It's a 'Burgh-Thing...I Hope You'll Understand

Fresh off the tails of my blog last week about pearly-white helmets, we now have a fast turn-around into our next entry...and it wasn't planned at all.

I received an email from Leo Strawn alerting me to something we've overlooked up until this point. After reading Leo's information and doing a quick bit of research, I've been able to lay down some parameters and make the required alterations.

Any football fan will recognize the shapes seen here, but very few will know the geometric name for the 3 figures located on the right side of Steelers' helmets. They are called hypocycloids. The design comes from the Pittsburgh steel industry, most notably U.S. Steel, based in the Pittsburgh area.

You will notice that the three hypocycloids are yellow, red, and blue. But how many of you knew that wasn't always the case?

The year was 1962. The Steelers had been wearing plain yellow helmets since making the move from leather to plastic in 1950. A black center stripe was added in 1953. They even added side numbers to the helmet off-and-on beginning in 1957.

On November 18, 1962, in the middle of their season for a home game against the Washington Redskins, the Steelers added a large round logo to the right side of their helmets and it looked like this...

1962

An additional little nugget of information was dropped by our friend Leo. The yellow, orange, and blue colors you see here each have a significance with the steel industry. Yellow represents the burning coal, orange signifies the color of iron ore, and blue is the color for the scrap steel. 

Now, we know that this photo can only be from 1962. Why? Because for the annual Bert Bell Playoff Bowl (a.k.a. the "Second Place Bowl" or the "Loser's Bowl") which pitted the season's divisional runners-up against each other in Miami, the Steelers switched things up a bit and wore black-shelled helmets with the same logo on it. Thus was birthed the iconic look the the Steelers still use to this day. The Steelers never wore yellow helmets again (until they were worn with the 2007-11 Steeler throwback uniforms).

1/6/63 - PITT v DET @ Miami, FL

So what happened to the orange? Why are the Steelers' helmets yellow, red, and blue? I set out to uncover what happened.

The original logo was rather large, said "Steel" and had yellow, orange, and blue hypocycloids as we've already established. The following year, 1963, the logo was altered to include the team name "Steelers" instead of "Steel" in a very thin font. The size of the logo became a little smaller, but the three colors remained the same. The logo remained unchanged from 1963-67.

10/3/65 - NYG @ PITT

12/18/66 - PITT @ ATL

In 1968, the logo shrunk a little more. The orange hypocycloid was colored a bit closer towards red. The "Steelers" word mark continued to be in thin lettering. This style continued through 1977.

9/15/68 - NYG @ PITT

1970 - Terry Bradshaw & Terry Hanratty

1977 - Terry Bradshaw

In 1978, the middle hypocycloid moved even further toward red on the color spectrum. The logo size shrunk just a bit more and the "Steelers" wordmark remained in the same thin font. This version of the helmet logo remained unchanged through 1990.

1978 - Jack Lambert

1989 - Mike Mularky

1990 - Rod Woodson

One last, small change occurred in 1991. No, it wasn't anything to do with the hypocycloids. The Steelers made the wordmark's font bolder.

1991 - Donald Evans

1994 - Neil O'Donnell

I'm sorry to say that I have to admit I'd seen before the 1962 photo above with the yellow helmet and its logo. I saw it. I just never noticed it. Huge thank you again to Leo Strawn for pointing out this little bit of GUD-clean-up that needed tending.

Bill Schaefer

GUD

Steelers vs GUD, Part II - BucTracker Weighs In

Further Evidence Supports The GUD Over The Steel City Gridders
by Rob Holecko

Yesterday we told you how the Steelers' new "1934" throwbacks which were unveiled by the organization may not have been actually wore on the field by the Pirates during that season.  Today we received further research from GUD's friend and frequent contributer, the BucTracker himself, Jerry Wolper.  Jerry sent us some photos from the Pittsburgh newspapers backing up our claim that the Steelers did not wear the alleged jersey during the '34 season.

Exhibit 1:

From September 10, 1934:  (Cincinnati Reds at Pittsburgh Pirates, 9/9/34)

Notice the horizontal striped socks players - those are the Pirates.  No stripes on the jersey of #33.  The ball carrier does not have the striped socks - he is a Cincinnati player.

Exhibit 2 --

From September 17, 1934:  (Boston Redskins at Pittsburgh Pirates, 9/16/34)

 Obviously the dark jerseys with the indian heads are the 'Skins.  Again, no jersey stripes or numbers-in-squares on the Pittsburgh players, but the diagonal pants stripes are there.

Exhibit 3 -

From November 19, 1934:  (Brooklyn Dodgers at Pittsburgh Pirates, 11/18/34)

Again, the light players with the horizontal sock stripes are the Pirates.  Notice the NW stripes on players (specifically 18, 20, 44, 11).  Also notice the vertical pant stripe, but also no sign of the throwback jersey unveiled yesterday.

Jerry also sent along a pic from opening day 1933 game -- the Pirates first game ever -- against the New York Giants.  It shows the city-crest jersey, as well as a discrepancy we had with the '33 Giants -- the number is placed on the jersey a little different then we had it.

As our Tim Brulia said about the Giants discovery:

"...looking at that first pic from the very first game where the Pirates are clearly wearing the city seal jersey, the Giants are DEFINITELY wearing a jersey with contrasting torso band and shoulder inserts, with front and back numbers "half in/half out" of the torso band. I remember this pic from my research of several years ago at the PASL. BUT, I did not notice the shoulder/torso inserts. Since the inserts appear lighter than the jersey color, I am hunching that the inserts are blue on a red jersey.

As we are fond of saying, the GUD is always a work-in-progress!!"

Stay tuned for changes to the 1933 Giants as well as possible adding the diagonal pants stripes to the 1934 Pirates -- however, the "1934 throwback" unveiled yesterday is now more than ever, definitely from late 1933.

Steelers vs Gridiron Uniform Database. Discrepancy? Who's right?

Steelers' 19341933 Throwback Unveiled
by Rob Holecko

Hmmm.  Interesting that the player modelling the jersey is wearing number 33,
considering the jersey was actually worn in 1933.

     At 4:30 PM Tuesday afternoon, the Pittsburgh Steelers announced during a live videocast at Steelers.com, the new throwback uniforms that they will be wearing this fall.  Owner Art Rooney II (pictured above with a player modelling the uniform) announced that they would be wearing a design originally worn by the team in 1934.  The jersey shown has black numbers (front and back) inside of white rectangles, on top of a black and yellow alternating horizontal stripe pattern.  They are paired with khaki pants, and yellow socks with black stripes.  Apparent on the 2012 throwback version is the Steelers' 80th anniversary patch as well as the ever ubiquitous Nike swoosh on both the jersey and the pants.



     Currently in the Gridiron Uniform Database, we have for 1934 a more basic design, while we do have a version with the number-in-rectangle design for 1933, although we had the background color for that rectangle as yellow.  Clearly more research will be needed in this area.

     So do we at the Gridiron Uniform Database take this as proof that the Steelers did indeed wear this?  Are they infallible just because they are the organization in question?

     In short, do we take their word for it, or do we insist on further photographic evidence?  As we get further back, in particular as we look towards trying to tackle the 1920s, actual photographic evidence will be harder and harder to come by.

     Here at the Gridiron Uniform Database, accuracy is our number one goal.  If and when we can say with certainty that the Steelers did in fact wear this jersey uniform during the 1934 season, we will update it accordingly.  For now, we will be content saying without a doubt only that they will be wearing this throwback in 2012.

     Regardless of what year they are from, what do you think of these anyway?

Added at 6:00 PM EST.....I just saw in Uni Watch comments someone posted a link to this 1934 Pirates team photo on eBay, it also has the players wearing this jersey... (Although of course a team could be wearing the previous year's unis in a team photo which may have been taken before the season started.)

Added at 6:10 PM EST...  Further searching on the internet turned up this: (at http://morevintagefootballautographs2.webs.com/runningbacks.htm)

The player in question Warren Heller, did in fact only play on the Pirates in 1934 through 1936, and was not on the 1933 squad.  This is backed up by his entry at Pro-Football-Reference.com.  But this football card, however, has the numerals with a yellow background, not a white one.

Apparently the official company line of the Steelers, that they wore the 1994 throwback design with the vertical stripes and the city crest logo in 1933, and the one we saw unveiled today in 1934, very well may be true.

Our historian Tim Brulia, however, begs to differ:

The best research for proof would lie in looking through 1933 and 1934 newspapers. Pittsburgh had three daily newspapers in 1933 and 1934; the Post-Gazette, the Press and the Sun-Telegraph. I dug as best as I could through all three some years ago at the Pennsylvania State Library in Harrisburg. Based on what I could find (which wasn't easy), the Pirates started the [1933] season wearing the city seal jerseys (which inspired the 1994 throwbacks) and then around mid-late season went to the 2012 throwbacks.

My research indicated that the 1934 jerseys were plain with no striping until later in the season when the Pirates put Northwestern stripes on the sleeves. 

The team photo that states "1934" for the Pirates very likely is from 1934. BUT, I have a good hunch that the picture is likely from training camp and was never worn during the 1934 regular season by the Pirates. Black and white photography from this era will be difficult as the yellows (or golds if you prefer) came across as quite dark, in some cases almost as dark as black itself.

So there you have it... our best research indicates that the 2012 throwback unveiled today, was never actually worn in a game in 1934.  As our Bill Schaefer put it: "Looks like the Steelers fell victim to that old 'yearbook' shot/ team photo that said 1934 but was 1933's picture. They shoulda checked our site first!" (Note: Technically it was a 1934 picture, as Heller was in it who didn't join the Steelers until 1934, but it was taken apparently before the season with players wearing the previous years' jerseys.  Note that some of the players in the picture did not have numbers yet, which would seem to led credence to it being a "pre-season picture" -RH)

We would love to see a verifiable photograph from a 1934 game showing this jersey was worn in a game prove us wrong.  Until then, we'll stick to our assertion that the jersey unveiled today was worn actually worn on the field only in 1933.

But what about the Warren Heller football card pic?  Surely since Heller didn't debut until 1934, that must prove that the jersey was worn then, right?  We asked Tim about that and he said: "Again likely, taken from a possible publicity shot in 1934, prior to the start of the season."  Added Bill:

The Warren Heller card - why are we so hung up on the card? It's not like it's an actual photograph like cards in the 70s forward. They did have these people called 'artists' back in the 30s as well. All they had to do was take Heller's face and draw it on the uniform from 1933. If it is a card for 1934, they likely wouldn't have used a shot (uniform) from 1934. That would have appeared on the 1935 cards. Even recent years work that way. When the 2012 cards come out, they'll have shots from 2011.
What we really need to find are football cards from the 1935 series to see what teams wore from 1934.

There you have it.  For now we'll stand by our assertions that the Steelers are mistaken.  The jersey unveiled today was not worn by the Steelers during the 1934 season.  If any further research uncovers anything to the contrary, we at the Gridiron Uniform Database will update it accordingly.

This picture from the 9/10/1934 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette of the Pirates home opener against the
Cincinnati Reds, may or may not back up the Gridiron Uniform Database's assertion that the Pirates did not
actually wear the jersey in question during the 1934 season.

Dermontii Dawson, Hall of Famer

After taking a week sabbatical to catch our breath here at The Gridiron Uniform Database after an exciting Super Bowl XLVI, we return with a new feature here, our newest correspondent and local Giants' fan, Larry Schmitt, aka bigbluelarry, will be bringing us a weekly look at the newest inductees into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.  Also today we'll show you the last installment of Tim Brulia's Super Bowl trivia questions in the final segment of Are You Smarter Than TimmyB?

Tim will be back Monday with a breakdown of all the questions from Super Bowl week and the correct answers so you can see how you did.  Now here is Larry, with the first Hall of Fame inductee of the Class of 2012, Dermontii Dawson:

~ ~ ~

Dermontii Dawson, Hall of Famer 

by Larry Schmitt
   

In this era of the modern NFL, where scoring and passing records seem to fall on a nearly weekly basis, it was quite refreshing to see the voters at the Pro Football Hall of Fame remain grounded in the games roots. The Class of 2007 highlights the nuts and bolts of the game of football. Blocking and tackling is the bedrock that the game was built, on prior to rules legislation that facilitated higher scoring and faster action for short attention-spanned television audiences. Two offensive lineman, two defensive linemen, a half back and a defensive back will receive their bronze busts in August. They exemplify what makes football the unique and special game that is is: contests that are won and lost on the line of scrimmage.

This week I'll feature Pittsburgh Steelers' Center Dermontti Dawson.

Blessed with an unusual combination of strength and speed, Dawson was drafted out of Kentucky in the 2nd round of the NFL Draft by the Steelers in 1988. He played a handful of games at guard, alongside Steeler legend and Hall of Famer Mike Webster. Dawson took over Webster's center position the following season in 1989, where he became a fixture, starting 170 consecutive games, the second most in Pittsburgh history. He also served double-duty as the long snapper on special teams.

The Steelers quarterback situation remained in a state of flux throughout Dawson's career. They had six different starters over 13 seasons (Bubby Brister, Todd Blackledge, Neil O'Donnell, Mike Tomczak, Kordell Stewart, Kent Graham),but the club's offensive output usually remained strong, featuring a pounding rushing attack.

The years 1992 through 1997 were Dawson's peak. He was named First Team All-Pro six times (tying him with Jack Lambert, Jack Ham and Alan Faneca for the most in Pittsburgh history) and participated in seven Pro Bowls.

While offensive linemen do not accumulate impressive statistics, their effectiveness can be measured by their teams' success. The Steelers were usually ranked among the top five rushing teams during this span, and they were first in the NFL in this category in 1994 and 1997. Not surprisingly, the top two individual Steeler rushing seasons occurred in this period. Barry Foster's 1,690 yards in 1994 and Jerome Bettis's 1,665 in 1997 were a direct result of Dawson's powerful point-of-attack drive blocking and athletic leads on sweeps. He was recognized for his efforts by sharing the title of AFC Offensive Lineman of the Year award with Miami's Rishmond Webb in 1993, and was named NFL Offensive Lineman of the Year in 1997.

The Steelers qualified for the post season six times in the mid 90's behind Dawson's leadership, with five AFC Central Championships, and one AFC Title when they advanced to Super Bowl XXX after the 1995 season.

Hamstring injuries brought Dawson's consecutive starts steak to an end in 1999 and he retired following the 2000 season.

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/D/DawsDe00.htm

~ ~ ~

What were the four Super Bowls where one team did NOT have names on their jerseys?

What is the only instance of a team wearing a throwback jersey in a Super Bowl?

What was the Super Bowl that featured - for the first time ever - the game officials wearing the NFL Shield prominently on front of their caps?

~ ~ ~

Well, there you have it -- the final group of Tim's Trivia Questions... Check back soon for an update with the answers to these and all of the rest of Tim' Trivia Questions soon, and visit us often as we plan to bring you a lot of new and exciting stuff as we head into the off-season.
   

Once again, congratulations to the New York Giants, the Super Bowl XLVI Champions.

It's Almost Here

It's Almost Here
by Rob Holecko


Indianapolis, Indiana, 1:00 PM CST - Well if you are like me you are all "pre-gamed" out and ready for kickoff, but it is still four-plus hours away.  Here at the Gridiron Uniform Database we have some exciting new features that we'll be unveiling around kickoff, so stay tuned.


We'll have three more of Tim's trivia questions for you now, and we'll be back at kickoff with three more.  In Monday's blog, we'll go over the answers to all of the questions and you can see how you did.


Now whether you are putting the finishing touches on preparing massive amounts of food and beverages for many friends and family or heading out to a Super Bowl party, or you're just settling in to watch the game at home by yourself, we hope you enjoy the game (and the commercials.)


Here is the pre-game installment of trivia questions:

~ ~ ~

What was the first Super Bowl to feature a team wearing a dark jersey/dark pants combination?

What were the four Super Bowls where one team did NOT have names on their jerseys?

What were the two Super Bowls where the game officials wore special uniforms?

~ ~ ~

On This Day...

Later today either the Giants or Patriots will become the next franchise to win their fourth Super Bowl Championship. Six years ago today the Steelers won their fifth Championship in Super Bowl XL in Detroit against the Seattle Seahawks.

Super Bowl XIX

 

Super Bowl XIX

by Rob Holecko

Twenty-seven years ago today, on January 20, 1985, the San Francisco 49ers defeated the Miami Dolphins in Super Bowl XIX 38 to 16.  It was Joe Montana and the 49ers' second Super Bowl in four years, and it was a very memorable game.  It was played in Stanford, California, the closest a team has ever come to playing a Super Bowl in it's home stadium.  It was the first Super Bowl televised by ABC.  President Ronald Reagan, on the day of the inauguration of his second term in office, conducted the coin flip from the Oval Office.

As for the game itself, from Wikipedia:

Instead of the predicted shootout between Dan Marino and Joe Montana, the game was mostly one-sided. The 49ers defense only allowed 25 rushing yards and 16 Dolphins points. San Francisco also intercepted Marino 2 times and sacked him 4 times. The Dolphins set a Super Bowl record for least rush attempts in a game (9).

But in the opening minutes of the game, it seemed that the game would live up to the hype. On the opening kickoff, 49ers rookie kick returner Derrick Harmon caught the ball too close to the sidelines and stepped out of bounds at the San Francisco 6-yard line. The 49ers managed to advance to the 41-yard line but were forced to punt, and Dolphins defensive back Fulton Walker returned the punt 9 yards to the Miami 36-yard line. Then on their first play of the drive, Marino completed a 25-yard pass to Tony Nathan. Five plays later, Miami reached the San Francisco 23-yard line. But on third down, 49ers cornerback Eric Wright tackled wide receiver Mark Clayton 2 yards shy of the first down. Miami had to settle for a 37-yard field goal from Uwe von Schamann.

The Dolphins' 3-0 lead did not last long, as the 49ers stormed down the field on their next possession. San Francisco drove 78 yards in 8 plays, culminating in a 33-yard touchdown pass from Montana to reserve running back Carl Monroe to give them a 7-3 lead. But Miami retook the lead on their ensuing drive. After a 5-yard rush by Nathan, the Dolphins went into a no-huddle offense, preventing the 49ers from making substitutions and keeping their run defense on the field. Marino completed five consecutive passes, hitting Clayton for 18 yards, Mark Duper for 11, Clayton again for 13, and tight end Dan Johnson for 21. On the next play, Marino finished the drive by hitting Johnson for a 2-yard touchdown pass, giving the Dolphins a 10-7 lead with 45 seconds left in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, the 49ers began to take control of the game. Bill Walsh switched to a 4-1-6 (or dime defense) to slow down Miami's passing attack, with Keena Turner as the sole linebacker. Miami tried to run against the 4-1-6 alignment, to no avail. Safety Dwight Hicks broke up two consecutive Marino passes, and the Dolphins were forced to punt from their own 10-yard line. Then after taking the ball at the Miami 47-yard line, Montana scrambled for a 19-yard run, and then completed a 16-yard pass to wide receiver Dwight Clark to reach the 12-yard line. From there, Wendell Tyler rushed for 4 yards, and then Montana threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Roger Craig, giving the 49ers a 14-10 lead.

Miami then had to punt again on their ensuing possession, and San Francisco defensive back Dana McLemore returned the ball 28 yards to the 49ers' 45-yard line. After advancing 15 yards with 2 running plays, Montana completed a pair of passes to tight end Russ Francis to move the ball 29 yards to the Miami 11-yard line. Craig ran for 5 yards on the next play, and then Montana ran the final 6 yards to the end zone for a touchdown, making the score 21-10. After the ensuing kickoff, Miami again was forced to punt after 3 plays, and McLemore returned Reggie Roby's 39-yard punt 10 yards to the 49ers' 48-yard line. Montana was sacked for a 5-yard loss by Doug Betters on the first play of the ensuing drive, but he struck back with a 20-yard completion to Craig and a 7-yard run over the next two plays. On the next play, wide receiver Freddie Solomon caught a pass from Montana, took one step, and then lost the ball due to a hit from safety Lyle Blackwood. Blackwood quickly recovered the ball and took off for the 49ers end zone, but field judge Bob Lewis blew the play dead, ruling that Solomon's fumble was an incomplete pass. Bill Quinby, the side judge, who was nearest to the play, did not make any call. Five plays later, Craig finished the nine play, 52-yard drive with his second touchdown on a 2-yard run, increasing the 49ers lead to 28-10.

With about two minutes left in the half, the Dolphins finally managed to get a good drive going on their next possession. Marino completed 7 out of 9 passes, the last one being a 30-yard pass to tight end Joe Rose, to reach the 49ers 12-yard line. But San Francisco's defense tightened up on the next 3 plays, forcing 2 incompletions and a completed pass for no gain, and Miami was forced to settle for Von Schamann's second field goal of the game to cut their deficit to 28-13 with 12 seconds left in the half. Then Miami caught a break as the 49ers botched the ensuing kickoff. San Francisco lineman Guy McIntyre received Van Schamann's short kick and was about to down the ball, but then changed his mind at the last second and decided to return it. This turned out to be a big mistake. McIntyre lost a fumble while being leveled by rookie Joe Carter, and Jim Jensen recovered the ball for Miami at the 49ers 12-yard line. After that, Von Schamann kicked his third field goal on the last play of the half, cutting the score to 28-16. "I can laugh about the play now, but it wasn't funny at the time," McIntyre said after the game. "My first instinct when I got the ball was to fall down. Then I heard everyone yelling, 'Get up! Get up!' So I got up, and here comes someone sneaking underneath me, and he hit the ball."

But any thoughts of a Miami comeback ended early in the third quarter. On the first play second half, 49ers defensive end Dwaine Board tackled Nathan for a 1-yard loss. Then after Marino threw an incompletion, Board sacked him for a 9-yard loss on third down. For the fourth time in the game, Roby had to punt, and again McLemore gave the 49ers good field position with an 8-yard return to San Francisco's 47-yard line. The 49ers then drove 43 yards and scored on kicker Ray Wersching's 27 yard field goal. On the Dolphins' ensuing drive, they were forced to punt again after Marino was sacked twice (once by defensive lineman Manu Tuiasosopo and once by Board). Starting their own 30-yard line after a 5-yard return by McLemore, Montana completed a 40-yard pass to Tyler, followed up with a 14-yard completion to Francis. Three plays later, Craig scored his third touchdown on a 16-yard reception to make the score 38-16. The score proved to be the last one from either team, as the defenses of both teams took over for the rest of the game - especially the 49ers' defense, who intercepted Marino twice.

Overall, San Francisco gained a Super Bowl record 537 yards, breaking the Oakland Raiders record of 429 yards in Super Bowl XI, while limiting Miami to 314, with just 25 rushing yards. San Francisco's 38 points also tied a Super Bowl record set by the Raiders in Super Bowl XVIII.

The 49ers' 288 offensive yards in the first half also tied the Raiders in Super Bowl XI for the most offensive yards in a half during a Super Bowl.

Marino finished the game with 29 out of 50 pass completions for 318 yards, 1 touchdown, and 2 interceptions. Clayton was the top receiver of the game, with 6 receptions for 92 yards. Walker returned 4 kickoffs for 93 yards and gained 15 yards on 2 punt returns. Nathan was the Dolphins leading rusher with 18 yards, while also catching 10 passes for 83 yards.  Craig had 58 rushing yards, 77 receiving yards, and 3 touchdowns. He was the first player ever to score 3 touchdowns in a Super Bowl, and his 2 touchdown catches also tied a Super Bowl record. Tyler led San Francisco in rushing with 65 yards, and also caught 4 passes for 70 yards. Clark caught 6 passes for 77 yards. Board recorded 2 sacks. McLemore recorded 51 punt return yards, the second most in Super Bowl history.

We are proud to add this game to the Gridiron Uniform Database.  Also today we are launching a new page today, the index of Super Bowl Matchup graphics.  As we add Super Bowl matchups to the website today, you'll find all of them here, you'll see a new link on the front page.  We'd like to thank Mark Young, who a few months ago designed our new banner graphics, for putting together the roman numeral graphics on this page.

Also on this day, five years previous to Super Bowl XIX, the Rams and the Cowboys met in Super Bowl XIV.  This was the game that saw the Steelers put the cherry on the top of their 1970s dynasty, winning their fourth Super Bowl in six years.

~ ~ ~

Another On This Day... that we'd like to mention.  Yesterday was January 19, and while there has never been a Super Bowl on January 19, we would like to recognize a particularly memorable game from nine years ago.  As a Buccaneer fan, while I realize that the Super Bowl victory over the Raiders is definitely the crowning achievement of our franchise, it was Ronde Barber's interception return of a Donovan McNabb pass for a touchdown that clinched the NFC Championship against the Eagles, that was the moment from that season that was most memorable.  After having lost at Philadelphia in the playoffs the past two seasons, after having never won a game below forty degrees, to go into Philadelphia and win that game to go to the Super Bowl, was really the best moment ever for the Bucs in their 35 years of existence.

 

The Immaculate Reception

Today for our "On This Day..." feature, we are taking a look back at the December 23, 1972 Immaculate Reception of Franco Harris:

In this memorable game, after forty years of being a perennial loser, the Steelers trailed 7-6 in the final minutes after a Ken Stabler touchdown run.  On fourth-and-ten from their own 35, Terry Bradshaw's pass down the field for Frenchy Fuqua was deflected by either the Raiders' DB Jack Tatum or Fuqua, and it was "caught out of the air" by Harris, who raced down the sideline for the winning score.  (See above video.)  After some debate by the officials, (had the pass only touched Fuqua it would have been a foul, as NFL rules at the time did not permit an offensive player to catch a forward pass that had been touched only by another offensive player.  That rule was rescinded after 1978) the play was ruled a touchdown and Pittsburgh won 13-7.  They went on to lose to the undefeated Miami Dolphins in the AFC Championship Game, but this was the beginning of their dynasty, as they went on to win four of the next seven Super Bowls.

The game was not broadcast in Pittsburgh.  1972 was the last year that all home games were blacked-out in home cities, and since the beginning of the 1973 season, every Steelers game has sold-out and has been televised locally.

The NFL Films footage of the play may have led
to speculation -- was the play legal?

The clip you see above was from when NBC re-aired the original footage at halftime of the 1997 AFC Championship on January 11, 1998.  When they aired this, I believe they promoted this at the time as being the first time that the footage had been aired since the game.  Many people, including Gene Upshaw and John Madden, believed that the play should have been nullifed for being an illegal catch.  The NFL Films version of the highlight (this still to the right is from that footage), which had been seen repeatedly over the previous twenty-five years, did not show the collision, and that may have added fuel to the fire.  This NBC footage, which many people were seeing for the first time in 1998, however, I believe ended the speculation.  It is clear that Tatum must have touched the ball, for I don't see how, with the direction that Fuqua was running, his momentum alone would have caused the ball to ricochet back that far to Harris.  It doesn't matter if Fuqua touched it or not, only that had Tatum not touched it would it have been illegal.  (Unless, of course it was Tatum's momentum into Fuqua that caused Fuqua to hit the ball hard enough.)

The only remaining dispute was whether or not Harris cleanly caught the ball before it touched the ground.  Again the NFL Films version of the replay doesn't show that clearly, either.  But upon viewing the NBC replay, it is fairly clear that the catch was clean as well.

We are proud to add this game to Gridiron Uniform Database's collection of randomly added single-game matchups.

You can view other randomly added past games here.

Don't Move My Number

Today here at The Gridiron Uniform Database we have a few new changes to update, as well a discussion about the proper placement of Steelers' shoulder numbers, or as they have also been called, "TV numbers". ~ ~ ~

     In the late 1950s and early 1960s, when NFL games were first being televised regularly, teams added numbers to the sleeves, to help the viewers at home identify players when they were at the line of scrimmage or the front or back numbers were otherwise un-viewable.

     Most teams that have these shoulder numbers have traditionally placed them either way up high, on top of the shoulder (like these in the Terrell Owens pictures), or down low on the sleeve, like the Colts do in this picture of Peyton Manning.  So that is how we have depicted these numbers, either on top of the shoulder, or down on the sleeve.

     It has come to our attention, however, that the Pittsburgh Steelers' 1968-96 uniforms (along with apparently some years of the St. Louis Cardinals) employ a third option, which places the numbers somewhere in between, right around the apex of the shoulder.

     While we had considered this before, in the words of our graphical engineer, Bill Schaefer:

"...if we put the numbers 'right there,' there'd be no way to make them look right. One of the limitations of the 2-D template is, along with the omission of helmet numbers, that TV numbers MUST be placed on the shoulder pads facing up or on the sleeves. I was never able to crack 'wrapping the one' from the top down around to the side and make it worth it."

     Numbers in this location, even more so than in the higher or lower locations, don't always appear in the same place on all players:

     Says Bill: "...Franco's numbers are clearly facing up on his shoulder pads. If Swanny or Terry had any kind of shoulders, their's would likely be facing upwards, too."

     So for the time being, that project was shelved, and we were content to just depict the numbers on the top of the shoulders (right), after we were unable to find a suitable location to more accurately depict them.  But with some help from The Jeff in the forum, we have decided to take another shot at this.  Here are six options that Bill and the guys have come up with as to how we could depict these numbers better.  Your input and feedback in the comments below will be most welcome.

Which graphical Steelers sleeve number representation do you like best?
	1			2			3			4			5			6

~ ~ ~

     We have added to the database the memorial arm sleeve that the Chicago Bears wore for their December 23, 1979 NFC Wild Card playoff game at Philadelphia in memory of George "Mugs" Halas, Jr., who died of a "massive heart attack."  Halas was the team president and the son of Bears' founder George "Papa Bear" Halas.   Another change we have made is to the 1961 Giants, we have removed the white center stripe on two red-striped pants model and replaced them with the matching grey on all eight versions of the '61 Giants.

     Finally, with the 1968 and '69 Vikings, we have made some adjustments to the uniform numeral, and the proper depiction of the "one".  Thanks to bigbluelarry (Giants) and Mako Mameli (Vikings) for these submissions.

1979 Chicago Bears

1961 New York Giants

1968 Minnesota Vikings

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     Tomorrow we'll mark one week since we've launched the website, and we'll tell you all about some of the most surprising websites that have referred traffic to us, including one website that isn't even in English.  And beginning Monday, we'll start a five-part series looking back and discussing the past uniforms the Buffalo Bills have worn, as they get ready to launch their new look on Friday.

Steelers Preseason Helmet Numbers

     The Bengals, Broncos and Bills are now in, plus we are looking at updating the Jaguars and Panthers, and discussion is continuing on the 1970 New York Giants as mentioned a few days ago.  While all the teams are not complete, we have also managed to add to the site pages for the AFC, NFC and Super Bowl Champions through the years.  Broken links on the site should now be at a minimum.  There are still plenty of items to be added by next weekend, however, when we officially launch on June 12.

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     As we analyzed the 1970 Giants-Steelers game a few days ago, we revisited the issue of the Steelers' pre-season front helmet numbers (or lack thereof, actually.)  They have a tradition of not putting the helmet numbers on until the regular season, as was discussed by Uni Watch's Paul Lukas in an ESPN Page 2 story a couple years ago. We won't delve too far into this topic, as it is out of the scope of the Gridiron Database, and more suited to be covered by Uni Watch in general, however after looking into this, with the help of Jerry Wolper, we concluded that the tradition did exist in 1970, as in the earlier August 15 preseason game against the Vikings, the numbers were not there.  We concluded, most likely, that they decided to add the numbers early that year only because it was a nationally televised game & stadium opener (and left them there, as they were still there for the next preseason game in Shreveport against the Boston Patriots.)

Rookie QB Bradshaw in his homecoming
to Shreveport, LA still had his helmet
numbers here on September 4.

Steelers 3rd QB Mike Quinn in '98

     This was the first year for this tradition, as it did not exist in 1969, and it was in full swing the following year, and preseason helmet numbers have not been used by Pittsburgh since.  Even when they had another national television appearance, in the 1998 Hall Of Fame Game against Tampa Bay, their helmets were still sans the numbers.