1979 Steelers onside kicks

[Bryan]

I've been watching all of the 1979 Steelers games and came across something kind of funny. In week 5 against the Eagles, the Steelers score a TD with 1:11 left to bring the score to 17-14 Eagles. Matt Bahr dribbles the ball in front of him on the ensuing kickoff...it bounces 10 yards and then Bahr falls on the ball. The refs award the ball to Pittsburgh, the Eagle players are complaining that the ball didn't go 10 yards, the refs spot the ball at the 46....but then, the ref announces that the Steelers are penalized for illegal procedure because they touched the ball before it went 10 yards...HUH? Very weird considering the refs had already signaled the ball to Pittsburgh, there is no instant replay, and...Bahr didn't touch the ball until after it had crossed the 45 and fell on the ball at the 46. Terrible call.

But then late in the year, the Steelers play the Oilers and score a late TD to make it 20-17 Oilers. The Steelers do another onside kick, this time kicking it hard to the sideline. Larry Anderson grabs the ball on the bounce to recover for the Steelers. But wait...the officials again call a penalty on the Steelers for illegal touching, but when Anderson grabbed the ball his entire body was past the 45-yard line. It wasn't even close. Just incredible stuff.

[7DnBrnc53]

I've been watching all of the 1979 Steelers games and came across something kind of funny. In week 5 against the Eagles, the Steelers score a TD with 1:11 left to bring the score to 17-14 Eagles. Matt Bahr dribbles the ball in front of him on the ensuing kickoff...it bounces 10 yards and then Bahr falls on the ball. The refs award the ball to Pittsburgh, the Eagle players are complaining that the ball didn't go 10 yards, the refs spot the ball at the 46....but then, the ref announces that the Steelers are penalized for illegal procedure because they touched the ball before it went 10 yards...HUH? Very weird considering the refs had already signaled the ball to Pittsburgh, there is no instant replay, and...Bahr didn't touch the ball until after it had crossed the 45 and fell on the ball at the 46. Terrible call.

But then late in the year, the Steelers play the Oilers and score a late TD to make it 20-17 Oilers. The Steelers do another onside kick, this time kicking it hard to the sideline. Larry Anderson grabs the ball on the bounce to recover for the Steelers. But wait...the officials again call a penalty on the Steelers for illegal touching, but when Anderson grabbed the ball his entire body was past the 45-yard line. It wasn't even close. Just incredible stuff.

I don't know what happened in Houston, but in Philly, my guess is that the officials were told by the league to make calls that benefited the Eagles. The 1979 WC game and the interference that should have been called on Roynell Young the next year against Dallas are other examples.

[rhickok1109]

I've been watching all of the 1979 Steelers games and came across something kind of funny. In week 5 against the Eagles, the Steelers score a TD with 1:11 left to bring the score to 17-14 Eagles. Matt Bahr dribbles the ball in front of him on the ensuing kickoff...it bounces 10 yards and then Bahr falls on the ball. The refs award the ball to Pittsburgh, the Eagle players are complaining that the ball didn't go 10 yards, the refs spot the ball at the 46....but then, the ref announces that the Steelers are penalized for illegal procedure because they touched the ball before it went 10 yards...HUH? Very weird considering the refs had already signaled the ball to Pittsburgh, there is no instant replay, and...Bahr didn't touch the ball until after it had crossed the 45 and fell on the ball at the 46. Terrible call.

But then late in the year, the Steelers play the Oilers and score a late TD to make it 20-17 Oilers. The Steelers do another onside kick, this time kicking it hard to the sideline. Larry Anderson grabs the ball on the bounce to recover for the Steelers. But wait...the officials again call a penalty on the Steelers for illegal touching, but when Anderson grabbed the ball his entire body was past the 45-yard line. It wasn't even close. Just incredible stuff.

I don't know what happened in Houston, but in Philly, my guess is that the officials were told by the league to make calls that benefited the Eagles. The 1979 WC game and the interference that should have been called on Roynell Young the next year against Dallas are other examples.

The notion that the league tells officials how to make their calls belongs to frustrated gamblers, not football historians.

[Brian wolf]

Youre right Ralph, but suspicious officiating and NFL history have been unfortunate bedmates ...

[rhickok1109]

Youre right Ralph, but suspicious officiating and NFL history have been unfortunate bedmates ...

Here's an idea for anyone who wants to be a real football historian instead of just another conspiracy theorist, on the same level as members of the Flat Earth Society.
Every year, several NFL officials retire. At a guess, it's about five a year, so there should be well over 100 former officials available for interviewing.
The NFL never announces why they retired; most probably retire voluntarily but some "retire" simply because the league chooses not to rehire them.
(Big hint: If an official "retires" after not being given any playoff assignments, it's very likely that the retirement was involuntary.)
Now interview as many of these former officials as you can, with a particular emphasis on those who were probably forced into retirement, since they're likely to be resentful toward the NFL and therefore more willing to be open about any questionable activities.
Ask each interviewee if a crew that he worked on was ever told to favor a specific team in a game. If you get an affirmative answer, dig for the details.
What game or games exactly?
What team was to be favored?
How and when were the instructions passed down? Did they come from the commissioner himself or from one of the commissioner's subordinates? Was the crew chief alone informed, with instructions to pass it on to other members of the crew or was each crew member informed individually? How was it done, by phone, letter, email? Does any physical evidence exist?
Armed with this information, get in touch with other officials who worked with your informant to see if you can get any corroboration.
Oh, by the way...if you can't find any evidence of such tampering, be sure to report that, too.

[GameBeforeTheMoney]

I've been watching all of the 1979 Steelers games and came across something kind of funny. In week 5 against the Eagles, the Steelers score a TD with 1:11 left to bring the score to 17-14 Eagles. Matt Bahr dribbles the ball in front of him on the ensuing kickoff...it bounces 10 yards and then Bahr falls on the ball. The refs award the ball to Pittsburgh, the Eagle players are complaining that the ball didn't go 10 yards, the refs spot the ball at the 46....but then, the ref announces that the Steelers are penalized for illegal procedure because they touched the ball before it went 10 yards...HUH? Very weird considering the refs had already signaled the ball to Pittsburgh, there is no instant replay, and...Bahr didn't touch the ball until after it had crossed the 45 and fell on the ball at the 46. Terrible call.

But then late in the year, the Steelers play the Oilers and score a late TD to make it 20-17 Oilers. The Steelers do another onside kick, this time kicking it hard to the sideline. Larry Anderson grabs the ball on the bounce to recover for the Steelers. But wait...the officials again call a penalty on the Steelers for illegal touching, but when Anderson grabbed the ball his entire body was past the 45-yard line. It wasn't even close. Just incredible stuff.

I know exactly that onside kick against the Oilers you've mentioned. I've watched it and rewatched it I don't know how many times. IMHO, a player or two might have gotten between the sideline ref and the ball and the ref couldn't really see where the ball was touched. He had to make a call one way or another. I'm interested to learn if you have a chance to watch it again - because it seems like the official on the sideline couldn't see where the ball was touched. That's what I've always thought at least. They didn't have replay of course - I think it likely would have been overturned by replay.

That was a great game - the Steelers almost made an amazing comeback. That Lynn Swann TD near the end was pretty fantastic. Overall, a really good game for both teams. Houston got that big 4th down stop early.

[Bryan]

I know exactly that onside kick against the Oilers you've mentioned. I've watched it and rewatched it I don't know how many times. IMHO, a player or two might have gotten between the sideline ref and the ball and the ref couldn't really see where the ball was touched. He had to make a call one way or another. I'm interested to learn if you have a chance to watch it again - because it seems like the official on the sideline couldn't see where the ball was touched. That's what I've always thought at least. They didn't have replay of course - I think it likely would have been overturned by replay.

The official was on the 50. Anderson doesn't have to turn sideways to get the ball...the ball is bouncing in front of him and he gets it on the run. When Anderson catches the ball, his whole body is past the official who is standing on the 50 yard line. The only possible way for the official to think that Anderson touched the ball early is if Anderson somehow had to reach back for the football...not only did Anderson not 'reach back' for the ball, he had to run forward to catch up to the ball. The announcers assumed that Pittsburgh had recovered because it was clear in real time. I'm not sure what the official thought he was to award the ball to Houston...it was a pretty simple play. If the official doesn't see 'premature touching', I'm not sure how an official can call 'premature touching'. That's NBA-level stupidity, IMO.

[7DnBrnc53]

Youre right Ralph, but suspicious officiating and NFL history have been unfortunate bedmates ...

Here's an idea for anyone who wants to be a real football historian instead of just another conspiracy theorist, on the same level as members of the Flat Earth Society.
Every year, several NFL officials retire. At a guess, it's about five a year, so there should be well over 100 former officials available for interviewing.
The NFL never announces why they retired; most probably retire voluntarily but some "retire" simply because the league chooses not to rehire them.
(Big hint: If an official "retires" after not being given any playoff assignments, it's very likely that the retirement was involuntary.)
Now interview as many of these former officials as you can, with a particular emphasis on those who were probably forced into retirement, since they're likely to be resentful toward the NFL and therefore more willing to be open about any questionable activities.
Ask each interviewee if a crew that he worked on was ever told to favor a specific team in a game. If you get an affirmative answer, dig for the details.
What game or games exactly?
What team was to be favored?
How and when were the instructions passed down? Did they come from the commissioner himself or from one of the commissioner's subordinates? Was the crew chief alone informed, with instructions to pass it on to other members of the crew or was each crew member informed individually? How was it done, by phone, letter, email? Does any physical evidence exist?
Armed with this information, get in touch with other officials who worked with your informant to see if you can get any corroboration.
Oh, by the way...if you can't find any evidence of such tampering, be sure to report that, too.

I don't have to do that. I just have to see what happens on the field. Calls like what the 79-80 Eagles got (and like what happened in New Orleans five years ago) are enough to go on. And, on top of that, you just saw about 20 years of the league favoring a certain team and a certain QB so much that his offensive line hardly ever got called for holding.

[Brian wolf]

Ralph already knows officials would never admit to anything, whether about the league or gamblers but all a historian can do is print whats in the books ... Anyone watching though, knows better. An owner was accused by the coach--who could still get punished--for paying to tank games. We havent heard a peep since ...

[7DnBrnc53]

Ralph already knows officials would never admit to anything, whether about the league or gamblers but all a historian can do is print whats in the books ... Anyone watching though, knows better. An owner was accused by the coach--who could still get punished--for paying to tank games. We havent heard a peep since ...

There was an interesting argument on this site over a decade ago between some people on this board and a Brian Tuohy (author of The Fix is in):

https://www.profootballresearchers.com/ ... f=5&t=2602