Steelers celebrate 'Immaculate Reception' with another monument

• Sunday marks the 40th anniversary of the "Immaculate Reception"
• The Pittsburgh Steelers commemorated the date with a monument to the franchise's most famous victory
• Said Franco Harris: "It's hard to believe it's been 40 years"

PITTSBURGH -- Franco Harris was among a dozen former Pittsburgh Steelers celebrating Sunday's 40th anniversary of "The Immaculate Reception'' -- one of the most remembered plays in NFL history.

The 1972 play went down in NFL lore after Harris scooped Terry Bradshaw's deflected pass out of the air and ran it in to defeat the Oakland Raiders in the final seconds of a divisional playoff game. The play received its third monument Saturday in the exact location where it happened -- on the bones of since-razed Three Rivers Stadium.

The others monuments are life-size statues of Harris making his catch at Pittsburgh International Airport and at the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum.

"It just so happens that the 40th anniversary, Dec. 23, is the day that the Steelers are playing a football game, (so) it's being celebrated together by Steelers past and present,'' Harris said before the Steelers hosted the Cincinnati Bengals in a win-or-done game at Heinz Field. "When something brings a smile to peoples' faces, and when people talk about where they were and how they celebrated it with family -- their grandfathers and fathers -- that watching that play made them a Steelers fan forever, it really makes you feel great.

"What brings a smile to your face is we know all the great years that were to follow. It's hard to believe it's been 40 years.''

The Raiders led the Steelers 7-6, with 22 seconds left. As the pass spiraled toward Fuqua, defensive back Jack Tatum arrived. The collision caused the ball to richocet -- to Harris.

"Right place, right time,'' Harris said. "So many different things converged on that play. The Raiders are still crying over that play.''

Those John Madden-coached Raiders still insist Fuqua touched the football before Harris, which would have invalidated the winning score because, back then, the rules prohibited two offensive players from touching a pass consecutively.

"It was immaculate,'' Fuqua said. "I wore a T-shirt to the celebration yesterday that says, 'Immaculate Reception -- I'll never tell.''

Said Harris: "It's amazing how big this conspiracy theory has become,'' Harris said. "There's still a lot of questions that haven't been answered with the scope of it all. It seems like it keeps growing over time.

"There are new things I learn all the time. I didn't realize it took the refs 15 minutes (to review it). I did not know they didn't signal a touchdown. I thought they did signal a touchdown.''

Harris noted that his mother was home in New Jersey and knew only that Raiders quarterback Ken Stabler had scored a touchdown. So she pulled out all the spiritual stops, cranking up a recording of "Ave Maria'' on the family stereo.

"Both my brothers told me she turned on 'Ave Maria' because Kenny Stabler had scored,'' Harris said. "My mother never really watched football.''

So divine intervention was at work, right Franco?

"Hey, sometimes you need all the help you can get,'' the nine-time Pro Bowler said with a hearty laugh.

What about today's Steelers, who must beat the Bengals to keep alive Pittsburgh's flickering playoff hopes?

"I don't think they need a miracle,'' Harris said. "It's in their hands.''