PITTSBURGH (AP) — It may not happen again for a thousand Christmases the way it happened Saturday for Franco Harris and the Pittsburgh Steelers against the Oakland Raiders under the dark skies in Three Rivers Stadium.
Harris, the Steelers' own black Italian Santa Claus, caught a fluttering Steeler pass that Oakland defender Jack Tatum had batted away and danced 42 yards for a touchdown to give Pittsburgh an incredible 13-7 National Football League playoff victory.
The last-gasp effort by Pittsburgh's Central Division champions to leapfrog the Steelers into the American Conference finals came on fourth down play with five seconds left on the clock.