MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Fans have spoken, and the Immaculate Reception is their pick for the greatest moment of the NFL’s first 100 years.
The NFL announced the results of fan voting Sunday before the Super Bowl, choosing the pass from Terry Bradshaw that Franco Harris scooped up at Three Rivers Stadium and took for a 60-yard touchdown in a 13-7 win over the Raiders in an AFC divisional game in December 1972.
Voting started in July with fans picking the best moment for each team, and the 32 moments were pared down before fans finally ranked the final four as part of the league’s centennial celebration.
The victory by the Immaculate Reception beat out the Helmet Catch by David Tyree off a pass from Eli Manning in the 2008 Super Bowl as the Giants denied New England both perfection at 19-0 and the Lombardi Trophy. Dwight Clark’s reception in the final minute of the 1981 NFC championship game at Candlestick Park best known as “The Catch” ranked third with Miami’s perfect season in 1972 fourth.
To celebrate the Immaculate Reception’s victory, Bradshaw and Harris, now both members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, teamed up Sunday to re-enact the moment Sunday during the Super Bowl pregame show on Fox.
“We put the ball in Terry’s hands, and the rest is history,” Harris said.
Bradshaw quipped: “You got to know how to make it bounce baby!”
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
