50 years since Immaculate Rece...

That was the football advice Pittsburgh Steelers running back Franco Harris remembered Joe Paterno, his college coach at Penn State, preaching even if a play call wasn't directly meant for him.

Harris vividly recalled those four words during his Oct. 12 appearance at Pittsburgh's Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum. It was there the four-time Super Bowl champion and Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee discussed 66 Circle Option.

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Or, as it's become better known since the late hours of Dec. 23, 1972, the Immaculate Reception.

It was 50 years ago this month that Harris, then a Steelers rookie, scored what's widely considered the greatest play in the National Football League's 103-year history. It began with 22 seconds left in the fourth quarter of the Steelers' AFC divisional playoff against the visiting Oakland Raiders at Three Rivers Stadium.

The Steelers, trailing 7-6, had to convert a first down on fourth-and-10 from their own 40-yard line. Coach Chuck Noll chose 66 Circle Option because it was one of the offense's few viable plays for such bleak circumstances.

The New Jersey native, who was the league's second-leading career rusher when he retired after 13 seasons, was scheduled to receive his latest honor Saturday, the day after the Immaculate Reception's 50th anniversary. The Associated Press reported that Harris died two days before the anniversary of the iconic play.

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

Pittsburgh will host the Raiders, now based in Las Vegas, on Christmas Eve. The 8:15 p.m. game, to be broadcast live on the NFL Network, will take place at Acrisure Stadium. The team's current home is located just west of where Three Rivers Stadium stood until 2001.

The Steelers will use the occasion to formally retire Harris' No. 32 jersey. He'll join former defensive lineman Ernie Stautner (70) and Joe Greene (75) with that rare honor.

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Past or present northwestern Pennsylvania residents who attended the Immaculate Reception game recently talked with the Erie Times-News about their experiences from that day.

Tom Wedzik

Although Wedzik, 77, now lives most of the year in Lakewood Ranch, Florida, he still spends summers in Erie. No member of the three fans who spoke with the Times-News had a better vantage point of the Immaculate Reception than the 1963 Tech Memorial graduate.

“Our seats were on the (Steelers' side) of the 45-yard line,” he said. “We were about 15 rows up from the field.”

Barry Shapiro

The Immaculate Reception was an over-the-top bonus for Harvey Shapiro. Just attending the Steelers' first-ever playoff game with his 10-year old son, Barry, would have been satisfying enough for the Youngsville resident.

“We had relatives (in Pittsburgh) on my father's side of the family who had season tickets,” Barry Shapiro said. “Dad called an uncle to see if he could warrant two extra tickets.”

Terry Snyder

Like Wedzik, Snyder attended Tech Memorial around the same time Biletnikoff did.

The Erie resident, a 1960 graduate, watched the school's most famous athlete compete for the Centaurs' football team before and after he and his fellow band members performed during halftime of their games. The Immaculate Reception also wasn't the first notable NFL postseason experience for Snyder, now 80.

The United Methodist Church pastor said was on a business trip in Los Angeles over the second weekend of January 1967. He sought to see as many of its noted landmarks as possible before returning to western Pennsylvania.

Immaculate marks the spot

It was Dec. 22, 2012, the day before the Immaculate Reception's 40th anniversary, that the play finally received its most significant memorial. Much of where Three Rivers Stadium stood is now Acricure Stadium's eastern parking lots.

However, thanks to Three Rivers' blueprints, combined with the fortuitous placement of a sidewalk, the exact spot where Harris caught the ball was determined. An Immaculate Reception Memorial, with a replica of Harris' left cleat, marks the exact spot where he began his dash into sports history.