The Immaculate Reception, 40 years later

In 1972, I was 12 years old and was one of those kids who was a fan of both the 49ers and the Raiders.  The Raiders made things easy for me by deserting Oakland in 1981, and even though they would return 14 years later, it was never the same.  But back in those days, if I had to choose one team, it would probably have been the Raiders.

I remember exactly where I was when this play happened - I was in the back of our Kingswood Estate station wagon, listening to Bill King call the game on radio, with the family on our way to an early Christmas celebration in Woodland.  And yes, I cried when it happened.  By the time we got there I had recovered, and was numb enough that the 49ers' blowing a 12 point lead against the hated Dallas Cowboys to lose 30-28 barely fazed me at all.

What strikes me watching this video today, as it was shown on live TV, is how fast everything happened.  All these years, we've seen this play in nothing but slow motion, so to see it as it occurred is almost a blur.

Still unbelievable, all these years later.