I would like to submit to the board that Jack Fleming's call of The Immaculate Reception was the football equivalent of Russ Hodges' "The Giants Win the Pennant!" call of Bobby Thomson's famous pennant-winning home run in 1951.
While Fleming does not "lose it" like Hodges did, there is tremendous excitement in his voice.
He seems to set up something big is going to happen before the play, which considering the situation is tremendously foresightful. After all, the situation was simply that the Steelers were one incomplete pass away from being the "Same Old Steelers" again, and Kenny Stabler's 30-yard touchdown scamper was going to go down with the player revolt in the 1947 playoffs and the egg the team laid in Yankee Stadium in '63 on the last game of the season as just the latest chapter in pro football's losingest franchise's ineptitude.
"Hold on to your hats, the Steelers come out of the huddle!"
I still don't understand where he got that from. Dickens gave us "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times" and Fleming gives us "Hold on to your hats, the Steelers come out of the huddle" before football's biggest play ever.
"22 seconds on the clock"
Great fundamental broadcasting here. We need to know the situation.
"Bradshaw, moving out of the pocket, looking for someone to throw to"
Accurate. We know we're miliseconds away from yet another heartbreak.
"Fires it downfield"
Well, how does it end this time?
"And there's a collision"
Yeah, same old. But from a professional standpoint, Fleming's emotion of what will certainly be the most heartbreaking loss in Steelers history isn't heard here. What is heard is a clear, accurate description of the action by a real pro, not a homer.
"AND IT'S CAUGHT OUT OF THE AIR!"
This is what makes the call. Fleming never loses his professionalism here, but his vocal inflection shows the surprise and the overall joy of the unexpected turn of Franco Harris catching the ball. It's like showing up to bankruptcy court only to learn you've won the lottery. He shares his happiness, but he isn't overbearing. He is still letting the play speak for itself, we can follow it as we listen, and it's magical.
"THE BALL IS PULLED IN . . . BY FRANCO HARRIS!"
Wha? A running back? What is he doing? How?
And Fleming is accurately describing the shock of the situation, you can tell he's as surprised as anyone, but again, he's still somewhat in control, even if nobody else at 600 Stadium Circle is.
"HARRIS IS GOING FOR A TOUCHDOWN FOR PITTSBURGH!"
WHAT?
And there is Fleming, not overbearing, just accurately and perfectly describing the orgasmic bliss of a play that will forever change the way the Steelers are going to be viewed.
You couldn't follow the Immaculate Reception with your eyes- did Tatum really touch the ball- where did Franco really come from?
But you could follow it from Fleming's call, which is another element of what makes it so spectacular.
"HARRIS IS GOING!"
Now, this is as close as Fleming gets to losing it. You can tell now as shocked as anyone by the events. It's like he's trying to set this up in his mind "Is what I'm seeing really happening?"
At the same time, he's letting the roar of the crowd speak. There is no need to say "Harris crosses the goal line" and give a Mike Lange type catch phrase (I realize Lange is still three years from coming to Pittsburgh at this time, but you get the point I'm making). It would have only cheapened thing. Do what a good announcer does- let the game speak for itself.
"FIVE SECONDS ON THE CLOCK!"
Oh, my God! If what Flem is saying is true, that's it. There's not enough time for the Raiders to come back! All this time, THEY FINALLY DID IT!
"FRANCO HARRIS PULLED IN THE FOOTBALL! I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE HE CAME FROM!"
Nobody does.
"FUQUA WAS IN A COLLISION! THERE ARE PEOPLE IN THE END ZONE! WHERE DID HE COME FROM?"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07zsdF0ysP0
One final thought on this call. How many announcers would have naturally gone into "Harris is on the 20, the 10, the 5! Touchdown!"
The fact Fleming DIDN'T do that shows how shocking the events really were.
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There are only two calls in football history that I think can compare with this. One is the Stanford band play, but in that Joe Starkey loses his voice, starts babbling on after the touchdown is scored like he's a kid with a tape recorder, and his cry of "AW, THE BAND IS OUT ON THE FIELD" asks more questions in our mind than answers. You simply can't follow the play by Starkey's call, even the attempt of following the laterals is half-hearted at best.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fZCCAqoSwY
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The other is Bill King calling the Holy Roller. And this shows why everyone loves Bill King.
"The ball slips forward is loose, two seconds on the clock, Casper grabbing the ball, it is ruled a fumble, Casper recovers in the end zone, the Oakland Raiders have scored on the most zany, (stops to think), unbelievable, (stops to think even longer), impossible dream of a play!
"Madden is on the field! He wants to know if it's real! They said yes, get your big butt out of here! He does!"
"There's nothing real in the world anymore! The Raiders won the football game on the most impossible dream of a play! . . . . This one will be relived, forever!"
Okay, King does put himself in this call. But he had the humor and the personality to get away with it. It makes the call.
Still, if I can disect why Fleming's call is better than King's (which is a bit like trying to argue whether Danica Patrick or Jillian Michaels look better in the GoDaddy ads), I'm going to say it's the "TWO SECONDS ON THE CLOCK!" cry in the middle of the fumble. Completely irrelevant at the time and it made it more difficult for the listener to follow the play. Just information that at that moment was not necessary- set the time AFTER the play.
No announcer would say "Roethlisberger throws- 9:22 left in the third quarter- complete to Hines Ward!" So where does the "two seconds on the clock" fit in? It doesn't.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04XOeLowAzo&feature=related
