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The Pittsburgh Steelers and St. Louis Rams clash on this week’s National Football League schedule, which brings back Throwback Thursday memories of a Super Bowl played following the 1979 season between these two franchises. They entered the big game with totally different credentials – the Steelers had already won 3 titles in the decade and were a dominant franchise, while the Rams somehow snuck into the championship game after winning the NFC West title with a mediocre 9-7 record. Their coach, Ray Malavasi, had become the head man almost by accident the previous season when George Allen, who always wanted full control of all football operations but had to share that control with GM Don Klosterman, was abruptly dismissed after balking about the situation. The Steelers entered the game as heavy favorites, having dominated the ’70s with their “Steel Curtain” defense, which was expected to have their way with young L.A. quarterback Vince Ferragamo, who was only in his third season in the NFL and was forced into the starting role early in the season due to an injury to Pat Haden. Ferragamo’s statistics were very pedestrian, as he threw twice as many interceptions (10) as touchdown passes (5) after taking over as starter. Somehow, however, the Rams managed to win 6 of his last 7 starts to reach the Super Bowl. Still, conventional wisdom said he would be no match for Pittsburgh’s Terry Bradshaw, who at that point had 3 Super Bowl wins under his belt. The game didn’t quite go according to plan. The plucky Rams built a surprising 13-10 halftime lead, and the Steeler coaches laid into their players at halftime, feeling they were taking the Rams too lightly. Early in the third quarter, Bradshaw gave a preview of things to come by hooking up with Lynn Swann on a 47 yard scoring pass to give the Steelers the lead. The Rams came right back and scored on a play that was popular in the era – a halfback option pass – from Lawrence McCutcheon to Ron Smith. Pittsburgh then proceeded to move the ball on successive drives into Ram territory, only to have Bradshaw throw interceptions to keep the Rams in the lead. It began to appear as if the impossible were possible, that the overwhelming underdogs from Los Angeles could really win this game. It was then that Bradshaw cemented his legend as a true winner. He had been somewhat of an afterthought in the Steelers’ first 3 Super Bowl wins, as most of the credit for the team’s domination went to the defense. But in this game, despite having thrown 3 picks to this point, the “Blonde Bomber”, even with his star receiver, Swann now sidelined by injury, hooked up with another future Hall of Famer, John Stallworth, on a pair of stunning long passes – the first a 47 yard scoring throw, and the second another long toss to set up a 1 yard TD run by Franco Harris to put the Steelers up 31-19, which would turn out to be the final score. The win, the Steelers’ fourth of the decade, cemented Pittsburgh as the “Team of the 70s”, but it was their last hurrah, at least for this particular group. Players from the dynasty club’s roster began to retire in the next few years, including Rocky Bleier and the guy who was the face of the franchise, “Mean Joe” Greene.  

Steeler QB Terry Bradshaw unleashes a bomb

Despite losing, the Rams received a great deal of respect for pushing a club that was an NFL dynasty at the time to the brink of disaster before finally succumbing. The team’s defense matched the Steel Curtain blow for blow for most of the game, led by outstanding, hard-nosed players like linebacker Jack “Hacksaw” Reynolds, defensive end Fred Dryer, safety Nolan Cromwell and especially the other defensive end, Jack Youngblood, who played the game on a broken leg in an effort for the ages. Reaching the Super Bowl was also a career highlight for coach Malavasi, who was fired a few years later and died in 1987 at the age of 57.

The Rams’ Jack Youngblood (85) became a legend in Super Bowl XIV (photo courtesy of Spokeo.com)

We didn’t go very far back in NFL history for this week’s Throwback Thursday feature game. The Seattle Seahawks and Green Bay Packers will meet in Lambeau Field, and that matchup is a reminder of the game played early in the 2012 season, when the regular officials were locked out in a labor dispute with the league and replacement officials, who were horrendous during the preseason of that year, wound up refereeing games to open the regular season. The use of these “amateur” refs for regular games was extremely controversial, and that controversy came to a head in this game. The contest was a nationally televised Monday Night Football game, which drew even more of a spotlight on what turned out to be a disputed ending. It was a defensive battle, with the Packers clinging to a 12-7 lead as Seattle drove down toward a possible winning touchdown. On the game’s final play, Seahawk quarterback Russell Wilson launched a “Hail Mary” throw into the end zone, and receiver Golden Tate and Packer defender M.D. Jennings both jumped up to try to catch it. The two both maintained possession as they crashed to the ground, and it appeared that Jennings had intercepted the pass. Two of the referees conferred briefly, then simultaneously gave different signals – one signaling touchdown and the other a touchback, which would have been the call that resulted from the interception. The head official went to the replay booth to settle the situation. In the meantime, television replays clearly showed Tate shoving the Green Bay defender with both hands as the ball arrived, an obvious offensive pass interference penalty that all the officials missed. As the Monday Night analyst, Jon Gruden, railed against the missed call and said he felt the ball had been intercepted, the replay ref returned and called the play a touchdown, giving the Seahawks a controversial win in a game that would instantly be dubbed the “Fail Mary” game, a takeoff on the old “Hail Mary” play. Other media pundits began calling the final play the “Inaccurate Reception”, a comical version of Franco Harris’ famous “Immaculate Reception” play of yesteryear. Being in the social media age, the internet exploded with negative comments about the outcome, and not just from Green Bay’s disgruntled fan base. President Obama called the ending “terrible” and called on the NFL to settle the lockout. Packer quarterback Aaron Rodgers took another approach, he apologized to the fans, commenting that the NFL is a multi-billion dollar industry and that the games were not being supported by competent, professional officiating by using the replacements, therefore diluting the quality of play. Incidentally, the amateur refs, in this game, called a total of 24 penalties for 245 yards, more than Seattle’s 238 total yards gained for the entire game. One positive did come out of this mess. Commissioner Roger Goodell and the owners ended the referee lockout two days after the game. The NFL’s full-time officials are often guilty of “over-officiating” and taking advantage of all the camera face time to make themselves “celebrities”, but on this night the league learned their true value in the long run.

The “Fail Mary” play ending the game and the replacement officials’ term