PITTSBURGH — 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 back 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 play on this list. Early in that second of six Super Bowl championship wins for the Steelers, Terry Bradshaw dropped back to pass and lofted an impressive ball deep downfield in Swann's direction. There was contact with the Dallas defender, enough that today's receiver might have tried to draw a flag for pass interference. Instead, Swann maintained his concentration as the ball glanced off his finger tips at first. He dived. He juggled. And just in time, he secured the catch for a 53-yard gain that NFL Films has played on a loop for nearly half a century now, an acrobatic effort that would please just as much at the Benedum Center as it did at the Orange Bowl that day.
Wrong shoulder gone right
The NFL ranked John Stallworth's 73-yard touchdown against the Rams in Super Bowl XIV as one of the most clutch plays in NFL history back in 2016. The main reason was what it meant. The Steelers were actually trailing Los Angeles 19-17 early in the fourth quarter. Stallworth's catch put them ahead for good en route to their fourth Super Bowl title that capped the dynastic run of the 1970s. Don't underestimate the degree of difficulty, though. The throw was over the wrong shoulder. Not only did Stallworth adjust just to have a chance to make any play on the ball, he did so fast enough to catch the pass in stride and take it all the way into the south end zone of the Rose Bowl, to the disgust of the hometown fans. A raw-speed play for all time.
Trickery
It's easy to remember Hines Ward's 43-yard trick play touchdown catch from Antwaan Randle El in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XL against Seattle as a wide-open, sure thing. In fact, the opposing safety was closing fast, forcing Ward to make a perfect final break on the ball. The result was a game-sealing score that rivals Stallworth's as one of the most clutch catches in team history, given the stage. Ward was rightfully named MVP for it and his 123 total receiving yards on just five catches. And for a new generation of Steelers fans, it will go down as the memorable moment that broke a quarter-century drought between world titles.
Immaculate Extension
Antonio Brown's game-winning touchdown against the Ravens in 2016 wasn't so much a great catch as it was one of the great individual efforts in a clutch moment in team history. With 14 seconds left and the Steelers out of timeouts, Roethlisberger took a big risk by throwing to Brown, who was breaking over the middle. Had he been tackled short of the end zone, the clock would have run out on a 27-24 Baltimore victory. Instead, Brown overpowered not one, not two, but three Ravens defenders to just barely break the plane of the goal line for a touchdown. The Steelers won not only the game, but the division, a major reason they were able to reach the AFC championship for the first time since 2011.
Off the icy turf
Troy Polamalu made a habit of making some unbelievable interceptions, from his pick-six against Baltimore that clinched the 2008 AFC championship to a leaping one-handed grab against Tennessee in 2009. The one that stands out above the others was his diving one-handed snag in a November meeting with San Diego in 2008. Just two minutes into the game, Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers looked for receiver Vincent Jackson in the middle of the field, but the pass glanced off Jackson's hands. Even CBS commentator Jim Nantz assumed the ball had fluttered harmlessly to the turf. But Polamalu never gave up on the play, lifting the ball up out of a light snow and returning it to the Chargers 40-yard line before most of their players even knew what was going on. He might have scored on the play if not for a trip on the slippery turf. The Steelers went on to win by the only 11-10 score in NFL history, thanks to a James Harrison sack for a safety.
Flipping out
Martavis Bryant didn't leave nearly the legacy many Steelers fans hoped he would when he joined the team as a physically imposing presence in 2014. But he did author one indelible moment in one of the team's wildest playoff victories in January 2016. With the Steelers already leading 3-0 at Cincinnati in the wild-card round, Roethlisberger dropped back to pass and saw Bryant breaking open in the end zone. He threw toward the back pylon, and Bryant made a spectacular play to catch the ball, improbably completing it legally by getting two feet inbounds, then completing a full front flip as his body's momentum carried him toward the end zone wall. The result was a spectacular touchdown that put the Steelers up 10-0 on a night they'd need all the points they could get. They ended up winning, 18-16, after Vontaze Burfict's infamous hit on Brown set the table for the Steelers' go-ahead field goal with 14 seconds remaining.
Helmet head
It'd be an understatement to say Brown was known for his showmanship in Pittsburgh. Some of that was his penchant for dreaming up borderline ridiculous touchdown celebrations. But a lot of it was the pure highlight material he could produce. There was no better example than the one-handed catch he made by squeezing the ball to his helmet in a blowout win against Tennessee in 2017. Roethlisberger's 10-yard pass was thrown with enough loft that only Brown could have caught it in the corner of the end zone. Brown, however, had found himself hand fighting with the Titans defender and couldn't get his right hand around in time to secure the ball. No matter. His soft left-hand was all he needed to pin the ball against his dome for the score, earning a bow from teammate JuJu Smith-Schuster. Brown's time here ended poorly as his relationship with Roethlisberger soured. But plays like this one will make it hard to forget how memorable his good times here were.
Swann's opening act
The diving catch Swann made in Super Bowl X is the indelible one from that game, in large part because several camera angles caught it so beautifully. Earlier in the game, though, he produced another highlight that was nearly as impressive. Today's receivers have turned the sideline catch into an art form, but at the time, it was rare to see acrobatic toe-tapping grabs. Receivers of the day just weren't as athletic. Except for Swann. With the Steelers trailing 7-0 in the first quarter, he leapt impressively over Cowboys defender Mark Washington to pull the ball in, then got both of his feet down in bounds to complete a 32-yard pass play. The catch set up a touchdown by Randy Grossman that pulled the Steelers even. The diving catch followed, though the Steelers didn't get points on the drive. Then later, Swann scored on a 64-yard play that effectively sealed the game. He was rightfully named MVP on the day that most defined what would become a Hall of Fame career.
