When Football Mattered - The NFL in The 1970s

Dean T.
Hartwell/Copyright 2014
The 1970s: When Football Mattered
8/10/2014
The 1970s: When Football Mattered
Page 1/Dean T. Hartwell

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION. 2
THE IMMACULATE RECEPTION ............................. 5
HOLD ON FOR FIFTEEN MORE MINUTES ............. 10
THE VIKINGS ARE CURSED .................................. 13
JOHN MADDEN, DISAPPOINTED AGAIN .............. 15
WHY THE STEELERS WERE SUPER ....................... 23
RAIDERS REFUSE TO THROW A GAME ................ 26
HOW DID I MISS THESE GAMES? ........................ 28
THE TRAGEDY OF ERROR .................................... 29
THE HOLY ROLLER ............................................... 35
THE BEST SUPER BOWL EVER! ............................ 38


Introduction
My sports enthusiasm took off on Sunday mornings in the autumn of the early 1970s.
That was football day. There would be a game on at 10:00 AM (Pacific Time) and
another one on at 1:00 PM. Then, to soften the blow of having to go to school the next
day, there would be a game on Monday night. After the Super Bowl in January, I would
go into a sports withdrawal until baseball season in April.
This era of professional football and baseball represented the peak of what the sports
have to offer. What made these games great is exactly what is missing from todays
National Football League and Major League Baseball:
A classic rivalry that fans could follow. Players rarely changed teams because there
was no free agency then in either sport and trades did not happen too often. As a
result, one could identify the best teams easily because they kept the same players and
because they consistently made the playoffs. Anyone wanting to challenge the best
teams had to earn their way to the playoffs.
A focus on the game instead of hype. There was no ESPN or sports radio then.
Now many fans get tired of all of the pre- game shows and just want to see the game.
It was all about the teams rather than the players. Back then, I participated in a pool
in which we chose the team winners of the games. Now fans follow fantasy sports
players and care more about individual performance than what should matter most,
team performances.
Fans who watched the Pittsburgh Steelers play the Oakland Raiders or the New York
Yankees play the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1970s knew they were watching two
heavyweights go at it and that they would get their money (or time)s worth. We are still
waiting for another epic rivalry and may never get it thanks to team expansion, free
agency and the focus on individual performances which have detracted from the
competitive team sports that football and baseball really are.
I knew the history of these teams throughout the 1970s. My Raiders kept on finishing
as the runners-up in the American Football Conference. My Dodgers kept on losing the
World Series to the Oakland As and the New York Yankees.
From reading, watching games and catching clips of old games on commercials like
Alcoas Fantastic Finishes, I knew about big games involving the Raiders and
Dodgers. These games and certain memorable plays in particular will be the focus of
this book as it is through them that I learned lessons about life.
One was the Immaculate Reception, the bizarre play by which the Steelers beat the
Raiders in the 1972 playoffs. In my mind, I still see a Raider and a Steeler colliding with
each other and a ball at the same time. I knew it mattered which one actually touched
the ball. But it took years to reconcile the images with the outcome.

I knew about the Steelers consecutive victories over the Raiders in the 1974 and 1975
AFC championship games. The more I read and saw Raider losses in the big games,
the more I liked them. A pattern began to emerge: the Raiders would win the Western
Division, beat their first round opponents and come up a little short against the Steelers
in the championship game.
I was just learning how to play poker at this time and I drew a subtle analogy with
football. The Steelers had the great hand every year.
Their front defensive four, the Steel Curtain, completely crushed the Raider running
game in the 1974 championship, holding them to 29 yards in 21 carries. The Raider
quarterback, Ken Stabler, carried the team by passing, especially to wide receiver Cliff
Branch. But the Steelers began to anticipate the pass on every play and picked off
Stablers pass with about a minute left in the game to preserve the win.
The teams played in the following seasons championship game on an icy field in
Pittsburgh. Going into the final two minutes, the Steelers appeared secure with a 16-7
lead. The Raiders managed to recover a fumble and move down the field. On third
down, Raider coach John Madden sent placekicker George Blanda to attempt a 41-yard
field goal, which he made.
On the subsequent onside kick, Raider Dave Casper fell on the ball at the Raider 44-
yard line. The scoreboard showed just seven seconds left. The championship of the
American Football Conference and the right to go to the Super Bowl would be decided
by the games final play.
Years later I would realize that this play would make me a die-hard Raider fan.
Obviously, I hoped that the Raiders would pull this game out with a miracle finish, not
unlike the Cowboys Roger Staubach pass to Drew Pearson to beat the Vikings in a
playoff game just a week before.
But that would have cost the Raiders their bridesmaid status that made them so
loveable. They would no longer be the team that tried harder (like the Avis car rental
commercials of that era). The way it ended epitomized the Raiders ability to give it the
best effort, as one of the announcers said. It also gave life to the idea of trying again
next year.
I knew the names of all of the Raider players and watched as many of their games as
possible. With the exception of a trouncing at the hands of the New England Patriots,
the Raiders won every single game, including a memorable win over the Cincinnati
Bengals on a Monday Night, and claimed the Super Bowl trophy that had eluded them
so many times before.
I rooted them on in 1977 and followed them again to the championship game. This time
they played in Denver against the Broncos. The teams appeared to be evenly matched.
Both had great defenses and stars on offense. The Broncos had a huge crowd on

hand, but the Raiders had big game experience and were, after all, the defending Super
Bowl champions.
Looking back on the game, this was the last time my heart was in my throat for a Raider
game. My stomach was so uneasy that several times during the game I had to take a
break and work off the nervous energy by playing outside. This game would be the
bookend of the glory years of what I now call real football.
From 1978 on, the Raiders were never the same and neither would be the game of
football itself. The paralysis of Darryl Stingley from a legal hit by Jack Tatum in an
exhibition game in August 1978 saddened me. I had wanted to believe that football was
controlled violence and would never permanently injure anyone. How wrong I was.
When I heard people blame Tatum for the injury, I began to feel some of the blame
myself for being a fan of his team. It would take years before I would learn the truth of
what really happened on that play that the injury was purely accidental.
The Raiders failed to make the playoffs in 1978 and 1979 and then traded Stabler to the
Houston Oilers. Other stars, like Tatum, Casper, Villapiano and Biletnikoff, the heart of
the team I loved, left the team around this time as well. Though the Raiders won the
Super Bowl again for the 1980 and 1983 seasons, it was not the same. The feeling of
excitement in watching the NFL had gone and would never return.


The Immaculate Reception
Pittsburgh Steelers 13 Oakland Raiders 7 December 23, 1972 Three Rivers Stadium
Pittsburgh, PA
I would never actually see this game but would read about it not too long afterwards. At
the age of four, I was wandering around the local shopping mall helping my older
brother and my mom get last minute Christmas gifts while my dad, suffering a case of
the flu, tuned into the game. He would relate to me years later that he couldnt figure
out what happened so I went to YouTube and reviewed the play myself hundreds of
times to find the truth of who touched the ball.
One of the most famous games in the history of professional football has given football
fans its biggest mystery. Just say the words Immaculate Reception to anyone who
has followed the game and listen to them try to explain it.
The Pittsburgh Steelers hosted the Oakland Raiders in the first round of the playoffs at
Three Rivers Stadium. The two teams had met in the first game of the season, with the
Steelers winning 34-28. The Steelers won the American Football Conference Central
Division with an 11-3 record while the Raiders won 10, lost 3 and tied one.
As I would learn through reading NFL Prolog, an annual review of each years football
season, this game marked the first appearance in the playoffs for Pittsburgh in twenty
five years. A crowd of 50,327 showed up to see them play the Raiders in person, but
the game was blacked out locally.
The teams played to a scoreless tie in the first half. Roy Gerela kicked two field goals in
the second half to give the Steelers a 6-0 lead. But with 1:13 left in the game, Raider
quarterback Ken Stabler avoided several Steeler defenders and ran with two bad knees
down the left sideline for a very unlikely touchdown of thirty yards. George Blandas
extra point gave the Raiders the lead.
Quarterback Terry Bradshaw moved his team from their 20 yard line to their 40 yard line
with passes to his running backs, Franco Harris and John Frenchy Fuqua. But
Bradshaw misfired on his next three passes, two of which were knocked down by
Raider safety Jack Tatum. Tatum reached over the shoulder of a Steeler receiver to bat
one of the balls to the turf.
Bradshaw went back to pass and eluded a fierce Raider rush. Realizing that his initial
pass target Barry Pearson was not open, he threw the ball in the direction of Fuqua
near the Raider 35 yard line.
The ball, Tatum and Fuqua all appeared to arrive at the same time. Tatum came
running toward the ball, while Fuqua arrived from the side. As a result of the collision,
the ball rebounded about seven yards to the other Steeler running back, Franco Harris,
who caught it and ran all the way into the end zone. Some have disputed that he

caught the ball before it hit the ground, but no camera angle answers this question
conclusively.
Where is the controversy?
Back then, NFL rules (the Official Rules for Professional Football 1971), stated that
once an offensive player touches a pass, he is the only offensive player eligible to catch
the pass.
There was an exception: if a defensive player touches the pass "first, or simultaneously
with or subsequent to its having been touched by only one [offensive] player, then all
[offensive] players become and remain eligible" to catch the pass.
1

The legality of the play comes down to who touched the ball. If Tatum touched the ball,
the play was legal and the referees would have done the right thing by upholding the
touchdown.
If Tatum did not touch the ball and Fuqua did touch it, the play would not have been
legal. The referees should have ruled the pass incomplete and returned the ball to the
Raiders to run out the clock.
The two angles on the play available on film do not conclusively show the answer to the
question of who touched the ball.
2
So I will try a different tack to get the answer:
First, I will identify the facts not in dispute.
1. Tatum and Fuqua collided right when the ball arrived. 2. The ball traveled backwards
about seven yards to Harris, who caught it right at ground level.
Then, I will make several guesses as to what happened and choose the hypothesis that
fits the facts best.
Hypothesis #1: Tatum alone touched the ball.
It makes sense for Tatum to knock the ball down for an incomplete pass as the game
would effectively be over and the Raiders would win.
The problem with this hypothesis is that Fuqua was between Tatum and the ball. Fuqua
has stated, I knew he [Bradshaw] was going to throw to me. I could see Tatum was
heading toward the middle of the field, and that the location of the pass would bring me
on a collision course with him. I'm thinking that I just want to get my body between him
and the ball.
3

And how did Fuqua, who HAD to catch the ball for his team to have a chance to win,
somehow miss it completely? How did Tatum hit the ball and not Fuqua if all three
arrived at the same time?

1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immaculate_Reception
2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=1wK- YR_8cG4&NR=1
3
http://www.profootballhof.com/history/release.aspx?release_id=436

Hypothesis #2: Tatum touched the ball first, and then Fuqua touched it.
The same guess as above except that the ball also nicked Fuqua. The ball could have
only made slight contact with Fuqua because had the ball bounced off Tatum and struck
Fuqua with any kind of force, it would have slowed down and would not likely have
flown seven yards back.
While Tatum could have hit the ball right before hitting Fuqua, the other question from
Hypothesis #1, how Fuqua could miss the ball completely, remains valid.
Hypothesis #3: Fuqua touched the ball first, and then Tatum touched it.
This hypothesis could explain the distance of the balls flight to Harris. Fuqua could
have touched the ball on the balls path to Tatum. Tatum could then have knocked the
ball to Harris.
But how did Tatum make contact with Fuqua AND knock the ball seven yards AT THE
SAME TIME?
Hypothesis #4: Fuqua alone touched the ball.
Tatum was a hard hitting safety who had a knack for hitting a player just as the ball
arrived. He would have to hit Fuqua in such a manner that the hit would carry the ball
hitting Fuqua back with enough force to propel it seven yards.
But how did the hit Tatum applied to Fuqua cause the ball the project seven yards?
Selecting a Hypothesis
The hypothesis that appears to answer the facts best is number 4. Tatums ability to hit
Fuqua with enough force to cause the ball to go seven yards can be answered
sufficiently. I found a YouTube clip of a football game played just two years later, Super
Bowl IX between the Minnesota Vikings and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
4

The video shows Viking wide receiver John Gilliam leaping for a ball and touching the
ball briefly before a defensive back for the
Steelers, Glen Edwards, hits Gilliam hard enough to project the ball several yards into
the air.
Tatum hit players with intensity, paralyzing New England Patriot wide receiver Darryl
Stingley with a (legal) hit. He hit Minnesota Viking wide receiver Sammy White so hard
in Super Bowl XI that Whites helmet came off. (Interestingly, White held on to the ball!)
And he dislodged the football from Denver Bronco running back Rob Lytle in the 1977
AFC Championship game with a precise strike on the ball.
If anyone could hit another player hard enough to make a football fly back seven yards,
it would be Jack Tatum.

4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BihlRBPNVYI

Another test to apply is to note the reactions of the players around him, some of whom
likely had an idea as to who touched the ball.
Three of the closest players to the action were Raider defense back Jimmy Warren,
defensive tackle Art Thoms and linebacker Gerald Irons. Warren and Thoms, behind
Tatum, can be seen starting to clap after Tatum made the hit.
Irons ran in front of Tatum and slowed down after the hit.
Tatum himself appears to come to almost a complete stop after the hit. His reaction is
not consistent with a player who could see the ball on its way to Harris UNLESS he was
convinced that he (Tatum) had not touched the ball.
All of the Raiders gave chase to Harris. Some would say that this reaction is consistent
with a belief that the play was legal. However, with no referees having given any
indication that the play was illegal (i.e. a flag or a whistle), the Raiders had no choice
but to play on and contest the call later.
Fuquas reaction is telling. After hitting the ground in response to the contact with
Tatum, he appears to look into the ground. He only looks up after Harris has caught the
ball and the crowd has responded.
Tatum, who passed away in July 2010, said that he did not touch the ball. He told
author John Lombardo, Ive watched films and still have never seen a film that showed
I actually touched the ball.
5

But Fuqua will not publicly say what happened. If he knew he did not touch the ball or if
he knew that Tatum did, it would make sense for him to come out and say it in order to
lift the cloud that hangs over the integrity of this game.
I learned the power of proximity. It helps to hold the big game on your home turf where
the fans approval or disapproval of a call is certainly enough to make referees feel
uncomfortable.
Though I did not see this game personally, I have seen replays of this play hundreds of
times thanks to YouTube and replays sometimes shown on football games. I have also
seen still pictures, read about this play and debated it with other football fans on the
Internet. From all of this, I got a sense of what really happened.
After Harris ran in for the touchdown, fans started to pour onto the field. It took fifteen
minutes for order to be restored so that Roy Gerela could kick the extra point. What
would these fans have done had the call been made the other way?
A persons first instincts are for self-preservation. With the thought of angry fans on
their hands, the referees, no more aware of who touched the ball then than we are forty
years later, took the safe option of calling a touchdown for the home team.

5
Lombardo, John. Raiders Forever: Stars of the NFLs Most Colorful Team Recall Their Glory Days; McGraw Hill,
New York, 2001 (page 97)

Take a look at the official story:
The head official, Fred Swearingen, went to the baseball dugout and phoned the head
of NFL referees, Art McNally. According to McNally, Swearingen "never asked me
about the rule, and never asked what I saw. All he said was, 'Two of my men say that
opposing players touched the ball.' And I said, 'everything's fine then, go ahead.'"
6

At face value, McNallys recollection of Swearingens comment makes little sense. If
Swearingen knew the rule on players touching the ball and he knew opposing players
touched the ball, then he already knew what call needed to be made. If he already had
the call in mind, then why bother getting on the phone with the head of referees?
If he was not certain of the rule, there was no need for Swearingen to talk to McNally.
Swearingen could simply have consulted the rule book to confirm he had the rule
correctly. That would have taken away the appearance of impropriety that he made by
contacting McNally.
If he was not certain of what happened on the play, then again Swearingen should have
had no use for McNally. His fellow referees had already reported that opposing players
touched the ball. The head of referees had no authority to rule as to the facts of the
play.
Reading about this game makes me read into statements that people make. The facts
are clear that Swearingen got on the phone with someone. Whether he talked to
McNally or not, the conversation was not about the facts of the play or the applicable
rule.
Most likely, a serious question came over him as to what had really happened. He
probably leaned toward the explanation that only Fuqua had touched the ball and did
what many do when confronting an unpleasant truth: he looked for someone to talk him
out of the truth or to at least give him a little encouragement.
The deepest truth of this game is that home field advantage covers a lot of ground.

Hold on For Fifteen More Minutes

6
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immaculate_Reception

Pittsburgh Steelers 24 Oakland Raiders 13 December 29, 1974 Oakland Alameda
Coliseum Oakland, CA
At the age of six, I saw Raider quarterback Ken Stabler throw a last-minute pass to
running back Clarence Davis, who battled several defenders to catch the game-winning
touchdown. I was excited to watch the Raiders play the following week against the
Steelers. Reviewing a copy of the DVD of this game refreshed my memories as to the
details.
The year 1974 was supposed to belong to the Raiders. They outplayed their opponents
in the regular season and even shut out the Pittsburgh Steelers. Their two losses were
by a combined score of just four points. Their 12- 2 record was best in the entire
National Football League. Quarterback Ken Stabler won the Associated Press Player of
the Year Award.
In the previous seasons playoffs, the Raiders had defeated the Steelers soundly by a
score of 33-14. The Raiders went to the championship game but lost to the eventual
Super Bowl champion Miami Dolphins 27-10.
Perhaps the Steelers were the better team all along and caught the Raiders by surprise
this Sunday. They had an outstanding front four of defenders, known as the Steel
Curtain and led by Mean Joe Greene, one of the all-time greats of professional
football. They had Franco Harris, who had beaten the Raiders on the Immaculate
Reception two years before then and who stomped over other defenses as well.
The Steeler offense had gotten off to a slow start that season. After using Joe Gilliam
as their starting quarterback with mixed success, head coach Chuck Noll went back to
Terry Bradshaw, who, while not putting up the best statistics, managed to lead the team
to a 10-3- 1 record.
There had been some controversy in the week leading up to the game. After the
Raiders had defeated the Miami Dolphins in the last minute of their game, Raider head
coach John Madden had said, When the best plays the best, anything can happen.
7

Chuck Noll learned of the comment and related it to his players before the game,
assuring them that they were the best. Whether or not it actually helped the Steelers, it
fueled the fire of an already intense rivalry.
The game started slowly. The Raiders scored first, thanks to a dropped punt by Lynn
Swann. Not long after the play, George Blanda entered the field and kicked a field goal
to put the Raiders up by three points.
In the first half, the Steelers got inside the Raider ten yard line numerous times but
scored just three points. Harris and Rocky Bleier were starting on banner days (each of
them would rush for over 90 yards). The referees may have cost the Steelers a

7
http://www.steelergridiron.com/history/articleanniv.html

touchdown when they ruled John Stallworth was out of bounds on a pass he caught in
the end zone.
With an ineffective running game, Stabler kept throwing the ball until he got somewhere
with it. Late in the third quarter, he nailed a pass to wide receiver Cliff Branch for a
touchdown to make the score 10-3 in favor of the Raiders.
I felt a chill as the commercials aired right after the third quarter. All the Raiders had to
do was hold on to their lead for just one more quarter and they would go to New
Orleans to play the Minnesota Vikings, who had won the NFC championship earlier in
the day. This was going to be the Raiders year.
But Franco Harris took a handoff from Bradshaw and charged up the middle through
several missed tackles and into the Raider end zone on the first play of the last quarter.
I began to get a sinking feeling in my stomach. Gerela made the point after to tie the
game at ten.
Then the Steelers, by now expecting pass, intercepted Stabler. Jack Ham grabbed the
ball and returned it deep into Raider territory. The Steelers were in high gear now.
Bradshaw tossed a pass to Swann for a touchdown in the end zone and the Steeler
lead.
Stabler refused to give up. He hit Branch with a pass that the speedy receiver nearly
took in for a long score. Lambert cut him down with a brilliant open-field tackle. On a
third and two from the Steeler six, the Steel Curtain rushed Stabler to the left sideline
and forced him to make an incomplete pass. Blanda came on to kick his second field
goal of the afternoon.
The games deciding play came with just a few minutes left and the Steelers leading 17-
13. Near midfield, Bradshaw ran to his left without any blockers. He appeared to catch
the Raiders off guard, but the football slipped out of his hands and bounced around on
the ground for what seemed like an eternity. Somehow Rocky Bleier got his hands on
the ball to save the day for the Steelers.
After that, the Raiders got the ball back deep in their own territory. Stabler tried the
bomb one last time, only to be intercepted for the third time in the game. As the
Steelers ran out the clock, they scored another touchdown on a Harris run. The
Steelers would go on to win their first Super Bowl.
I learned how easy it is to motivate people by taking another persons words out of
context. What John Madden said, that the two best teams were Oakland and Miami,
was true. The Raiders 12-2 record and the Dolphins 11-3 record were the two best
records in the whole National Football League. What was wrong with referring to the
best teams by their records?

Chuck Noll made a smart move by telling his team about the comment as a way to
motivate them to play better. But this is locker room talk and it should have stayed
there. Any outrage over this matter outside the game is phony.
Interestingly, Don Shula had made a similar comment about the Dolphins and the
Raiders before the AFC Championship game in 1973 and his comments received little
attention.
I also learned that past records dont guarantee future performances. The Raiders had
played an exhausting game against the Dolphins, a game that also revealed some
cracks in their defense that the Steelers were able to figure out.
The record of the Steelers and the fact that the game was played in Oakland did not
seem to make any difference. The Steelers defense had been strong all season and
the offense was starting to click.
Looking back on this game, the Raiders were an excellent team but the Steelers were
surging at just the right time. They earned the heavyweight title with their Super Bowl
win and showed that they were the team to beat.
Thats why I hated them. And that is what made both football and life itself more
interesting. It mattered to me who won the game. I did not get this feeling with other
major sports like basketball or hockey. I would get it through the Dodgers in baseball as
well.


The Vikings Are Cursed
Super Bowl IX January 12, 1975 Pittsburgh Steelers 16 Minnesota Vikings 6 at
Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, LA
The Raiders were not playing in the Super Bowl but I knew of the key players. Franco
Harris, Rocky Bleier, Terry Bradshaw and the Steel Curtain that completely stopped
the Raider offense two weeks before would be in New Orleans to play in the big game.
The Minnesota Vikings with quarterback Fran Tarkenton, running back Chuck Foreman
and the Purple People Eaters defensive line would take them on.
In reviewing this game through YouTube, both teams played exceptional defense in the
first half. The only scoring came on a safety by the Steelers when Fran Tarkenton,
deep in his own territory, pitched a ball in the direction of running back Dave Osborne.
The ball hit several players and bounced back into the end zone, where Tarkenton fell
on the ball before being touched by several Steelers.
Obviously Tarkenton and Osborne failed to communicate. But it was still bad luck for a
team that had already lost two of the previous four Super Bowls.
Later in the half, Tarkenton threw deep to an open John Gilliam at the Steeler five yard
line. Gilliam leaped for it and began to haul it in until Steeler safety Glen Edwards
leveled a hit that caused the ball to fly upward and eventually into the hands of Steeler
cornerback Mel Blount.
That was more bad luck. The Steelers made a great play, but ordinarily with a hit like
that, the ball falls to the ground incomplete. The Vikings would have been in position to
try a field goal.
The half ended and when the teams got back onto the field it was Pittsburghs turn to
kick off to the Vikings. Maybe the Vikings could find their way in the second half
Bad luck struck again.
Steeler kicker Roy Gerela slipped on the wet turf as he kicked the ball off the tee. It
skidded off like a bad golf shot toward Viking Bill Brown, who could not catch it. The
Steelers pounced on the football and scored a few plays later on a run by Harris. The
score was now 9-0 Steelers.
When the Vikings finally did catch a break, they failed to make the most of it. Viking
Matt Blair got through the Steeler line and blocked a punt by Bobby Walden. The ball
bounced again, this time into the Steeler end zone, where Viking Terry Brown caught it
for a touchdown.

But the Vikings missed the extra point when kicker Fred Cox banged a kick off the left
upright. The Vikings still trailed by three points.
Late in the fourth quarter, Terry Bradshaw led the Steelers down the field in the games
only sustained touchdown drive. His four yard pass to Larry Brown in the end zone
effectively clinched the game for the Steelers. The final score was 16-6.


John Madden, Disappointed Again
Pittsburgh Steelers 16 Oakland Raiders 10 January 4, 1976 Three Rivers Stadium
Pittsburgh, PA
Friends of mine came to my house just as this game was starting and convinced me to
go out and play for a while. Coming home for lunch, I caught the last few minutes of it,
which were the most exciting.
This game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Oakland Raiders had the
ingredients for an all-time classic. This was:
A win or go home game for both teams
A game between two bitter rivals
A game decided on the final play
The Oakland Raiders played the 1975 AFC Championship Game at Three Rivers
Stadium against the Pittsburgh Steelers. This was the second year in a row the two
teams played each other for the championship and the fourth year in a row that they
competed against one another in the playoffs.
The game time temperature of 20 degrees dipped to as low as 10 degrees. The 20
mile-per-hour winds made things all the more miserable. But the most significant
aspect of the weather conditions was the field itself. The groundskeepers had failed to
put the tarp over the field properly the night before which left the field frozen solid in
some areas.
The field looked on television more like a hockey rink than a football field. There was
talk of the game being postponed but the commissioner of the National Football
League, Pete Rozelle, made it clear the teams would play.
The Steelers won the coin toss and elected to receive. After the kickoff, the Raiders
stuffed the Steeler runs on the first two plays in the game. Then Steeler quarterback
Terry Bradshaw tried the first pass of the game, to tight end Larry Brown, who caught it
before getting pushed out of bounds by two Raiders a foot short of the first down.
The Raiders got the ball after a Steeler punt and tried a run on their first play from
scrimmage. Clarence Davis took the handoff from quarterback Ken Stabler, but
stumbled on the snowy turf and did not get very far.
The Raiders got a first down on a pass from Stabler to Mike Siani, but on the next set of
downs, Clarence Davis again slipped on the turf and missed a third down pass from
Stabler. It would not be the last time anyone would slip on the field that day.

What Made This Game Unique?
Turnovers
The two teams combined for a total of thirteen turnovers! The winning team, the
Steelers, turned the ball over a stunning eight times!
How did the Steelers pull this game off with all of their fumbles and interceptions? The
brilliant defensive play of Jack Lambert, linebacker, and Mel Blount, cornerback,
explains a lot of the final score.
Lambert, a perennial all-pro, recovered three Raider fumbles, all of which stopped
Raider drives. Blount held Raider receiver Cliff Branch to only two catches the entire
game and was the Steeler who brought Branch down on the games final play.
Did the Raider turnovers prove more costly than their opponents? Some of the Raider
turnovers stopped drives that would have ended in field goals or even touchdowns. But
the Steelers let the Raiders back into the game late with a fumble by Franco Harris and
another fumble by Garrett on an onside kick.
How significant a factor was the weather in their turnovers? The players had trouble
gripping the ball all day. Pete Banaszak dropped a ball after a catch even though no
one touched him. The weather also caused a lot of dropped passes, especially by the
Raiders, because the wind misdirected passes and receivers had trouble maintaining
possession.
Three Points in First Three Quarters
After three quarters, the game looked like it would go down as a classic defensive
struggle between the two teams. Only Pittsburgh scored on a second quarter field goal
by Roy Gerela.
Besides the weather, what caused the low score in the first three quarters? The
defenses slugged it out well. The Raiders stopped Harris for three quarters and the
Steelers stopped the Raider offense when they needed to.
What players played exceptionally well? Besides Lambert and Blount, tight end Dave
Casper played a great game, catching three consecutive passes in traffic to help set up
a Stabler touchdown pass to receiver Mike Siani. Bradshaw completed sixty percent of
his passes and his three interceptions did not prove costly.
The Key Plays of the Game
First Quarter
The Raiders outplayed the Steelers in the first quarter (more total yards, more first
downs and fewer turnovers) but had nothing to show for it. They had two good
chances.

Late in the first quarter, Clarence Davis dropped a pass from Stabler that, had he
caught it, he probably would have scored as no Steelers were near him. Not long
afterwards, placekicker George Blanda missed a thirty- eight yard field goal (wide right)
shortly after Jack Tatum picked off a Bradshaw pass for the second time.
Second Quarter
The first penalty of the game, against Steeler Glen Edwards for pass interference on
Raider receiver Cliff Branch, was called in the second quarter.
The Raiders had a drive going inside the Steeler 35, but Mike Wagner intercepted
Stabler. Bradshaw then found receiver Lynn Swann for a long pass that went to the
Raider 26. After the Raiders forced a fourth down, Gerela came in and kicked a 36-yard
field goal for the games first score.
Davis dropped two more passes later on in the quarter in which he again would have
made big gains. Though he did not have a great reputation as a pass catcher, it was
pretty clear the weather must have been bothering him.
The Raiders continued to dominate the game in most statistics, including more first
downs, more total yards, and fewer turnovers, but it was the Steelers who led at the half
time.
Third Quarter
Oakland received the ball to start the second half. They tried to run the ball twice, but
gained little. On third down Stabler was intercepted for the second time by Wagner,
who returned the ball to the Raider 35.
But the Raider defense tightened and stopped Harris on a third-and-two. Gerela came
in to attempt a 44-yard field goal, but he hooked the ball to the left of the goal posts and
the score remained 3-0 Steelers.
Stabler found Bob Moore for a completion on the next drive, but it came with unforeseen
consequences as Moore was injured and had to leave the game. Dave Casper went in
to replace him.
The Raider drive faltered and Guy punted for the fifth time. Finally Harris made some
gains, including a 22-yard catch and run. The Steelers made it close to the Raider 20-
yard line but on a third down play, Bradshaw misfired on a pass to Harris. On the next
play, Ted Hendricks blocked a Gerela field goal attempt.
The Raiders got nowhere on their drive and Guy had to punt again. Then a series of
turnovers the likes of which championship games rarely see took place.
Mike Collier bobbled the punt and Jesse Phillips recovered on the Steeler 16. This was
as far as the Raiders had gotten all game.

On the second play after that, Pete Banaszak caught a Stabler pass and dropped the
ball without having been hit by anyone. Jack Lambert made the recovery.
Then the Steelers fumbled the ball back after Atkinson jarred the ball loose from Lynn
Swann after a catch. Jack Tatum recovered for the Raiders. In yet another turnover,
Clarence Davis fumbled the ball away soon after. Lambert again took the ball.
The third quarter was a comedy of errors by both sides. But clearly the Steelers had
awoken.
Fourth Quarter
With the help of outstanding blocks by Rocky Bleier and John Stallworth, Harris broke
free and scored on a 25-yard run at the start of the quarter. Stallworth took out Jack
Tatum and left Neal Colzie with the last chance to stop Harris. But the big running back
went right through him.
The Raiders finally moved decisively on offense. Stabler hit Casper with three
consecutive passes before throwing a 14-yard touchdown pass to Siani. The six play
drive, all passes, took less than two minutes off the clock.
After a Steeler punt, Marv Hubbard fumbled the ball and once again, Lambert recovered
it. This set up perhaps the turning point of the game.
On third down from the Raider 20, Bradshaw avoided a Raider rush and threw the ball
toward the double-teamed John Stallworth. Neal Colzie was in position to make the
interception.
But he instead slipped on the ice, which allowed Stallworth to make the touchdown
catch. The extra point attempt failed because of a bad snap. Still, the Steelers had
what appeared to be an insurmountable nine point lead.
The teams traded the ball back and forth. Bleier fumbled the ball to the Raiders who
could not make anything happen and had to punt again. Bradshaws dive for a first
down proved successful, but he had to leave the game with a head injury. Backup
Terry Hanratty came in and handed the ball off to Harris, who fumbled with just over a
minute- and-a-half to go.
The Steelers prevent defense drained the clock by allowing completed passes in-
bounds. The Raiders made it to the Steeler twenty-four yard line with 24 seconds left
and used the last of their time outs. It was then the game took on an unexpected
direction.
The final four plays of the game showed the determination of the Raiders and the panic
of the Steelers. John Madden never showed any signs of concern but instead used
strategy to get the most he possibly could out of the time available. Here is a play-by-
play description with issues likely going through the coachs mind:
0:24 2nd Down, 2 Yards to Go from Steeler 24 Yard Line.

The Raiders had to consider whether to pass and how long to pass for. A pass could
be thrown into the end zone, but it risks an interception which would end the game. Of
course, the Raiders could get lucky and get a pass interference call against the
Steelers! That would give the Raiders the ball at the Steeler one-yard line.
A short pass will more likely be caught, but with no time outs, the receiver will have to
get out of bounds in a hurry. The same problem happens if the pass is thrown over the
middle as opposed to a sideline.
A run would have to go the distance because if the runner is downed before the end
zone there will not be enough time to get the teams lined up for another play.
Speaking of, there were not many plays left in the game. A pass to the end zone from
24 yards out could take about seven seconds.
The Call: After a conference with Coach John Madden, Raider quarterback Ken Stabler
throws to wide receiver Morris Bradshaw in the right, deep corner of the end zone.
The Play: The pass goes by Bradshaw, who may have made contact with a kid on the
field just after the ball went by. Replays of the video make me wonder if perhaps the
referees should have invoked a rule on fan interference. Nonetheless, Bradshaw told
me in an email, I still should have caught the ball!
Result: INCOMPLETE PASS
0:17 - 3rd Down, 2 Yards to Go from Steeler 24 Yard Line.
The Raiders had to decide whether to continue to try for a touchdown or instead go for a
field goal.
Going for a touchdown involves the same considerations mentioned above. But the
time on the clock now plays a crucial role. If the Raiders score a touchdown, very little
time will be left to do an onside kick and recover it and get the ball in position for a
game-winning field goal.
Few coaches would have considered a field goal. It is probably normal to think about
the touchdown first.
The kick would be 41 yards, which happens to have been placekicker George Blandas
longest successful kick during the regular season. The chances are not much more
than even, if at all. Blanda missed a shorter kick earlier by kicking long enough but wide
to the right. He would kick from the left hash mark again. It should be remembered that
Blanda is a 26-year NFL veteran who has handled numerous pressure kicks
successfully in his Hall-of-Fame career.
How much time will be left if is successful? A successful field goal stops the clock as
soon as the ball clears the posts. Given the distance here, it would take about five
seconds.

If the kick crosses the line of scrimmage (where the teams line up) and misses, the ball
goes to the Steelers despite the fact that it is third down. If the kick is blocked or the
snap is bad, the Raiders would maintain the ball by recovering it.
The Call: Madden sends in Blanda to attempt a 41-yard field goal.
The Play: Blandas kick splits the uprights.
Result: FIELD GOAL
Score: Steelers 16, Raiders 10
0:12 Kickoff from the Raider 35.
The Raiders must kick off to the Steelers, but how? Their most realistic option would be
to kick an onside kick and recover the ball. But there are still questions of how to
manage that:
Which way to kick the onside kick? There is a lot of ice on both sides of the field near
the sidelines. Maybe someone, preferably a Steeler, will slip or mishandle the ball.
At which Steeler should the Raiders aim the ball? These are the Steelers best players
at holding onto the ball. Looking at the Steeler line of players, is there any one player
who might be especially vulnerable?
Should the Raiders try instead to kick the ball directly to a Raider player? If they choose
this option, the ball must travel ten yards before a Raider could legally touch it. If a
Steeler player touches the ball first, it does not matter how far the ball goes.
What players do the Raiders put on the line to try to recover the kick? This team of
players has already been identified by Madden before the game, but has any member
of the onside team become injured during this game and need replacement?
Because the Steelers know the onside is coming, the chances of success are low (less
than one in four, according to studies) but there simply is no viable alternative. A long
kickoff would only work if the Steeler player fumbled the ball and a Raider player could
get down there fast enough to make a recovery. A major problem is that a long kick, or
even a squib kick that bounces several times and goes about half the distance to the
goal line, would give the Steelers time to react and to simply fall on the ball.
Can the Raiders get the kick off before the Steelers get the maximum 11 players on the
field? It should be noted that sportscaster Curt Gowdy said during the telecast that the
Steelers only had ten players on the field at the time of the kick.
The Call: Raider kickoff specialist Ray Guy kicks onside to his left at the Steelers.
The Play: The ball tumbles across the icy field in the direction of Reggie Garrett. The
ball reaches Garrett who reaches out with his hands. The ball glances off his hands
and banked off his leg toward Raider Dave Casper. The Ghost, as he was known, fell
on the ball at the Raider 44 yard line.

Result: RAIDERS KEEP POSSESSION OF THE BALL
0:07 1st Down, 10 Yards to Go from Raider 44 yard line.
Decision #4: How many plays are left? A play that takes less than seven seconds is
unlikely to gain much yardage. Even if it stops the clock by going out of bounds or
falling incomplete, the Raiders would have virtually the same circumstances again.
To whom should the ball be thrown? There are typically five eligible receivers on a play.
The possible receivers for this play include Cliff Branch, Ted Kwalick, Morris Bradshaw,
Dave Casper, Clarence Davis and Pete Banaszak.
The most sure-handed Raider receiver of this game, Casper, could be used. The
speediest player for the Raiders is Branch, but he has been held to only one catch all
game because of the excellent defensive play of Steeler Mel Blount. Bradshaw also
has good speed. Of his seven catches this season, four were for touchdowns.
Do the running backs block? The Steeler defense must be anticipated. If the Steelers
put on a heavy rush, this is a must. If they dont, a running back (preferably Davis, who
is fast) can swing out and catch a pass as a backup plan if the main receiver is covered.
It should be recalled, though, that Davis has dropped three passes this game.
How deep should a pass go? Going into the end zone risks maximum Steeler coverage
but if the pass is caught, the Raiders score a touchdown. Of course, the rule on
defensive pass interference noted above applies and even if time runs out on a play
with a defensive penalty, the Raiders would get a final play from the one yard line.
Where on field should the pass go? The ice is hard to avoid, especially near the
sidelines. Players on both teams have had trouble with slipping on offense and defense
all day.
The Call: Stabler throws a pass intended for wide receiver Cliff Branch at the Steeler 15
yard line near the left sideline.
The Play: Branch catches the ball facing the middle of the field. He turns toward the
sideline but Blount tackles Branch one yard in- bounds as time runs out.
Result: GAME OVER
Final Score: Steelers 16, Raiders 10
Despite this difficult loss, the game will always be memorable to me. Most of all, the
last four plays of the game are poetry in motion. The network, the National
Broadcasting Corporation, kept the game on television without interruptions. The
Steelers panicked while the Raiders attempted a mission just out of the realm of
possibility.

After the game, Stabler said, One more play was all we needed. Why is it that time
always runs out on us?
8

They never got that one more play. Cliff Branch could never quite break free of Mel
Blounts hold of him. The clock would never grant one more second.
But not all was lost. In the Super Bowl played two weeks later, the Cowboys scored a
touchdown late in the game to draw within four points of the Steelers. Just before they
attempted an onside kick, one of the announcers commented that the Steelers had
practiced hard especially on recovering onside kicks because of what happened against
Oakland.
Some of the Steelers even had a few kind things to say about their arch-rivals. Steeler
center Ray Mansfield admitted that sometimes you have to feel bad for a team like that.
They stopped us on the run today. They stopped us with that three-man line, even
though we did not think it was possible. And they still lost.
9

The respect was mutual. The late Al Davis once recalled this game by saying, "There
were seven seconds left and we were down 16-10. We hit Cliff Branch deep down the
sideline and he was going to lateral to Ted Kwalick, our tight end. [Jack] Lambert read it
and positioned himself on Kwalick to take the lateral away, and Mel Blount tackled
Branch on the 15-yard line. It was a great play by Lambert, a great read, and it never
showed up in the stats."
10

As an Oakland Raider fan, I shouldnt like the way the game ends, but their comeback
attempt inspires me. I keep thinking how the Raiders could have pulled this game off. If
Branch could somehow shake free of Blount and get out of bounds in time, or if Branch
could have somehow out-maneuvered Blount and the Steeler defense and made a run
for the goal lineor maybe Madden and Stabler come up with the ultimate trick play,
like a surprise draw with Clarence Davis going fifty- six yards up the middle
The only way to play any game is to play to win. But when circumstances make it
impossible to achieve victory in the literal sense of the game, the real victory is to
vindicate our character by refusing to give up. The big game clock may show zero on it,
but our commitment to performing at the highest level of effort possible will outlast any
time frame our critics can give us.
A moral victory may not show on the scoreboard but it can inspire others. And we can
remember that John Madden was not forever disappointed: the Raiders, having suffered
a tough defeat in 1975, came back to win the Super Bowl the following year.

8
Mulvoy, Mark. Sports Illustrated January 12, 1976. The Steelers are on the Loose.
9
ibid
10
http://bbs.hoopchina.com/simple/259871.html

Why the Steelers Were Super
Super Bowl X Pittsburgh Steelers 21 Dallas Cowboys 17- January 18, 1976 at
the Orange Bowl in Miami, FL
Roger Staubachs interception on the final play of Super Bowl X was not a strategy.
Staubach, his coach, Tom Landry, and his teammates had little, if any, time to decide
what play to choose.
And there wasnt much of a choice, anyway. The team had to move the ball thirty-nine
yards in three seconds. The Hail Mary pass, which had worked so well weeks earlier
in the playoffs against the Minnesota Vikings, failed here not because the Cowboys
chose to throw deep, but because the Steelers knew it was coming and effectively
handled the play as would be expected.
On the other hand, Staubachs decision about time management upon getting the ball
back from the Steelers late in the game and down by 4 points WAS a strategy. The
Cowboys had time to decide how to manage the clock (1 minute, 22 seconds), the
yardage (61 yards) and time outs (none) to get the necessary points to win the game.
On first-and-ten, Staubach could not find a receiver and ran with the ball. He had a
chance to go to the sidelines to stop the clock but instead ran further up field.
He got ten yards on the play but gave up precious time and probably the game in the
process. The reason they lost on this play was that by the time Staubach began to
throw his "hail Mary" a little later, the Cowboys needed to make over thirteen yards per
second. The Cowboy play strategy of staying in-bounds and getting yards was a
disaster.
A different strategy, based on frequent stoppage of the clock (getting out of bounds and
spiking the ball for a deliberate incomplete pass) could have put the Cowboys deep in
Steeler territory with time to make the winning score.
Of course, the circumstances which led to the final series of play and the strategy on
how to attempt to score were set in place earlier. If we look at this game backward, we
can best determine specific strategies that might have averted the situation the
Cowboys found themselves in.
Below I have re-printed the last four series, two by each team. This will enable us to
look backward to the point where Dallas strategy cost them the game.
PITTSBURGH: 4:25
1-10 P30 F.Harris 4 rush up middle (J.Pugh).

2-6 P34 F.Harris 2 rush off right tackle (E.Jones, C.Harris).
3-4 P36 T.Bradshaw 64 pass to L.Swann deep middle (catch at D5), touchdown
(11:58).
R.Gerela's extra point attempt hit the left upright, no good.
PITTSBURGH 21, DALLAS 10R.Gerela kicked into end zone, touchback.
DALLAS: 3:02
1-10 D20 R.Staubach 7 pass to C.Young middle (A.Russell).
2-3 D27 R.Staubach 30 pass to D.Pearson deep right (J.T.Thomas).
1-10 P43 R.Staubach 11 pass to P.Pearson left (A.Russell).
1-10 P32 R.Staubach sacked, loss of 2 (D.White).
TIMEOUT: Two-Minute Warning.
2-12 P34 R.Staubach 34 pass to P.Howard left end zone, touchdown (13:12).
T.Fritsch kicked extra point.PITTSBURGH 21, DALLAS 17
T.Fritsch onside kicked to D42, recovered by G.Mullins, no return.
PITTSBURGH: 1:48
1-10 D42 F.Harris rush left, loss of 2.
TIMEOUT: Dallas (1st).
2-12 D44 F.Harris 2 rush left.
TIMEOUT: Dallas (1:33-2nd).
3-10 D42 R.Bleier 1 rush left.
TIMEOUT: Dallas (1:28-3rd).
4-9 D41 R.Bleier 2 rush right tackle (E.Jones).
DALLAS: 1:22
1-10 D39 R.Staubach 11 keeper left.
1-10 50 R.Staubach 12 pass to P.Pearson (M.Kellum).
1-10 P38 R.Staubach recovered own fumble, pass to D.Pearson overthrown.
2-10 P38 R.Staubach pass to P.Howard right end zone broken up (J.Lambert).
3-10 P38 R.Staubach pass to D.Pearson deep intercepted two yards into end zone,
G.Edwards35 return to P33.
Right before Dallas took over on its own 39 yard line with 1:22 remaining in the game,
Pittsburgh had run the ball on a 4th down and 9 from the Dallas 41 yard line. To this
day, some question the call that Steeler head coach Chuck Noll made because it almost
ensured that Dallas would get the ball in good field position. Rocky Bleier took a handoff
for two yards, well short of the first down.
Why didnt Noll order a punt? A smart coach who would end up winning what is still a
record four Super Bowls, he undoubtedly considered the option of punting. But earlier in
the game, his punter Bob Walden dropped a snap from center, which led to a Dallas
touchdown and 7-0 lead. If Walden again dropped the ball, or the Cowboys blocked the

punt or made a good return, Dallas would have an excellent opportunity to win the
game.
Instead, Bleier held on to the ball and the Steelers gave the ball to the Cowboys on the
Cowboy 39 yard line. Noll estimated correctly that Staubach and Company could not
make the winning score. A better question has to do with strategy before the Steeler set
of downs. With 1:48 to go in the game, Staubach threw deep to Percy Howard in the
Steeler end zone for a touchdown. The extra point made the game Steelers 21,
Cowboys 17. Dallas had all three of its time outs left.
So, provided that they could hold the Steelers without a first down, they could use the
time outs and get the ball back with plenty of time to go. And, given that Steeler starting
quarterback Terry Bradshaw had left the game (for good) due to an injury moments
earlier, the Steelers chances of making a first down seemed fairly slim.
In fact, backup quarterback Terry Hanratty, sent into the game as a replacement, had
not thrown a single pass all season! The Cowboys should have known that Hanratty
would turn around and hand the ball off to either Franco Harris or Bleier. They could
have counted on getting the ball back.
The real strategy decision for Dallas, then, should have been one that ensured good
field position. Instead of an onside kick, which works at best about one time in four
when the other team (as in this case) expects it, Dallas should have kicked off deep. A
touchback, followed by three carries for one yard, would have put the Steelers on their
own 21 with a 4th and 9.Then the Steelers would have to punt.
This is the essence of strategy: make the other side do something they do not wish to
do! Walden punted four times on the day. The first three punts went for 32, 34 and 34
yards and each time the Cowboys took a fair catch. Walden boomed the fourth punt for
59 yards after which Cowboy Golden Richards returned it five yards.
Now the odds are three in four in FAVOR of the Cowboys and even better if there were
a problem with the snap or a blocked kick. A 34 yard Walden punt with a fair catch
would put the ball on the Dallas 45, which happens to be the same place Dallas would
get the ball with a successful onside kick! In short, the only difference between what the
Cowboys tried to accomplish with poor strategy and what they could have accomplished
with better strategy was twenty-six seconds, time that they would not need, anyway.


Raiders Refuse to Throw a Game
Oakland Raiders 35 Cincinnati Bengals 20 December 6, 1976 Oakland Alameda
Coliseum Oakland, CA
I remember getting ready to watch this game. Some people, including those in the
media, thought the Raiders would deliberately lose the game so as to help knock their
rivals the Pittsburgh Steelers out of playoff contention.
11
Before the game, sportscaster
Howard Cosell told the audience that John Madden refused to go on camera and dignify
any talk of throwing the game.
Mission: Win the Super Bowl
Objective: Get to the playoffs and defeat all competition
Problem: Rival team beats you every season in the playoffs
Opportunity: By losing a regular season game to another team, you can make the rival
team miss the playoffs.
This scenario presented itself to the 11-1 Oakland Raiders at the second to last week of
the 1976 regular season. They were scheduled to play the 9-3 Cincinnati Bengals on
Monday Night Football. A Bengal win over the Raiders and a Bengal win the following
week against the New York Jets would eliminate the dreaded Pittsburgh Steelers from
playoff contention.
The Raider season leading up to the game against the Bengals had been eventful. On
the first game of the season, the team had played the Pittsburgh Steelers in Oakland.
Though the Raiders won the game 31-28 with 17 late points, the talk afterwards was not
really about the score.
Raider safety George Atkinson had caused Steeler wide receiver Lynn Swann a
concussion in the previous years championship game with a legal hit. In this game, for
reasons still unclear to me, he hit Swann in the back of the head even though Swann
was not involved in the play!

11
Richmond, Peter. Badasses: The Legend of Snake, Foo, Dr. Death, and John Maddens Oakland Raiders,
HarperCollins Publishers, 2010 (293).

Television news stations replayed the Atkinson hit over and over. Steeler head coach
Chuck Noll called Atkinson a part of the criminal element of the game, for which
Atkinson sued him and the Steelers organization for defamation unsuccessfully.
12

Public discussion about violence in the National Football League ran rampant
throughout this season and seasons to follow. The discussion usually centered upon
the Oakland Raiders and whether they played dirty.
In any case, the win over the Steelers gave the Raiders a sense of pride. They went on
to play five consecutive road games, winning four of them. Six more straight wins put
them at their home field against the Bengals with an 11-1 record.
The Bengals got off to an early 6-0 lead, but the Raider offense took over. Ken Stabler
threw four touchdown passes in a 35-20 victory over the Bengals. When the Bengals
and Steelers both won the following week, the Steelers advanced to the playoffs by
virtue of the fact that they beat the Bengals both times the two teams played that
season.
I learned that I liked consistency of character. It was easy to follow a team that stayed
true to its image of battling it out in every game they played.
It was what they did in going down to the wire against the Steelers in the 1975
championship game even after the announcers had written them off.
It would later be true when they used an illegal play to beat the San Diego Chargers
(the Holy Roller) instead of quitting.
This was the best Raider game because they showed they wanted to win more than
they feared losing.
It was even better than the Super Bowl, which they won four weeks later after playoff
victories against New England and Pittsburgh. The tough luck in Super Bowl XI went
against their opponents, the Vikings. That, and a lot of good blocking, passing and
running made the Raiders 32-14 winners.

12
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Atkinson_%28American_football %29

How Did I Miss These Games?
1976 NFL Playoffs
The Oakland Raiders played the New England Patriots in the first round of the NFL
playoffs on December 18, 1976. I have absolutely no recollection of this game, won by
the Raiders in Oakland by a score of 24-21. I do remember seeing the morning playoff
game in which the Minnesota Vikings beat the Washington Redskins 35-20.
How could I have missed the Raiders?
I had to re-construct some things from memory. It must have been something
important. It was a Saturday.
What else was going on during this time? We were at home. I remember my family
took a trip to visit some in my dads side of the family in San Diego the following
weekend, where I would watch the Raiders finally beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in the
championship game.
What kind of things did I like to do then on the weekends? As an eight year old, I liked
going to the movies. And there was a BIG movie out about sports that would eventually
become very famous Rocky, starring Sylvester Stallone, an underdog boxer who
takes the champion to the full fifteen rounds.
I checked on Google and the movie was playing during that period of time. And I do
remember my mom taking my brother, me and a bunch of friends to see it.
So, I believe that I was watching Rocky when the game went on.
To top that off, I missed all but the first few minutes of the Raiders win in Super Bowl XI
a few weeks later. One of my friends invited me to his birthday party which was that
very day, January 9, 1977. Maybe I brought the Raiders luck by not watching!


The Tragedy of Error
Denver Broncos 20 Oakland Raiders 17 January 1, 1978 Mile High Stadium Denver,
CO
I still watch the Rob Lytle play over and over. The end result is always the same as
when I watched the play live at the age of nine.
The Raiders, in white, are on the left side across their own goal line prepared to defend
against the Denver Broncos offense. Quarterback Craig Morton hands the ball off to
#41 in orange, Lytle, who takes two quick steps before a chain of events takes place.
1. Raider Jack Tatum moves straight to Lytle and delivers a hit. 2. Lytle moves
backwards in response to the collision. 3. Whistles start to blow. 4. The Raiders signal
they have the ball. 5. The referees call it back and then penalize the Raiders for
arguing.
I will never forget what happens next. After the confusion and the arguments subside,
the Broncos get the ball first and goal. Morton pitches the ball to running back John
Keyworth, who scores a touchdown to give the Broncos a 14-3 lead.
Instant replay, available to the television audience (but not allowed to the referees)
showed a crucial detail:
Immediately after the Tatum-Lytle collision, the football pops loose, hits a Bronco player
and falls toward the ground, long before whistles are heard.
The officials reaction to this play decided which of the two teams would go to the Super
Bowl to face the Dallas Cowboys. I watched the game in disbelief as to how the
referees could miss something so obvious. I can still see John Madden screaming
something at the officials from the top of his lungs.
It was bad enough that the head referee would not call a fumble. What was worse was
that he failed to do something that might have resolved this error: he did not call upon
the other referees to meet with him to discuss the play.

The officials could have huddled and asked one another if anyone saw the ball come
free from Lytle. Someone should have seen it, given that several of them focused on a
very short portion of the field and should have known a running play was coming.
Instead, the head referee called a penalty on the whole Raider defense for engaging in
unsportsmanlike conduct, a meaningless call because the Broncos got all of one-half
of a yard for it due to the National Football League rule of assessing a penalty close to
the goal line as half the distance to the goal line.
Later in the game, a representative for the referees sent a message to Dick Enberg to
read. The referees wanted it to be known that they blew the whistle to call the play
dead for Lytles lack of forward progress. Len Dawson, Enbergs partner in the
broadcast booth, commented that it must have been a quick whistle!
Indeed, the message was disingenuous at best. Taken at face value, it means the
referees, as Dawson suggested, called the play over right when Tatum hit Lytle. But to
make such a quick judgment, the referees must have believed the play was over at that
point. They would have to ignore the possibility, among other things, that Lytle did not
have the ball! (Consider another possibility: Lytle bounces off Tatum, goes backwards
with the ball and then runs in for a touchdown!)
So, several years later, Art McNally, the head of NFL referees, acknowledged that the
referees had made a mistake. Like so many admissions, it was too little, too late.
The game did not end after the Lytle play. A second tragedy struck the Raiders when
my favorite player, wide receiver Fred Biletnikoff, caught a pass right before incurring
hits from multiple Broncos. He left the game with a dislocated shoulder and never
returned.
The teams traded touchdowns and with the missed extra point by the Broncos, Denver
led 20-10 in the fourth quarter. The Raiders battled for another touchdown to close the
score to three points with under four minutes to play.
I can still see Dave Casper making the catch between two defenders in the back of the
end zone. It was his fifth touchdown in two games.
After Casper caught the pass for a touchdown and Errol Mann added the extra point, a
deadline loomed. It wasnt merely the clock which indicated how much time the Raiders
had to get the ball back and score again. It was time running out on the team I grew up
with.
The Raiders had found themselves on a foreign field for the big game once again.
Somehow, the previous week in Baltimore, they had won the franchises first playoff
game on the road. In a game in which the lead changed hands several times, the
Raiders had tied the score just before the end of regulation time, battled through a
scoreless fifth quarter and won on a pass from Stabler to Casper two plays into the sixth
quarter.

That game had made history as the third longest in professional football. The team then
had eight days to prepare for the Bronco game to be played in the thin, cold air of
Denver on New Years Day.
The Broncos had made enough big plays to stay three points ahead of the Raiders up
to this point. Quarterback Craig Morton had tossed a short pass to receiver Haven
Moses, who outran the Raiders for a long touchdown in the first half. And a Bronco
recovery of a Raider fumble set up the Broncos for a short drive to the two yard line for
the Lytle play.
The Raiders put themselves in the hole to an extent. Twice Jack Tatum got his hands
on Morton passes and dropped them. In the twenty degrees weather, the game was
shades of the 1975 AFC Championship in Pittsburgh, where the weather elements
hindered the Raider game. While it could be said that both teams played in the same
weather, the game made it clear that the Broncos were better prepared for it.
And a Ken Stabler pass into the hands of a Bronco defender which set up the last
Bronco touchdown certainly didnt help, either. It gave the Broncos a short field with
which to score a touchdown for the second time in the game.
It was just like the Raiders to do things the hard way. Like Sisyphus pushing a boulder
up the hill only to have it roll back down every time he made it to the top. They had
played the Steelers evenly in 1975 and the Broncos evenly in this game. But something
always forced the Raiders to be just out of reach.
I watched the play unfold totally exhausted from going outside to play so often during
this game. The Broncos kept running the ball to their right side. A number of sources
have said that the Broncos had received a tip from the manager of the hotel where the
Raiders had stayed that Raider left guard John Matuszak had stayed out late the
previous night.
The implication was the Matuszak had been carousing and had little sleep and could not
handle the Bronco rushing attack so late in the game. I have no idea whether this is
true or not, but I doubt that this was the first game that Matuszak had played under
these circumstances.
I have acquired several Raider games in which John Matuszak played for them. He
frequently caused trouble for other teams by stopping running backs and sacking
quarterbacks. To call him out for his play in this game, or how he performed in the last
set of downs in particular, seems unfair.
Sadly, Matuszaks life would end some years later at the age of 38. He died of heart
failure brought on by an overdose of dextropropoxyphene, a painkiller.
In any case, the Broncos made first downs and ran out the clock on the Raiders.
Though no one likely knew it at the time, time was also up on the John Madden Raiders.

For the fourth time in the 1970s, both the Raiders and the Cowboys, my least favorite
team, made it to their conference championship games. And it was now the fourth time
the two teams both made it to the championship games but failed to make it to what I
believed would have been an epic Super Bowl.
With the subsequent demise of the Raiders and of football in general, I started to feel a
sickness inside of me. I felt a loss that I never could adequately describe and it took
quite some time to learn how to grieve it.
I learned that winning and losing can be decided by matters beyond our control. I
learned also that our losses are often the most interesting times of our lives and shape
our character much more than our wins.
A similar blown call would determine the outcome of one of my Little League baseball
games a couple of years later. At stake was a playoff berth. We were losing 4-1 in the
top half of the last inning. I led off the inning with a double to left, quite possibly the
hardest I had ever hit a ball.
The next batter popped up toward the third base line. I watched the pitcher and the
third baseman exchange nervous glances and when the pitcher finally stabbed at the
ball to catch it, I tagged on second and went to third. The opponents gave me a base,
so I took it.
The next batter hit a home run over the left field fence to make the game 4-3. A walk
followed that and put us one run down with one player on and one out. I will never
forget the next play:
Our guy slapped the ball on the ground between first and second base. Our runner on
first stopped to allow the ball roll by past the second baseman and into right field. He
went on to second base and then third. We were ecstatic and thought for sure we
would win the game!
But the umpires stopped play and told my teammate on third base he was out for
interfering with the second baseman! Despite our protests, there were now two out and
one player on base. The next batter struck out to end the game.
I still think we outplayed the other team and that the umpires made a bad call. What
was my teammate supposed to do? Run back to first? Jump over the ball (a much
better case for obstruction)?
The what-ifs never end in sports and in life.
The losses are the games I have, for the most part, focused upon. But what fascinated
me was how stressed I would feel watching the game. Following a team has its risks
and rewards and one can only feel the reward of triumph if there was a sincere chance
that the game could have gone the other way.

The Raiders played the best they possibly could and used strategy and time clock
management so well that I now find myself replaying these games, especially the 1975
game, and concluding that coach John Madden could not possibly have handled the
strategy of the last 1:31 of the game any better.
These stories became lessons and the lessons became the folklore that I view my own
life with. It reads through my mind and into the words I write down.
Frenchy Fuqua touched the ball and Jack Tatum did not touch it. The Immaculate
Reception should have been ruled an incomplete pass. The referees were scared to
make that ruling because of the huge pro- Steeler crowd that would have expressed its
disapproval in ways that would have caused harm to health or even life of people
present.
This is a legend that I have decided to live with. The truth does not always win out and
people do not always do what I think they should do. Sometimes a deeper truth (lives
were in danger) emerges and obscures the truth of what really happened.
Neal Colzies slip and fall on the ice of the end zone, which caused him to miss an
interception that could have changed the outcome of the 1975 AFC Championship
Game, was tough luck. Ninety-nine times out of one hundred Colzie picks off the pass
for a touchback. Ball on the Raider 20. No touchdown by the other team. In a game
that ended with a score of 16-10, the tough luck was huge.
The bridesmaid label fits the Raiders so well. They lost to more talented Steeler teams
in 1974 and 1975. My legend of the Raiders refusing to quit and fighting it out to the
bitter end works much better in losses than it does with wins. Consider the first Rocky
movie, in which Rocky Balboa loses on points to Apollo Creed. The loss endeared
Rocky to the fans much more than a victory would have.
Rob Lytle fumbled the ball on the Raider two yard line and the Raiders recovered the
ball and likely would have returned it the distance of the field for a touchdown. Again,
the referees made the wrong call and were undoubtedly influenced by the home team
Bronco fans.
The placement of the officials before the Rob Lytle play and their subsequent failure to
see a loose ball was tough luck. The Raiders could not control the actions of the
officials but could only hope (as any team would) that their defensive play would be
noticed. Jack Tatum, a legend at separating footballs from opponents, knocked the ball
squarely out of Lytles hands. During the point of time between the hit and the point at
which the referees saw Lytle downed, a noticeable lapse of time, none of the referees
followed one logical outcome of Tatum contacting Lytle: the football dropping to the
ground.
The Raiders should have gone to the Super Bowl and played an epic game against the
Dallas Cowboys. But the official loss to the Broncos put the Raiders right back where
they started as the bridesmaids when I first started following them.

One could ask whether the Raiders received the benefits of tough luck against their
opponents. The Raiders did receive some breaks, but none of them qualify as tough
luck.
In the same game, the referees ruled that Bronco wide receiver Jack Dolbin failed to
catch a pass that would have given the Broncos a touchdown. Some fans have opined
that this call was in error. However, I have seen this play several times on a DVD of the
game I own and I do not believe the referees made a mistake. I cannot conclude that
Dolbin actually caught the ball and at best, from the point of view of Raider critics, this
was a borderline call.
In a playoff game against the New England Patriots in 1976, the Raiders were down by
four points and faced a third down play late in the game. Stabler threw an incomplete
pass as a Patriot defender, Ray Sugar Bear Hamilton knocked him to the ground.
The officials called Hamilton for roughing the passer, a fifteen yard penalty and an
automatic first down and some have said this was tough luck for the Patriots. I
disagree. Hamilton, as is shown on replays available, hit Stablers face mask on the
play. The officials were well within the rules to make the call against Hamilton.
The penalty came about because Hamilton veered away from the rules, not because of
chance. And whenever a player makes contact with the face mask or helmet of another
player (especially the quarterback, whom rules are designed to protect), it is
foreseeable that they will get a penalty.
Of course, the Raiders carried out the illegal Holy Roller play with luck. It was tough
luck for the Chargers that the referees could not see that Stabler had intentionally
thrown the ball underhand forward on the ground to another player. The key to this play
was Stablers intent, a factor often difficult to discern.
Because of this play, the NFL voted in a new rule after the 1978 season, which says
that only the player who fumbled the ball may recover and advance the ball on fourth
down or within the last two minutes of a half. The fact that the league changed the rule
after the play suggests that the rule on fumbles was not certain at the time the Holy
Roller took place.


The Holy Roller
Oakland Raiders 21 San Diego Chargers 20 September 10, 1978 Jack Murphy Stadium
San Diego, CA
Is a rule broken if the officials fail to notice it? My paternal grandfather, a Charger fan,
certainly thought so when he would complain about this game that I learned of through
highlight film on television.
The Oakland Raiders played a football game that brought this question home to me
many years ago. They were losing at San Diego to the Chargers by six points and
faced fourth down at the Charger 14-yard line with just ten seconds left with no time
outs.
Quarterback Ken Stabler went back to pass and backpedaled to his right. Woody Lowe,
a big Charger linebacker, was about to sack him...
What would you do here?
If Stabler waits a split-second, he gets tackled and sacked for a loss. Game over.
If Stabler tries to throw the ball overhand, the lineman will knock the ball out of his
hands. Game over.
If Stabler tries to run, he will get tackled quickly (his knees were in bad shape). Game
over.
There really weren't any choices, then, were there?

Except for one. The only problem with the lone option was that it was against the rules.
If the Raiders got caught.
Stabler pitched the ball underhand on the ground to teammate Pete Banaszak, who saw
the goal line too far ahead to make a run for it. So he scooped the ball and rolled it to
Raider tight end Dave Casper at the two-yard line. Casper batted then kicked the ball
forward and then fell on it in the Charger end zone.
When the referees signaled touchdown, the Charger players, coaches and fans all
roared their collective disapproval. Raider coach John Madden was stunned when he
was told the touchdown counted. The Raiders then sent their place kicker Errol Mann
to make the game winning extra point.
The Raiders had cheated to win the game. Or had they?
The referees, hardly favoring the home team Chargers, had called all three players
actions fumbles. The announcers, even after having seen the real-time and instant
replays, sound convinced it was a fumble.
One could make the argument that even if one gets away with it, an illegal act is still
that. But here, the play unfolded right in front the teams, the referees and the fans. The
refs failed to notice the true nature of the plays because, incredibly, they failed to
understand or realize the intentions of the players who did everything they could to win
the game.
Stabler, Banaszak and Casper all later admitted that they deliberately rolled the ball
downfield. By then, the game had been decided and the Chargers could do nothing
about it. But before we call them cheaters, we might answer as to any of us would,
facing imminent defeat, just roll over and accept the loss. Cheaters may not prosper,
but neither do losers.


The Best Super Bowl Ever!
Super Bowl XIV January 20, 1980 Pittsburgh Steelers 31 Los Angeles Rams 19 at
the Rose Bowl in Pasadena CA
The Pittsburgh Steelers had won the Super Bowl three times. Their all-star cast
included future Hall of Famers such as quarterback Terry Bradshaw, wide receivers
Lynn Swann and John Stallworth, running back Franco Harris, defensive end Mean
Joe Greene and linebacker Jack Lambert.
The Los Angeles Rams were the first team to make it to the Super Bowl with fewer than
ten regular season wins. They had lost their owner, Carroll Rosenbloom, in a drowning
accident in early 1979 and his widow, Georgia Rosenbloom had won a power struggle
with Carrolls son Steven. The teams starting quarterback, Pat Haden, broke his finger
in the middle of the season and was replaced by Vince Ferragamo.
Few gave the Rams much of a chance. I sat down to watch the game hoping they
could keep it close.
As predicted, the Steelers ran and passed their way to several scores. Bradshaw
connected with Swann and Stallworth for touchdowns. Harris pounded away for yards
and for two touchdowns.
But what I will never forget was that the Rams, the underdog, matched the Steelers
score for score. Running back Wendell Tyler took off with the ball in the first quarter for

a 39 yard run. On third-and-goal a few plays later, Cullen Bryant plowed his way into
the end zone.
When the first half ended with the Rams ahead 13-10, I started to think they could
actually win it.
When Ferragamo responded to a subsequent Steeler touchdown with a 50 yard pass to
receiver Billy Waddy, I realized both teams were fighting it out and the ending would not
be predictable.
The play of the game took place next. Ferragamo handed the ball off to Lawrence
McCutcheon, who then shocked the Steelers by passing to Ron Smith for a touchdown.
I can still see the Steeler defender inadvertently knocking Smith into the end zone.
The see-saw nature of this game and the story line of the underdog against the heavy
favorite made it the essence of football. Anything could have happened after this point
and that is what makes watching games like this so exciting.
In the end, it was the Steelers who pulled off the big plays when they needed them the
most. Bradshaw hit Stallworth with a long touchdown pass to put the Steelers ahead
24-19. The Rams had a chance to go ahead when Ferragamo drove the team well into
Steeler territory, but Lambert intercepted him to end the last serious Ram threat.
So there was no big upset here. But that was one more reason to keep watching the
game.

When Football Mattered - The NFL in The 1970s

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Dean T.

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