Valley News from West Lebanon, New Hampshire • 32

Valley News Sunday December 23 2012 Page D8 Sports 40 Years Later Still Debated Continued from Page 1 The Franco Harris (32) eludes a tackle by the Jimmy Warren on a 42-yard run to score the winning touchdown in an AFC playoff game on Dec 23 1972 40 years ago today came when a desperation pass to a teammate bounced off a Raiders defender The touchdown gave Pittsburgh a 13-7 win AP FILE PHOTOGRAPH HARRY CABLUCK touchdown but at least from the Pittsburgh viewpoint also seemed to point emphatically to the source of the miracle The score: 12-7 Pittsburgh The officials then began clearing the field for the extra point and Gerela took care of that loose end Stabler threw an incomplete pass on the Raiders' final possession Game over Pittsburgh 1 3-7 Afterward Swearingen Burk and Harder began a debate that has endured for the past 40 years did the ball hit Tatum or Fuqua? In the locker room after the game Tatum said all of the right things I was trying to do was knock the ball loose I touched the man but not the ball" Frenchy Fuqua makes part of his living on the banquet circuit today and is coy about what he knows Throughout his regular after-dinner speech he hints that he is the only person who knows tor sure what happened But lie ultimately ducks the question of who touched the ball As he mischievously told author Jim Wexell in 2006 "All I can tell you is that it was immaculate" doubt that Frenchy can remember anything after that hit by Russell said "because he suffered a concussion on the play" Hanratty agrees: "Frenchy is making a few bucks telling the story so if he can actually remember what happened he won't spill the beans anytime soon" Multiple examinations of the game film have failed to discern definitively if the ball bounced off Fuqua or Tatum Villapiano gave it a tiy "NFL Films sent me clips from six different angles but I couldn't tell" he recalled "Tatum clearly hit Frenchy early but no ref would call pass interference at that point in the game" On the other hand everyone has agreed that the game and the play changed the face of NFL football in Pittsburgh After 40 years of wandering in the wilderness the Steelers gained a glimpse of the Promised Land Two years later the team would win the first of it league-high six Super Bowl titles in eight appearances during the period 1975-2009 "It was the defining moment of the Steelers' organization" Pearson declares Russell agrees and Van Dyke calls the play "our destiny" Hanratty acknowledges the enormous impact on the franchise by what he called "the most memorable moment in sports" Harris likely speaks for everyone in Pittsburgh: "The play meant a lot to the team We were not losers anymore We could play against anybody and win" lackluster football in the NFL The Steelers joined the league in 1 933 and had enjoyed only six winning seasons before 1972 No playoff wins no championships no answered prayers But in one play a ray of sunshine parted the clouds and shone warmly on Bradshaw Fuqua and a rookie punning back named Franco Harris The Three Rivers worshipers rejoiced at the outcome and welcomed the reborn Steelers football team into their hearts The Preliminaries The dramatic game followed an 1 1-3 regular season in which the Steelers won the AFC Central Division the first title of any sort Coach Chuck Noll a future Hall of Famer had gathered a solid team by 1 972 The players' names would later become household words Joe Greene LC Greenwood Jack Ham and Mel Blount on defense plus Bradshaw Harris and Rocky Bleieron offense Pittsburgh hosted Oakland in the division playoff on a cold and snowy Sunday with the inner bound for the AFC championship game the follow ing week Defense dominated the game with the first score coming in the third quarter Roy Gerela kicked an 18-yard field goal to put the Steelers ahead 3-0 His were the first-ever playoff points by a Pittsburgh NFL team Early in the fourth quarter Raiders coach John Madden sent in quarterback Ken Stabler to replace an ailing Daryle Lamonica Initially Stabler didn't fare much better and soon lost a fumble hen flopped by Greenwood Pittsburgh exploited the turnover and Gerela scored again from 29 yards out with 3:50 remaining in the game Though the score was close the Steelers had been the better team to that point Pittsburgh led 6-0 Stabler moved the Raiders to the Pittsburgh 30 on the following possession Steelers linebacker Andy Russell described the next play "We called a blit but our right defensive end Craig Hanneman missed the call and he keep containment on that Stabler nicknamed "Snake" slithered to his left to dodge the blitzing linebackers Seeing no defensive end he slipped outside and ran down the sideline for a touchdow George Blanda made the extra point for a 7-6 Oakland lead The clock showed 1 1 3 The remarkable Blanda then 45 years old and still three yeais from retirement hit the Pittsburgh goalpost with his kickoff and the Steelers settled tor a touchback Russell stewed on the sideline Bradshaw quickly directed the Steelers to The ball arched in the direction of the oncoming Harris apparently guided by the hand of God "Franco caught it just above the ground" Hanratty continued no question that it was a clean catch" "It was unbelievable" Villapiano said last month on his cell phone Calling from outside his Jersey-shore home that Hurricane Sandy had hammered Villapiano described the moment: ball could have bounced a million places but it went right into his Harris barely broke stride as he caught the ball at the 42-yard line and then sprinted for the end zone Villapiano gave chase but McMakin took a swipe at legs from behind He stumbled and never had a chance Defensive back Jimmy Warren gave chase and lunged at Harris near the 10-yard line Franco stiff-armed Warren sending him to the ground Touchdown! The Debate Field judge Adrian Burk who trailed Harris signaled a touchdown but umpire Pat Harder so sure Harder Burk and referee Fred Swearingen huddled to discuss the proper call while the frenzied crowd spilled out of the stands onto the field The officials asked each other "Did the ball hit Tatum or Die rules at that time prohibited two receivers from touching the ball consecutively on the same play So if the pass had hit Fuqua's shoulder pads Swearingen would have to rule the pass incomplete Had it bounced off Tatum who had the momentum of a human spear at that point then Harris' catch was legal There was of course no arrangement then tor "ufton further review" With the game clock showing :05 left Swearingen jiushed his way through the mob to the baseball dugout Three Rivers hosted the Pirates as well He grabbed a phone and called the NFL's supervisor of officials Art McNally in the press box Dan Rooney son of Steelers owner Art Rooney overheard McNally's end of the conversation and recently described the situation to the Post-Gazette "McNally kept saying what you Rooney recounted Now the US ambassador to Ireland and chairman emeritus of the Steelers Rooney has scotched stories that Swearingen had either asked for mental replay or extra security if he ruled the pass incomplete No one used the video recorders in the TV broadcast booth to examine the play for benefit Swearingen ran back onto the field and held both arms aloft He not only signaled the Irons and I were supposed to play man-toman on the running backs and I had Harris" According to Villapiano one Raider shouted "No penalties This (expletive) game's over!" Bradshaw dropped back to his 30 but the pocket quickly collapsed Raiders defensive ends Tony Cline and Horace Jones chased Bradshaw to his right Defensive lineman Otis Sistrunk pushed into passing lane to Pearson so Terry ducked back to his left and saw Fuqua near the left hash marks With his famously strong arm Bradshaw snapped a throw to French) ho was at the Raider 34-yard line Tatum nicknamed "the Assassin" saw the ball and launched himself at Fuqua The ball and the two men collided violently and the ball caromed into the air "Jack being the aggressive player that lie was he went for the big Raiders safety George Atkinson told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette this fall "That was a big mistake tor When Harris saw the play going to Frenchy he moved in that direction "My Penn State training came into play" Harris said "Joe Paterno always hollered "Go to the Backup quarterback Terry Hanratty described what he saw next from the sideline "The ball popped into the air after hitting a shoulder pad It flew about seven or eight yards back toward the offense" their 40-yard line with completions to Harris and Fuqua But on his next three pass attempts Oakland safety Jack Tatum broke up two and another fell incomplete to Ron Shanklin Fourth and 10 ith 22 seconds left The Play On the sideline rookie wide receiver Barry Pearson who had not played a down that season still dutifully stayed near Lionel Taylor his position coach "Lionel told me to go in for Shanklin" Pearson said in a recent phone interv iew "Someone gave me the play to take in to Bradshaw The plan was to just get a first dow Asked if he was nervous Pearson chuckled stuck his tongue in his cheek and asked back "Why would I be nervous?" Harris recalled last week what his thought was as he entered the huddle: "This is our last play of the year" The play 66 circle option had ide receiver Al Young run an out to the left Fuqua a curl over the middle and tight end John McMakin a deep post Pearson the primary receiver was to run underneath McMakin about 1 2 yards deep and just past the big Steelers logo at midfield Harris stayed in to block Oakland countered with a prevent defense Raiders linebacker Phil Villapiano added more detail recently: "Another linebacker Gerald A Childhood Icon and a Christmas Gift Continued from Page Dl home At the bookstore counter I purchased the book titled My Life as the Most Outspoken earles and Hard-Hitting Man in Hockey My high spirits were first checked against the boards when the harried clerk gave me the number 95 representing my spot in the signing line Looking around there were indeed more than 100 people adoring jersey-wearing hockey stick-wielding fans jammed between book cases and waiting 7:05 pm Roenick walked out to greet his crowd For the first time I took stock of my wife's hero Profoundly tanned (he now lives in Arizona) his longish blond hair styled straight back Roenick opted for some ripped jeans on this special night He wore an untucked striped shirt ith the sleev es rolled upand the top couple buttons undone revealing at the base of his neck some sort of silver medallion I couldn't really see it well from the children's section His face was still handsome in its beat-up way sctrs and a Battened nose telling of past brawls on the ice Having retired in 2009 Roenick now provides television commentary when there's hockey being played and when he's not writing memoirs He reminded the crowd lie has lots of opinions on things eliciting a warm chuckle He spoke with some nostalgia about the good old days when players drank beer instead of "power shakes" and had no discernible ab muscles Players today are faster and stronger Roenick admitted By his tone it was hard to tell if he respected that about them but the very first sentence of his Ixxik's introduction provided a clue 2(X)7 I was watching Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby being interviewed and I wanted to reach through the television and grab Crosby by the (expletive) throat" Roenick begins Prompted by one fan he launched into a story about playing golf ith Michael Jordan just a couple of Chicago sports icons having it out on the fairways As Roenick remembered it he beat Jordan twice over 36 holes On the second 1 8 they drank "a bag of along the way wasn't drunk but he wasn't normal" Roenick said of Jordan) On whole he won about SI 000 from Jordan which Jordan won back in a subsequent bet later that same night when the Bulls won by double digits ith Jordan scoring 52 according to Roemck There was a lesson for the kids in there somewhere 7:55 pm The doubt began to creep in What if Kerry had outgrown her childhixxl crush? What if she preferred a pair of earrings for Christmas to a signed Roenick Still waiting my turn I snuffled around skimming novels eventually ending up in the poetry section the only place with any elbow room I read and re-read the back cover of his fxxik: "When you are an athlete and someone asks what you intend to do to win a game you need to CHALLENGE YOURSELF you need to SHOW SOME It was a difficult cover not to judge And yet I wanted Kerry to still care about this guy There was something very sweet about the thought of her watching the games with her dad a lifelong hcxjkey enthusiast pulling for the wild man Roenick Snow a Kerry Trotter a former Valley News reporter meets former Chicago Blackhawks star Jeremy Roenick at a fan event in 1992 COURTESY PHOTOGRAPH Besides Roenick was looking pretty gcxxl next to some of my own heroes As a lifelong fan of the Oakland I rooted heartily back in the late 1980s for the "Bash Brothers" Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire the sluggers who have long since been disgraced by the steroid scandal McGwire now quietly plies his trade as a hitting coach tor the Dodg- 6tai Body Therapy Physical Therapy Taking time to treat the whole person not just the injury ers downward trajectory has been more spectacular with stops along the way including reality TV shows and disastrous mixed martial arts contests He holds forth on Twitter where he has more than 485JXX) followers casually tossing out gems like: "Aliens need love too" 8:45 pm When I finally made it to Roenick it was a joyless exchange We were both tired "My a big I said flatly He grunted something in reply and signed: "Kerry Best wishes (signature)" He was nice enough though We shook hands and I trudged out the dixir with my Christmas gift I figure Kerry will understand the gesture These heroes of ours capture our young imaginations They skate magnificently slashing through defenses scoring goals like the script was written just for them They swing effortlessly for the fences unhitched unhinged as graceful as birds taking Bight Should they grow old and lixilish and altogether human in front of our very eyes well that's all just part ot this journey we take together As I waited lor the train I thought I saw Roenick walking down the street freed from the masses looking like any other guy in the pale glow of the streetlamps But maybe I was just seeing things wishing that James Pratson DPT let injuries keep your athlete on the bench this season Bulk Pro Tailgate Spreaders Perfect for the homeowners who maintain their own driveways Install on your truck SUV tractor or UV 0 Financing for 24 months Other financing plans also available See dealer for details them with help from Total Body 1 herapy combining dry needling with traditional physical therapy we are able to address acute injuries to reduce pain restore muscle length and improve biomechanics in order to keep an acute injury from becoming a chronic lames Pratson dpt Equipment Behind McDonald's 10 Interchange Drive West Lebanon NH 603-298-5703 wwwjoes-equipmentcom Monday-Friday 7am 5pm Saturday 7am Noon TotalBodyTherapycomJamesPratson lor him Greff and Kerry Trotter are hath former reporters for the Valley News They now live on Chicago's North Shore with their daughter June TotalBodyTherapycomJamesPratson 37 Spencer Street Lebanon NH 03766 6034480048 nmi.