Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

I always had questions about Franco catching the ball until someone on this forum posted the full 22 video of the play. Clear catch. And, after thinking about it, if it did hit the ground, Franco would have likely have had to slow up at least a bit to collect it had it hit the ground, but he appeared to be in full stride.

As for the rule, it's a bit before my time so I don't have full understanding of it -- not like an NFL fan during that year would comprehend it. Looks like it hit Tatum and then possibly Fuqua afterward. Would the fact that Tatum touched it at some point nullified that rule? Or wouldn't it have counted if it was ruled that it hit Tatum then Fuqua and then was caught by Harris? Either way, it was an incredibly heads-up play by Franco the rookie!

Lost in the shuffle is that the 1972 Raiders were a really good team. Plus, Stabler would have had the iconic play of the game if it wasn't for Franco. And then as someone pointed out, the late game was Staubach throwing 2 TDs in the last 2 mins. What a great day of football.

The Steelers also hosted the Raiders in the first game of the 1972 season. Ken Stabler started and was terrible. Threw three interceptions in the 1st half. Don Highsmith, starting at halfback, also fumbled twice. Plus Jerry DePoyster had two punts blocked. Somehow, all of this only netted the Steelers a 17-0 lead. Of course, at this point the Steelers hadn't even had a winning record in nine years or so. George Blanda came in and threw a touchdown pass to make it 17-7. Blanda couldn't do any more, though, and the Steelers widen their lead to 27-7.

Finally, the Raiders turn to Daryle Lamonica and he is on fire. Lamonica throws two TD passes in the fourth quarter and the Raiders score another, but the Steelers manage one more as well on a Bradshaw TD pass to win 34-28.

This would more or less be George Blanda's last gasp at playing QB in any sort of crunch time. Stabler would relieve Lamonica a couple of times when the Raiders were way down, but Lamonica started the rest of the year. Don Highsmith rarely took the field for the Raiders after this game, despite running for a TD in the fourth quarter.

Just a correction, the official who called the touchdown was back judge Adrian Burk (#63), yes the former Eagles QB who threw 7 TD passes in a game 18 years prior. The side judge was introduced until 1978.

In another twist of fate Burk was a member of the officiating crew for the 1969 Colts at Vikings Week #2 where Joe Kapp had his 7 TD pass game!!

As a Raiders fan back then (albeit a very young one) I was definitely NOT happy with that result but as others have noted I've never bought any of the Raiders' excuses about the loss. They lost "fair and square." However, I WILL state this: Phil Villapiano has long claimed that had Franco been "running the correct route" that he never would've been in a position to catch that ball. I have no idea if that's true or how Phil Villapiano would know which route Franco Harris was supposed to be running on that play. What I WILL say about that play is that, to me, that play was PURE luck (in favor of the Steelers). You run that play 1000X and I bet you that what actually happened on December 23, 1972 is the ONLY occurrence in which PIT scores a TD on that play.

JohnR wrote:

Lee Elder wrote: The matter of what player touched the ball before Harris grabbed it out of the air is different. No question about the force supplier. The ball bounced backwards the way it did because of the hit on the WR by the Raiders defender. But who did the ball actually hit? I think the ball struck both the defender and the WR at about the same time.

Didn't the 1972 rules state (as Madden has claimed) that a simultaneous touch (Tatum's shoulder & Frenchy's fingers) would be ruled the same as an illegal double touch? I think a simultaneous touch is quite possible from watching film of the impact

A simultaneous touch would have made the catch legal, so Madden is incorrect in his rules interpretation. If only Fuqua touched the ball, the catch was illegal. Otherwise it was a Pitt TD. Umpire Pat Harder and field judge Adrian Burk ruled it a double-touching (both Tatum & Fuqua) and therefore the pass was legal. Fred Swearingen 'confirmed the ruling on the field' with replay.

Since Fuqua was going more for the ball than Tatum, I felt it touched his arm, elbow or shoulder first but its hard to tell if Tatum never touched it ... He simply should have knocked it down, like McCree for the Chargers in the 2016/17 AFC playoff against NE ...

racepug wrote:As a Raiders fan back then (albeit a very young one) I was definitely NOT happy with that result but as others have noted I've never bought any of the Raiders' excuses about the loss. They lost "fair and square." However, I WILL state this: Phil Villapiano has long claimed that had Franco been "running the correct route" that he never would've been in a position to catch that ball. I have no idea if that's true or how Phil Villapiano would know which route Franco Harris was supposed to be running on that play. What I WILL say about that play is that, to me, that play was PURE luck (in favor of the Steelers). You run that play 1000X and I bet you that what actually happened on December 23, 1972 is the ONLY occurrence in which PIT scores a TD on that play.

Franco had no "correct route" to run. He originally stayed in to block but, when Bradshaw broke out of the pocket, Franco simply released and ran straight down the field. There was no
planning involved.

I believe that Tatum's hit showed how dumb that double touch rule was in the first place. I am glad that it was called the way it was. It took them too long to take that rule off of the rulebooks.

In 1977, the Broncos almost got screwed by that rule. With about seven minutes left, they had a 24-21 lead over the Steelers in the AFC Divisional Playoff when Haven Moses caught a TD. The score should have been 31-21, but they said that it hit off Jack Dolbin before it got to Moses (it didn't even come close). Denver was only able to get a FG, and they were lucky that Tom Jackson made a pick to help seal it, but that Steeler offense was capable of going down and winning that game. They were able to move the ball effectively that day against the Orange Crush.

Brian wolf wrote:if Tatum never touched it ... He simply should have knocked it down

I've thought that for years. If only "The Assassin" had tried to make a play on the ball instead of trying to knock Fuqua out. But I guess a tiger can't change its stripes. . .