- Joined
- Jun 15, 2014
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Ah, yes, I remember this well. It was the Saturday before Christmas and I was in HS helping out in my father's jewelry store. The local games were blacked out back then, so we had the radio on listening to the game in the store. Shoppers would ask what the score was when they walked in and heard the radio.
Tough, tough defensive battle. Steelers trying to hang on with two Roy Gerela field goals. Raiders were tough, the Snake got loose and ran down the field for the 7-6 lead. I felt crushed.
My father said, game's over, turn it off, and I did. However, I thought, this was a great year and I want to stay with them until the very end, so I turned the game back on.
Right then, Franco is running down the field for the TD, Jack Fleming's call. Everyone in the store heard it and we all stopped and it was a collective, what just happened here? There was some long wait until the ref signaled TD, then celebration broke out in our store.
Well, you know the rest. I did not see what happened until we got home, and the win and how they won was all over the local news that night showing that replay.
I did not see the actual game replay until next morning when the local NBC station, WIIC back then, WPXI now, showed the game.
I have read two different accounts of the ref's phone call down through the years. Terry Bradshaw's book, Looking Deep, said the ref called the NBC booth to see if they had the replay as all they could go on is what they had on the field, which is the way the call went.
Madden's book, One Knee Equals Two Feet, said the ref called the Head of Stadium Security and asked if they had enough security personnel to escort the refs safely off the field as it wasn't a TD. The Security Head said something to the effect of, buddy you're on your own, and the ref threw his arms up and signaled for a TD.
Tough, tough defensive battle. Steelers trying to hang on with two Roy Gerela field goals. Raiders were tough, the Snake got loose and ran down the field for the 7-6 lead. I felt crushed.
My father said, game's over, turn it off, and I did. However, I thought, this was a great year and I want to stay with them until the very end, so I turned the game back on.
Right then, Franco is running down the field for the TD, Jack Fleming's call. Everyone in the store heard it and we all stopped and it was a collective, what just happened here? There was some long wait until the ref signaled TD, then celebration broke out in our store.
Well, you know the rest. I did not see what happened until we got home, and the win and how they won was all over the local news that night showing that replay.
I did not see the actual game replay until next morning when the local NBC station, WIIC back then, WPXI now, showed the game.
I have read two different accounts of the ref's phone call down through the years. Terry Bradshaw's book, Looking Deep, said the ref called the NBC booth to see if they had the replay as all they could go on is what they had on the field, which is the way the call went.
Madden's book, One Knee Equals Two Feet, said the ref called the Head of Stadium Security and asked if they had enough security personnel to escort the refs safely off the field as it wasn't a TD. The Security Head said something to the effect of, buddy you're on your own, and the ref threw his arms up and signaled for a TD.
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