Innholdsfortegnelse for Vol. 35 - Number 6 i Steelers Digest

“Franco was the heart and soul of our team,” said Joe Greene, a man who would know. “When Franco arrived, we became the Pittsburgh Steelers. Franco brought the Steelers out of the dark ages.” Franco Harris was a great football player. There also is ample evidence he was a better human being. “Anybody who came to him with a charitable interest, Franco always responded favorably,” said Joe Gordon, whose title during the 1970s was Public Relations Director but whose role in fact so much more. “The most significant thing was the Pittsburgh Promise. He has been the chairman of the Promise since it started. He gave significant seed money to it at the very beginning, and he has been active all the way through. It’s a really special program that…

Over the last four regular seasons, the Steelers have faced the Ravens eight times, and they are 5-3 in those games. Of the three games the Steelers lost, two came when they had to play Duck Hodges at quarterback, and the third came when their quarterback threw three interceptions. On Jan. 1, the Steelers faced the Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium with their playoff lives hanging by a thread, but Hodges wasn’t their quarterback, and the guy who was their quarterback didn’t turn the ball over even once. In fact, for the second straight week, in the second straight win-or-it’s-over game against an AFC opponent, Kenny Pickett directed a game-deciding scoring drive late in the fourth quarter and capped it off with a touchdown pass with less than a minute…

If it weren’t for Craig Hanneman, there is a good chance the Immaculate Reception never would have happened. And before you Google “Craig Hanneman,” just keep on reading. Hanneman was a rookie defensive lineman for the Steelers in 1972, a backup on a unit that was loaded with names like Joe Greene, Dwight White, L.C. Greenwood and Ernie Holmes. On Dec. 23, 1972, in the AFC Divisional Round game against the Oakland Raiders at Three Rivers Stadium, he was given an assignment. With the Steelers defense playing stingy, holding the Raiders scoreless for over 58 minutes of football and hanging on to a 6-0 lead, Hanneman was sent into the game with one job and one job only. Get pressure on the quarterback. “George Perles, who was the defensive line…

There are a lot of statistics and anecdotes and trends that can be used to characterize Steelers vs. Ravens, or used to characterize the sub-set of the overall rivalry by limiting it to Mike Tomlin vs. John Harbaugh. But there is one theme that overrides all others. Despite the records of the teams, the significance to each team, the venue, the spot on the schedule, the weather, or some combination of those, the final score will be close. During the Tomlin vs. Harbaugh era of Steelers-Ravens, 24 of the 31 meetings have ended with the margin of victory, or the margin of defeat, being eight points or fewer. In other words, a one-score game. The 32nd would be no different. When games are consistently this close, turnovers play an outsized…

In his 50 seasons working for the Steelers, Bob McCartney filmed hundreds of thousands of plays, from training camp, to preseason games, to regular season games, to postseason games, to every practice that led up to all of those games. And among those plays are the best of the best in Steelers history. Except one. One that was the best not just in Steelers history, but also in NFL history. The Immaculate Reception. It’s not because McCartney wasn’t filming the game. It’s because, well, quite simply, he ran out of film before the game ended. While McCartney had filmed practice on occasion for the team during the 1972 season, he never filmed a game because he also was working part-time helping in other departments, including the equipment and training rooms.…

In an area of New Orleans, removed from all the glitz and glamour of Bourbon Street and Mardi Gras revelers, is the Lower Ninth Ward. It’s an area that wasn’t on the radar until the summer of 2005, when Hurricane Katrina ripped through Louisiana and left the devastated Lower Ninth Ward under water after storm surges and levee breaches wiped away what little many residents had. For Steelers safety Arthur Maulet, it was just another gut punch in a difficult life growing up in the Lower Ninth Ward. “Tough neighborhood. Didn’t have much,” said Maulet. “I was the oldest of five, two brothers, two sisters. Just trying to survive. Welfare family. No mother. Mother on drugs. Dad not in my life. My grandfather took care of us when we were…

Steelers.com The Steelers retired the number of Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Franco Harris in a halftime ceremony during the Christmas Eve game against the Las Vegas Raiders. The ceremony was part of the planned festivities to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Immaculate Reception, the play that immortalized Harris and gave the Steelers the first playoff win in franchise history on Dec. 23, 1972. Nearly two dozen of his former teammates and other Steelers alumni braved the elements – the gametime temperature was 8 degrees – to honor Harris. Harris’ wife, Dana, and son, Dok, also were in attendance. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this. The big man was supposed to be here tonight beside me,” said Steelers President Art Rooney II. “I want to thank…

It is a play that will forever be a part of Steelers history. A play fans from all generations have talked about for years and will continue to talk about for years to come. A play that happened 50 years ago, on Saturday, Dec. 23, 1972. A play that was voted the Greatest Play in NFL history. A play that quite simply, was immaculate. The Steelers were hosting the Oakland Raiders in an AFC Divisional Round game in front of 50,327 fans at Three Rivers Stadium. Because of the blackout rules at the time, the game wasn’t televised within a 75-mile radius of Pittsburgh, which forced fans not lucky enough to have tickets to either listen to the radio broadcast or to watch the game. Those who packed Three Rivers…

It was halftime, and it wasn’t going to be a typical one. The temporary stage was assembled. The former players who wanted to be there in person to honor their teammate and friend even though it was bitterly cold and Christmas Eve at that, were seated in the folding chairs adjacent to the stage with their Terrible Towels at the ready. It was time. Time to do what everyone came to see, what was the highlight of the Steelers 2022 regular season schedule, what had been planned for months. Steelers President Art Rooney II stood on the stage behind the microphone and began. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this,” Rooney said. “The big man was supposed to be with us tonight.” “The big man” to whom Rooney referred was…

If Mitch Trubisky had played like this at the beginning of the regular season, he would still be the starting quarterback. And if the Steelers had played like this on Dec. 11 against the Ravens at Acrisure Stadium, they would still be in the thick of the playoff race. But as the saying goes every year at this time: “If ifs and buts were candy and nuts, everyone would have a Merry Christmas.” With the wouldas and couldas out of the way, a quick return to reality shows the Steelers are now 6-8 following their 24-16 victory over Carolina on Dec. 18 at Bank of America Stadium, a win that had Trubisky’s fingerprints all over it, a win that was keyed by a run defense that allowed 21 yards on…