report]]}}</ref> The play was also selected as the Greatest Play in NFL History in the [[NFL Network]]'s ''100'' series. The play proved to be a turning point for the Steelers, reversing four decades of futility with their first playoff win ever; they went on to win four [[Super Bowl]]s by the end of the 1970s.

The play's name is a [[pun]] derived from the [[Immaculate Conception]], a [[dogma]] in the [[Roman Catholic Church]]. The phrase was first used on air by [[Myron Cope]], a Pittsburgh [[Sports commentator|sportscaster]] who was reporting on the Steelers' victory. A Pittsburgh woman, Sharon Levosky, called Cope before his 11:00{{spaces}}p.m. sports broadcast that night and suggested the name, which was coined by her then-boyfriend Michael Ord during a celebration at a local bar after the two attended the game in person.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.post-gazette.com/news/obituaries/2024/01/14/michael-p-ord-immaculate-reception/stories/202401140092 | title=Obituary: Michael P. Ord &#124; Coined the term 'Immaculate Reception' after Franco Harris' famous catch }}</ref> Cope used the term on television and the phrase stuck.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/steelers/2012/11/11/Couple-who-coined-name-for-Immaculate-Reception-never-sought-credit/stories/201211110191 | work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | first=Chuck | last=Finder | title= Couple who coined name for Immaculate Reception never sought credit | date=November 11, 2012|access-date=May 14, 2022}}</ref> The phrase was apparently meant to imply that the play was miraculous in nature (see [[Hail Mary pass]] for a similar term).