IMMACULATE RECEPTION

IMMACULATE RECEPTION

Looking back and remembering a friend

Fanfare,

I want to remind my Cleveland Browns friends that today (Dec. 23) is the 40th anniversary of what is deemed the greatest football play of all time. Franco Harris’ “Immaculate Reception.” No, not in Cleveland Stadium (Lakefront) but in Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.

I was there on Dec. 23, 1972, and I saw it with my good friend Kenny Keller. We had just watched Kenny Stabler scramble 30 yards for a go-ahead touchdown with little time left. We were leaving with most of the fans but stopped at one of the “openings” where fans stopped to see “one more play.” We hardly knew what happened when we saw Franco racing toward us into our end zone. I never did see Frenchy Fuqua nor did we know of his “missed tip of the ball” that would have made the play illegal. The crowd stopped and stood in disbelief as did we.

Kenny Keller was an honorable mention All-American at North Carolina before being drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles. Kenny passed away in 1997 but his widow and three grown children still live in the area.

Kenny, if he had lived longer to know his grandchildren, would certainly have told them about witnessing the “Immaculate Reception.” I certainly have told mine. They weren’t overly impressed.

But Kenny had a better story that he very seldom talked about: In Kenny’s senior year at UNC, he played in the Blue-Gray game (for the Gray obviously) and one of his teammates was a quarterback for Alabama. Kenny scored the two touchdowns in a 14-13 win for the Gray. Well, the Alabama quarterback got in the game for two plays. Both times to hold the ball for the place kick on the extra points after Kenny’s touchdown. Some older fans will remember him as Bart Starr, Hall of Famer for the Green Bay Packers.

Atty. Edward A. Sowinski Jr., Fort Myers, Fla.

BROWNS ON TV

WKBN dropped ball many years ago, too

Fanfare,

I’d like to comment on the letter in the Sunday, Dec. 9, Sports Fanfare written by a fellow Austintowner. He was unhappy with WKBN-TV’s decisions in regard to Browns-Steelers scheduling. I’d like to express my complete agreement with him.

It brings to mind a situation many, many years ago. Notre Dame’s basketball team was playing UCLA on a Sunday afternoon. It was in the heyday of the legendary John Wooden and CBS was televising the game. WKBN-TV’s braintrust decided to substitute a movie.

I think it was “Ma and Pa Kettle Meet Frankenstein.” A “reel” classic. The next day the press referred to the basketball game as “The Game of the Century.”

Since that day I haven’t expected too much from local TV and I’m seldom disappointed.

Don Balser, Austintown