The Legacy of the 'Immaculate Reception'
Moles, Weasels, and Trees meticulously documented the greatest play in NFL history. So did Harry Cabluck.
Hours before his death, Pittsburgh Steelers running back Franco Harris shared the advice that was instrumental in making the greatest play in NFL history.
Always go to the ball.
On December 23, 1972, with seconds left in the game, Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw fired a bullet to “Frenchy” Fuqua that ricocheted off a Raiders defender and miraculously fell into the hands of Franco Harris, who scooped up the ball and ran 40 yards for the game-winning touchdown.
Dubbed the “Immaculate Reception” by a fan celebrating the Steelers victory at a bar after the game, the play was most-famously immortalized by NFL Films cinematographer Ernie Ernst. This epic clip, the Holy Grail of NFL Films history, will give you chills.
Ernst lived by Franco Harris’ mantra — always go to the ball — capturing “Jesus Christ shots” with his Photo-Sonics high-speed motion picture camera and 600mm lens. On that historic day, Ernst was a Mole for NFL Films, shooting from ground level. Weasels worked the crowd and Trees shot from the stands — terms coined by NFL Films’ creative genius Steve Sabol.
“Hey kid, I think I got something special there,” Ernst said to his assistant, Hank McElwee, after the play.
An unidentified Tree captured this forensic-style black and white clip, which shows how the bizarre play unfolded. Ernst and McElwee can be seen in the corner of the end zone next to the guy in the white lab coat.
Another well-known clip was shot by NFL Films’ Jay Gerber. Pause at :20 and you’ll see Ernst’s sticks in the top of the frame.
Gerber also captured this footage of the ensuing mayhem in the end zone. See the intrepid photographer swooping in on the left? That’s the one and only Harry Cabluck.
Cabluck, then a staff photographer for the Associated Press, was shooting from the end zone near Ernst, positioned closer to the goal post. And the guy next to Cabluck wearing the red boots? That’s Cabluck’s film runner, who “had brought the bag of rangefinder cameras, short lenses and strobe at end of game…for jubo reax,” Cabluck told me. “If you ever learn his name…please advise.” Anyone know?
Cabluck’s photos are, without compare, the most iconic from the “Immaculate Reception.”
In 2017, David Davis wrote a beautifully-detailed story for Deadspin about Cabluck. “When Bradshaw launched the ball, I just held down the button figuring, ‘what the hell,’” Cabluck told Davis. “And, lo and behold, the ball bounced around and Franco came up with the ball and ran right at me. The camera was running almost like a movie camera.”
There’s a statue, a monument, a trading card, a Christmas ornament, a beer can, a Bobblehead, even a box of Wheaties that memorialize the extraordinary play and Cabluck’s photos.
This is Cabluck’s photo immortalized by The Breakfast of Champions. “Colorized,” Cabluck mentioned to me.
However, Cabluck has never been credited for two of the most important and rarely-seen photos of the “Immaculate Reception.” This image shows Raiders safety Jack Tatum leveling Fuqua, with Harris eyeing the ball on the left, ready to pounce.
This photo by Cabluck, while focused on referee Fred Swearingen, is the only still of Harris scooping up the ball.
“All I did was follow the football and try to keep it in focus,” Cabluck told NBC on the 50th anniversary of the “Immaculate Reception.” Cabluck had a similarly humble response when discussing his other iconic sports photo — Carlton Fisk’s game-winning walk-off homer in the 1975 World Series.
“I was in center field because I was told to be there and point a camera at the plate,” Cabluck wrote in The Players’ Tribune. “Simple as that.”
Hardly.
Far fewer photographers worked games in that era — a fraction of what can be seen on the bustling sidelines today — so only a couple others caught the “Immaculate Reception.” Freelancer Dick Raphael was on the opposite side of the play and photographed the moment Fuqua got rocked.
Raphael was a split-second late, missing the moment when Harris made the shoestring catch.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette had several photographers working the game, including Donald J. Stetzer who made this wondrous photo of Harris running towards the end zone. Notice the timing — all the players, and one fan, are floating.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette published a detailed, illustrated breakdown of the “Miracle” play with Stetzer’s photos on the cover of their sports section December 24, 1972.
Sports Illustrated legend Neil Leifer was at the game but missed the “Immaculate Reception.” The Steelers’ historic victory didn’t make the cover — it was a dark week at SI — but in 2016 they made up for the lapse and created a throwback cover to honor the moment. SI published a color photo by Leifer of Harris from the game, but not from the famous play.
There’s one other photo that captured the moment the ball bounced off Tatum. I can’t figure out who shot this one, neither can Cabluck. Anyone know?
Sure, it’s back-focused, but that adds to the mystery. Is this the Zapruder film of the “Immaculate Reception,” proving Fuqua didn’t touch the ball? Or proof that he did? If the “Immaculate Reception” happened today, we’d know for sure. Dozens of angles replayed on giant screens inside the stadium and streamed around the world would leave little room for doubt.
Modern sports photography is a great metaphor for the ubiquity of images today.
Consider “The Catch That Broke the Internet” by New York Giants receiver Odell Beckham Jr. on November 23, 2014. At least ten still photographers captured Beckham’s career-defining, backwards-diving, one-handed touchdown catch. Getty Images photographer Al Bello won a World Press Photo award for his version — my personal favorite. It’s one of the few where you can see Beckham's eyes.
“I remember thinking to stay on the receiver, don’t shake, be steady, keep focus, keep frame,” Bello recalled to The New York Times. “As they went up for the ball I pressed the shutter on the camera and kept firing as they fell to the floor.”
Viral, for sure. Iconic? Perhaps. The jersey Beckham was wearing when he made the catch is already on display at the Pro Football Hall of Fame but Bello’s photo is not — they went with this version by Julio Cortez for the AP, taken just before Bello’s. The timing is sublime, even Carr’s hand isn’t touching the ground.
Technology has certainly leveled the playing field — eye control autofocus and 30 frames per second didn’t exist in 1972. Few photographers back then would have made a perfect photo of Beckham's circus catch. Even fewer would have captured this…
Kansas City Star photographer Emily Curiel nailed the moment Patrick Mahomes’ helmet shattered after a blistering hit during the Chiefs’ game against the Miami Dolphins on January 13, 2024, one of the coldest in NFL history.
“When the play was over, I didn’t think there was anything extraordinary about it other than it was a good scramble by Mahomes,” Curiel wrote in the Star after her photo went viral.
Curiel’s full-frame, taken with a Nikon Z9 and 400/2.8 lens, is extraordinary, and serendipitous.
There are at least seven other versions of Mahomes’ exploding helmet. Miami Dolphins photographer Brennan Asplen shot this sequence, looser than Curiel’s and from further to the left. This would’ve made a hell of an SI cover (RIP).
I appreciate the added context: Mahomes surrounded by Dolphin defenders, DeShon Elliott’s tattoos, the beads of sweat (frost?) kicking into the air from the hit.
Getty Images photographer Jamie Squire captured the moment after the helmet cracked, but before the splintered piece flew in the air. Mahomes’ grip on the football is a sweet touch that’s missing from the others.
Chiefs photographer, Kyle Rivas, has the hit from a different angle, slightly elevated. The background is clean and green, love the shadow from the shattered helmet. I guess some people thought the crack resembled the grim reaper?
Another Chiefs photographer, Mikayla Schmidt, shot this version of Mahomes getting gang-tackled, the most loosely composed of the group. The broken helmet shard is a subtle surprise, blending in with the background.
Mahomes is destined for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. So is his broken helmet. But which one of these photos will be most remembered? Which will become iconic?
Time will tell, ask Harry Cabluck.
Nice! Things are definitely MUCH easier with technological advancements as you described. But you still need to anticipate the moment and be there. I think the photographs from Sports Illustrated got me thinking about photography. I have very few possessions from my childhood but an old scrapbook of SI photos is one of them. I just could never let it go. Thanks for posting!!!
Does the fact the Giants lost the game OBJ made the catch lessen the moment? Good story, I can't see an AP Photo on a Wheaties box today.