Beyond Immaculate

The 10 greatest catches in Steelers history

To mark the 50th anniversary of the Immaculate Reception, let’s look back and remember 10 of the greatest catches in Steelers history:

Franco’s moment

Many great sports moments are commemorated in statues. Think Mario Lemieux’s “Le Magnifique” goal portrayed outside PPG Paints Arena. Or Bill Mazeroski’s World Series home run from 1960 captured in bronze outside PNC Park’s right field gate. Few are marked at the exact spot where they happened. The Immaculate Reception is one. Fans can retrace the legendary step Franco Harris took that December day in 1972 by visiting the plaza that celebrates it outside of Stage AE on the North Shore. Not just with a bronze cast of Harris’ foot in the ground, but with concrete markings of where the Three Rivers Stadium turf used to reside, allowing them to look up at their surroundings and imagine being in the middle of the chaotic scene that ensued when Harris scored to beat the Raiders and launch an iconic dynasty. That’s one way of knowing a catch was pretty good.

Super Bowl stretch

Ben Roethlisberger’s 7-yard touchdown pass to Santonio Holmes to win Super Bowl XLIII doesn’t yet have its own such marking on the Raymond James Stadium turf. But it probably should. Watching the play remains so satisfying nearly 15 years later. The throw, sneaking just out of the reach of the Arizona Cardinals defenders. The stretch by Holmes. The toe-tap that made the catch legal. The whole thing unfolded in about three seconds of real time. All of it needed to be perfect, with both players pushing the bounds of what race car drivers call the edge of control. And it was. The Immaculate Reception was more meaningful, given the context of the struggles that preceded it and the winning that followed it. But you won’t find a more aesthetically pleasing play in Steelers history that just so happened to have everything on the line.

Swann dive

The first thing children who didn’t live through Super Bowl X are taught about it is that Lynn Swann did ballet. And that’s the reason he was able to make the most graceful

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Steelers receiver Santonio Holmes pulls in the winning touchdown pass against the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII in at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette file Hines Ward scores a touchdown against the Seahawks on Feb. 5, 2006 in Super Bowl XL at Ford Field in Detroit. Ward’s touchdown reception off a pass from fellow receiver Antwaan Randle El.