It happened 50 years ago. How much do you know about the Immaculate Reception?

Editor's note: The Associated Press reported Franco Harris died two days before the 50th anniversary of the Immaculate Reception.

The “Immaculate Reception,” the nickname forever associated with one of the NFL's most famous plays, didn't come about overnight.

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It required much less time than that.

The nickname coming from Pittsburgh Steelers running back Franco Harris' iconic play on Dec. 23, 1972, is derived from the religious term, the Immaculate Conception. It refers to the conceiving of the Virgin Mary, according to the National Catholic Register.

Steelers legend dies: Franco Harris, Steelers legend best known for making 'The Immaculate Reception,' dies at 72

Pittsburgh media legend Myron Cope, the Steelers' radio analyst for the game, also worked as a local television sportscaster.

Shortly before Cope's broadcast that night, he received a call from a woman named Sharon Levosky. She suggested the play be called the “Immaculate Reception,” which is what a friend had referred to the play.

The phrase became instant history when Cope, who briefly worked for the Erie Daily Times in the early 1950s, used it during his ensuing broadcast. He died in 2008 at age 79.

From 2014: Steelers great Harris helps 3 Erie charities

How many watched the game?

The attendance for the game against the Oakland Raiders at Three Rivers Stadium was listed at 50,327.

It's unknown how many Pittsburgh residents didn't see the game, a 13-7 Steelers win.

The NFL's 1972 season was the last one it prohibited live local telecasts of a team's home games. That was in place as a way to spur ticket sales.

Because of that, it's very likely a caravan of Pittsburgh-area fans made their way north to Erie, which did broadcast the game live.

Erie was considered a secondary market to Pittsburgh, and thus able to broadcast the Steelers' home games.

The following year, the NFL permitted a team's home games to be broadcast provided they sold out 72 hours ahead of the scheduled kickoff. That policy remains in place to this day.

Steelers' fans from Erie were there

Erie native Tom Wedzik and his father, Al, were seated 15 rows up from Three Rivers Stadium's field surface. That meant they had a closer — albeit still chaotic view — of the Immaculate Reception than most in the stands.

Wedzik commented to the Times-News that the play wouldn't have quite the aura it currently holds had cell phone video been around in 1972. There would be so many clearer angles whether Terry Bradshaw's pass originally caromed off Oakland defender Jack Tatum or Pittsburgh running back John “Frenchy” Fuqua.

The debate over who touched the ball first also wouldn't happen in today's NFL.

Fifty years ago, the league's rule was that only one offensive player was permitted to touch a forward pass during a play. Had the officials determined the pass caromed off Fuqua first, the pass would have been ruled incomplete and the Raiders would have won.

Instead, because of the bang-bang nature of the collision between Tatum and Fuqua, combined with instant replay not being allowed to determine a call, Harris' shoestring catch and ensuing run into the Oakland end zone was officially ruled a touchdown after a lengthy and chaotic delay.

Future Hall of Famers played, including Erie's Fred Biletnikoff

Although unknown at the time, the game included 13 players later enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame at Canton, Ohio.

One of that baker's dozen was 1961 Tech Memorial graduate Fred Biletnikoff, a 1988 inductee. The former Centaur and Florida State Seminole star spent his entire NFL career (1965-78) as a Raiders' wide receiver.

Biletnikoff also was the voted the most valuable player of Super Bowl XI, which the Raiders won 32-14 over the Minnesota Vikings.

The total number of Hall of Famers who had a stake in the game actually topped out at 20. The other seven non-players included coaches Chuck Noll (Pittsburgh) and John Madden (Oakland); and owners Art Rooney (Pittsburgh) and Al Davis (Oakland).

The Times-News attempted several times to contact Fred Biletnikoff by phone and email about the Immaculate Reception, but was unsuccessful.

Fred Biletnikoff got into coaching after his playing days. He returned to the Raiders, then in Los Angeles, as their receivers coach in 1989 and remained until his retirement after their 2006 season.

Fred and Angela Biletnikoff are still northern California residents. Since 2015, they've operated Tracey's Place of Hope, a shelter for teenage girls who have experience domestic violence or seek substance abuse treatment.

The couple named the shelter in honor of their 20-year old daughter, who was murdered by her boyfriend in 1999.

More:Erie's Fred Biletnikoff remembers Oakland Raiders legend Stabler

Defense ruled the day before Harris' play

Three receptions for 28 yards. That might constitute a receiver's statistics for one quarter in today's pass-happy, offensive-first NFL.

Not 50 years ago, though.

Those were Biletnikoff's receiving statistics for the entire game. So spartan were the teams' offenses that day, and back when the rules tended to favor defenses, that Biletnikoff and tight end Raymond Chester tied as Oakland's leader for receptions.

Harris, thanks to his iconic play, was the Steelers' leader in catches (five) and yards (96). Ron Shanklin was next with three for 55.

Pass was intended for Pearson

Pittsburgh receiver Barry Pearson was quarterback Terry Bradshaw's primary target on the play.

Not only did the rookie not catch that pass that miraculously landed in Harris' hands, he didn't record one all day.

Nor all season.

The Immaculate Reception game was Pearson's first in uniform for the Steelers. Pittsburgh signed the former Northwestern University Wildcat as an undrafted free agent.

Pearson remained a reserve with the 1973 Steelers, when he caught 23 passes for 317 yards and three touchdowns. He spent the next three seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs.

QB Stabler didn't start, but he finished the game for Raiders

Quarterback Ken Stabler gave Oakland a 7-6 lead less than a minute before the Immaculate Reception.

However, despite his now-forgotten heroics, he wasn't their starting quarterback.

That role went to Daryle Lamonica, who died this past April 21.

Lamonica, as did virtually every other player on offense throughout the game, struggled to move the Raiders while they held the ball. He only completed six of his 18 pass attempts for 45 yards, which included two interceptions.

Madden sent in Stabler, who became the Raiders' starting quarterback the following season, during the third quarter. The move worked.

Sort of.

Stabler accounted for the Raiders' lone touchdown with 1 minute, 17 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Not through the air, but on a 30-yard run.

The man nicknamed “Snake,” who died in 2015 at age 69, slithered down the Raiders' sideline and into the end zone.

His touchdown is regarded among the NFL's most forgotten thanks to Harris' ensuing Immaculate Reception.

It was the Steelers' first playoff win in franchise history

The Immaculate Reception was the reason the Steelers won a postseason game for the first time in the franchise's four decades of existence to that point.

It also was the considered the launching pad for the dynasty that was to follow throughout the rest of the 1970s. Pittsburgh won four Super Bowls, then a record, over a six-season span between 1974 and 1979.

Art Rooney, who owned the Steelers over their largely four dismal decades of existence, never saw a second of it.

Rooney, assuming Pittsburgh was going to lose ahead of the Immaculate Reception's snap from scrimmage, left his owner's box and boarded the elevator that took him to the locker room.

As the floors slowly counted down, an unprecedented roar could be heard by those few inside the elevator.

When the doors slid open, Rooney was informed of what happened and why the unexpected human chaos.

Steelers didn't get to Super Bowl

It's become easy to forget as time has passed that the Steelers did not win the Super Bowl that year.

The greatest season in franchise history to that point ended eight days later against the Miami Dolphins in the AFC Championship Game. Miami, thanks to a 21-17 New Year's Eve victory at Three Rivers Stadium, made Pittsburgh its 16th win en route to its perfect 17-0 season.

The '72 Dolphins, coached by Don Shula, remain the NFL's only team since its 1920 birth to conclude a season with no losses or ties.

Important role for official, former player

Back judge Adrian Burk was the first official who signaled the Immaculate Reception as a touchdown.

However, he was part of NFL lore long before that day.

Burk, who died in 2003 at age 75, was a rarity in that he both played and officiated NFL games. His playing career as a quarterback consisted of one season with the original Baltimore Colts and six more with the Philadelphia Eagles over the early to mid-1950s.

Burk is one of eight players who share the NFL record for the most touchdown passes in a game. He recorded seven of them during the Eagles' 49-21 victory vs. Washington on Oct. 17, 1954.

Harris before he turned pro

A final note, courtesy of the man responsible for the Immaculate Reception.

Harris spoke during an Oct. 12 ceremony at Pittsburgh's Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum. The museum, in conjunction with the play's 50th anniversary, continues to exhibit some of his personal football-related memorabilia.

One of Harris' stories was about a college recruiting visit he made before choosing Penn State. The Fort Dix, New Jersey, native was a running back out of Rancocas Valley Regional in Mount Holly.

Ohio State was among the stops Harris made in 1968. As was custom, he was given a formal tour of the Columbus, Ohio, campus, which included a current player for the Buckeyes as a guide.

That player, according to Harris?

Jack Tatum.

Contact Mike Copper at mcopper@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNcopper.

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This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Immaculate Reception: Steelers' iconic play facts, figures from game