Back in 1972, it was a whole different time for the Steeler nation. There were no 4 Super Bowls, only a disheartening 21-0 loss to the Eagels in the 1947 Eastern Division playoff. You never made the statement "That idiot could never even fill Bradshaw's shoes", when comparing current day quarterback's to the Steeler Hall of Famer, you only wondered if that idiot Bradshaw was anywhere as good as Kent Nix, there's a scary name from the past.

The Rooney's of course were considered one of the lovable losers of the NFL and not the architects of one of the greatest frachises in the history of the game as they are known today. Yeah, it was a whole different ball game for the Steelers back then, that is until 1972 came around.

The Steelers were coming off a 6-8 season in 1971, which if you consider that only 2 years earlier they had been 1-13, you have to say you were pretty impressed. Despite the fact that the team was young and on the rise, a .500 season was about the best you would expect from this squad.

They opened the season as underdogs against the perrenial AFC powerhouse Oakland Raiders. The Steelers started off the season with a blocked punt, which led to a Henry Davis TD, and built a surprising big 34-7 lead early in the 4th quarter. It was at that point that Oakland QB Daryl Lamonica caught fire completing 8-10 passing for a 172 yards and 2 TD's closing the margin to 34-28. Just as it seemed like the walls were caving in on Pittsburgh once again, they found the will to survive and hung on for the victory, despite Bradshaw's 3 int's.

Pittsburgh strolled into Cincinatti in their next encounter and built a 10-3 halftime lead, before falling on the wrong end of 5 Horst Muhlmann fg's and a 15-10 loss.

The team was 1-1, the offense was struggling, and a trip to St Louis seemed to spell another long season for the Black & Gold, but Low and Behold the offense woke up. Bradshaw completed 25-40 for 229 yds and a 4th quarter 38 yd TD pass to Frank Lewis which brought the Steelers from a 19-18 deficit to the 25-19 victory. Versitile back Preston Pearson ran for 78 yds on 13 carries as the offense racked up 362 yds, almost the same amount it had in the 1st two games combined. A trip to Dallas to face the soon to be hated Cowboys would end the early 3 game road trip and answer a lot of questions about what was soon to come.

The Cowboys were the defending Super Bowl champions, and would be a good barometer for this team. The Steelers struck early on 2 Gerela FG's and a Mel Blount 35yd return of a Dallas fumble to build a 13-3 2cnd quarter lead. It was at that point Calvin Hill came to the rescue. Hill ,who gained 108 yds on the day, scored on a 1 yd run and the threw a 55 yd pass to Sellers on a halfback option in the 3rd, to lead the Cowboys to the come from behind 17-13 win. Despite the fact Pittsburgh was now 2-2, they played with dallas, step for step, and it gave them that all important confidence that young teams need.

The Steelers finally came home the next week to face the Houston Oilers. It was at this point that the number 1 pick from Penn State,who had been pretty insignificant in the 1st four games, awoke. His name of course was Franco Harris and Harris would begin a streak that would lead him from a man the Steelers were not sure if they even wanted ( remember they weren't sure wheather or not to pick Harris or Robert Newhouse ), to the AFC Rookie of the Year. He rambled for 115 yds on only 19 attempts and a TD in the 24-7 victory. The Steeler Defense was beginning to make a name for themselves as the held the Oilers to only 108 yds of offense, including 0 passing.

The Patriots were sent home packing the next week 33-3 as Pittsburgh racked up 426 yds of offense including 111 from the french man himself, John Fuqua.

Harris rambled for 138 yds the next week in a 38-21 victory over the Bills (a game inwhich future Judge Ito adversary OJ Simpson was held to "only" 183 yds) and added another 101 in a 40-17 revenge match against the Bengals.

The winning streak was at 4, the record stood at 6-2 and AFC power Kansas City was coming to the 'Burgh next.

Franco was at his best as he racked up 134 of Pittsburgh's 238 rushing yards, and kicker Roy Gerela added 3 FG's in a 16-7 win, which gave the team 7 wins, which was one more than they had all of last year, with 5 to play. A first post season apperance since the 1947 Eastern Division championship game not only seemed possible but probible.

The Steelers visited the mistake by the lake the next week with a 5 game winning streak in hand and a chance to sent the hated Browns a big message. Cleveland led 23-10 midway in the 3rd period, when the Steelers scored twice, once on a Fuqua 1 yd run and 1 in the 4th on a 75 yd Franco gallop to build a 24-23 lead. A victory wasnt to be though as Don Crokroft booted a 26 yd FG for the 26-24 Browns victory. Harris would get 136 yds on the day, but it wasnt enough to counteract Leroy Kelly's 107 yds and Mike Phipps 194 yds passing. Pittsburgh made the valient effort, but came up short.

After the Steelers beat up the Vikes 23-10 on Harris' 128 yds rushing, Pittsburgh would get a second shot at Cleveland, this time in 3 rivers, this time, they wouldn't just settle for a victory, they would settle for nothing more than humiliation. The game was never really close as Pittsburgh rolled 337 yds of Offenseto a mere 127 for the Clowns in a 30-0 thrashing of Cleveland. The win not only meant a message was sent to the rest of the NFL that this team was for real, but it meant that with victories in it's last 2 games, Pittsburgh would do something it had never done before, win a division crown.

After winning in Houston,9-3, a game inwhich Harris' six game 100 yd streak was broken, the Steelers went to san Diego to meet the Chargers. After Bradshaw was sacked in the endzone to cut their lead to 7-2 in the 1st quarter, the team put it in overdrive and never looked back. Fuqua went in from 2 yds out and Ron Shanklin caught a 17 yd pass in the 4th, en route to a 24-2 win and the Central Division crown.

You couldn't blame the Steelers for being satisfied with the Division crown and maybe not thinking about their next opponent, the Raiders. After all they defied all odds and did something no other Steeler team ever did, win a title, but that was not the trademark of this team, they wanted more, they wanted it all. Against Oakland the built a 6-0 lead, a lead that appeared like it would hold up, until the snake, Kenny Stabler scrambled 30 yds on an improbable TD and a 7-6 Raider lead with 1:13 left. You know what happened next, on a 4th down, Pittsburgh's last chance, 60 yds from a TD and no hope, bradshaw unleashes a bomb that goes off Safety Jack Tatum,(you thought you'd catch me saying Fuqua, didn't you)into the arms of Franco Harris who went in for the miracle TD and the 13-7 win. It was a win that was the beginning of what was to be a legendary run for the Steelers. Despite the fact the would lose to the undefeated Miami Dolphins the next week 21-17 on a fake punt 37 yd run by Miami Punter Larry Seiple, it was this team that set up the 4 Super Bowl victories that would follow. If this team hadn't accomplished what it did, who knows how many Super Bowls it would have won with any. Had they fallen apart early on after blowing the huge lead to Oakland and losing 2 heartbreakers in the next three games, this team could have gone back into a rebuilding phase that would have set it back a few years. You can give all the praise in the world to the champions of 74,75,78 and 79, but you need to honor this team also, for it was the confidence gained in 1972 that led to those titles. All hail th 1972 Steelers.

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