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America Loves CountdownsCountdown #4: Most Dramatic Moments in Pittsburgh Sports History
Sports fans love those specials where they always show the great moments in sports. Whenever these moments involve a team we love, it's something we always remember. That is the subject for countdown #4. I want to take a second to explain the Most Dramatic Moments list: the key word is "Dramatic". Excluded on this list will be legendary sports moments like "Steelers Win First Super Bowl" or "Pens Win First Stanley Cup", because those moments, while great, were not dramatic (the Steelers and Pens won those first championships by a large margin).
Dan Marino Goes For Broke
Pitt was losing to the Georgia Bulldogs late in the 1982 Sugar Bowl. The Panthers were down to perhaps their last play - a 4th down with just over 30 seconds left in the game. Pitt QB Dan Marino dropped back and heaved a 33 yard bomb down the middle of the field. TE John Brown somehow found himself right in between two Georgia defenders, and made the catch despite being leveled by one of them. The touchdown gave Pitt a dramatic victory and helped propel Marino to the national stage.
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In the highlight film of Super Bowl XIV, NFL Films announcer John Facenda mutters a great line. He says, "Great teams aren't always great - they're just great when they have to be." The Steelers were playing in their fourth Super Bowl of the decade, poised to permantly cement themselves as the greatest football team of all time. But there was a problem - they were losing to the underdog Los Angeles Rams in the 4th quarter. The Steelers had made some costly mistakes which put them in a hole, but then QB Terry Bradshaw went for it all, heaving a 73 yard TD pass to WR John Stallworth, who outran Rams defender Rod Perry for the score. The Steelers took the lead and never looked back. It wasn't their greatest performance but they did whatever it took to win, and it just added to their legend.
In 1997, something amazing happened. The Pitt football team started winning games. This was a team who had only won 13 games in the previous four seasons combined, yet here they were on the day after Thanksgiving, poised to go to a Bowl game if they could somehow upset their cross-state rivals. It was a hard fought game that went into a third overtime. West Virginia kicked a field goal in their half of the OT, so Pitt needed to score to stay alive. But they soon found themselves faced with 4th and 17 and no choice but to go for it. QB Pete Gonzalez found WR Jake Hoffart for a 20 yard gain, and to the shock of thousands of West Virginia hicks, Pitt had a first down. Two plays later, Gonzalez hit Terry Murphy for the game-winning TD, giving Pitt perhaps its most dramatic win ever.
There have been several times when the Steelers have won a playoff game on a field goal (the most recent coming last year against the Jets). However, Gary Anderson's 50 yard overtime kick to beat the Houston Oilers on New Year's Eve in 1989 was the most significant for several reasons. First off, the 1989 season looked like it would be one of the most miserable in team history. We lost 51-0 to Cleveland in week 1 (at home no less), and 42-10 to Cincinnati in week 2. Somehow the Steelers fought back to make the playoffs. Secondly, the Oilers were one of the dominant AFC teams back then, and they were also perhaps our biggest rival. They were so easy to hate, with dirty players like Chris Dishman and a coach (Jerry Glanville) who encouraged it. But the biggest reason that kick was so special is because it was the lone bright spot of the entire 1980's. Yes, the Steelers won a playoff game in 1984, but other than that, the whole decade was a wash. It was so amazing to finally witness a great moment in team history again, and it was only fitting that it came on the final day of what nearly was a lost decade.
Bottom of the 9th, game 7 of the World Series. You are at the plate with a chance to win the whole thing with one swing. It is the scenario played out in back yards all the time, but even though there have been nearly 100 World Series, there has only been one that has ever been decided by a walk-off game 7 homerun. In 1960, Bill Mazeroski did just that at Forbes Field, beating the Yankees (bonus points go to this moment because of the opponent) and giving Pittsburgh its most famous sports moment. In fact, if you go down to Oakland, the left field wall of Forbes Field is still intact, because that was where the ball crossed over into immortality.