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Steelers reflect on John Stallworth's memorable Super Bowl XIV

Joe Rutter
| Sunday, November 10, 2019 5:07 p.m.
Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review
Steelers president Art Rooney II speaks with Lynn Swann as the Super Bowl XIV Champions will be honored Sunday, Nov. 10, 2019 at Heinz Field.

Unlike the most famous catch in Pittsburgh Steelers franchise history, it doesn’t have a clever nickname.

In NFL annals, it’s simply known by the terminology from the playbook: 60 Prevent Slot Hook and Go.

Without it, the Pittsburgh Steelers might not have celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Super Bowl XIV championship team Sunday afternoon at Heinz Field.

John Stallworth’s 73-yard touchdown reception on a third-and-8 bomb from Terry Bradshaw, a play that never once was completed in practice leading up to the game, propelled the Steelers to a fourth-quarter lead and 31-19 victory against the Los Angeles Rams that provided the franchise its fourth Super Bowl title in six years.

And the greatest player in franchise history thinks it’s about time the play gets its proper credit.

“We’ve had a lot of fantastic plays here,” Joe Greene said Sunday before the 1979 champions were feted at halftime of the Steelers game against the Rams. “The Immaculate Reception, Lynn Swann’s catch in Super Bowl X, but that catch right there resonated.

“That was the one that made XIV stand out.”

Stallworth’s over-the-shoulder catch and run turned a 19-17 deficit into a 24-19 advantage. After Jack Lambert’s interception thwarted a Rams drive, Bradshaw and Stallworth connected on a 45-yard completion — utilizing the same play call — that set up Franco Harris’ clinching 1-yard touchdown run, his second of the game.

Stallworth finished with three catches for 121 yards, but the MVP award went to Bradshaw, who passed for 309 yards and two touchdowns against three interceptions. It was the game of Stallworth’s life.

“It was a dream come true,” Stallworth said. “I think it’s what every kid dreams of coming up and starting to play football: to have your biggest game in the biggest game of the year. To come up with the winning catch in that game was a dream come true.”

Stallworth’s heroics came with Swann, the Steelers’ other Hall of Fame receiver, standing on the sideline with a concussion. Swann was injured in the third quarter sometime after his 47-yard touchdown catch from Bradshaw had given the Steelers a 17-13 lead.

“After they pulled me out and said I wasn’t going back in, I kept telling them, ‘I can still play. I can still play,’ ” Swann said. “I was very aware of what was going on. In some of the footage, you’ll see me going out and giving John a high-five after he scored the touchdown and made the great catch.”

Perhaps if Swann, the MVP of Super Bowl X, is still in the game, Stallworth isn’t the target of 60 Prevent Slot Hook and Go.

“You never know,” Swann said, smiling. “John did a great job. When a player gets his number called in a game like that, you step up and make the play. The fact I wasn’t in there, does that mean Terry was going to look at John more? Probably.

“And John came through.”

The weekend reunion brought together 35 members of the ’79 championship team. Stallworth and Swann participated in the ceremonial pregame Terrible Towel twirl.


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