Immaculate: How the Steelers Saved Pittsburgh
with Tom O'Lenic
Immaculate: How the Steelers Saved Pittsburgh is a non-fiction book written by Tom O’Lenic & Ray Hartjen. December 23, 2022, marked the 50th anniversary of the “Immaculate Reception,” the National Football League’s greatest and most memorable play. Defying probability —and perhaps even physics — Franco Harris’ catch and resulting touchdown run propelled the Pittsburgh Steelers past the Oakland Raiders in a stirring AFC Divisional Playoff game. The catch served as an inflection point in the fortunes of the Steelers, who had been perennial also-rans for their entire 40 years of existence. Just when the Steelers rose to become championship contenders, the city of Pittsburgh fell into crisis as its once mighty steel industry collapsed under domestic economic and global marketplace pressure. When the city needed something to hold onto, the Steelers provided them foundational strength and a source of pride. Immaculate: How the Steelers Saved Pittsburgh tells the story of a city, its citizens and its beloved professional football team, and how they rallied together to transform their collective fate.
Overview
Situated at the confluence of the Allegheny River and the Monongahela River, where they meet to form the Ohio River, the settlement of Pittsburgh, with its aquatic superhighway routing all the way to New Orleans, was practically destined to become a bustling commercial center. The region was blessed with an almost luxurious abundance of natural resources, including fur-bearing game, lumber, coal, limestone and iron ore. Positioned west of the Appalachian Mountains, and therefore not requiring time-consuming and expensive shipping up and over the mountains, the region was optimally positioned to supply iron and steel for America’s westward expansion.
As the nation’s appetite for steel-based construction grew, so too did the city of Pittsburgh and its neighboring enclave of mill-based towns. It also built the fortunes of the wealthiest industrialists of the era; some of whom gave back to the community, most of whom did not. In over a century of unparalleled economic success and vibrancy, the city thrived, and along the way grew a cultural arts scene and spawned the birth of professional sports teams. Near and dear to the hearts of the locals were the Pittsburgh Steelers professional football team, participating in the new and novel National Football League.
Through decades though, over forty years, the Steelers were perennial also-rans. While the city and its steel mills prospered, the stumbling Steelers were seemingly destined to stay “the same old Steelers.” Then, quickly, the destinies of the Steelers and their city swapped. Almost overnight, the Steelers were competitive, and a genuine championship threat. The steel industry, however, encountered a “perfect storm” of domestic economic and global marketplace challenges, and it, and all its employees, faced an inevitable economic ruin. By the mid-1970s, Pittsburgh was on the precipice. Staring down its darkest moments, it needed heroes. And, they found those heroes in the form of the Pittsburgh Steelers and the team’s players.
With the Steelers’ rough-and-tumble physical style, they dominated opponents on the way to winning four Super Bowl championships in six years. All the while, they provided a galvanizing foundation for the city to rally around.
Pittsburghers, or “Yinzers” in the local lexicon, could have simply left as the city faced economic ruin, and a great many, in fact, did. But, for those who remained, the Steelers provided a model for perseverance and a grinding work ethic. In return, Pittsburgh’s deindustrialization transformation led to the city being reborn as a world leader in academics, health care and technology, and the city is now frequently mentioned in lists of the country’s most livable cities.
Were it not for the Steelers, Pittsburgh’s fate could have easily mirrored that of its heavy industry brethren Detroit after the fall of its automotive titans. Immaculate: How the Steelers Saved Pittsburgh is a book that weaves together the historical stories of Pittsburgh and its beloved professional football team like the linear strands of DNA — antiparallel, twisting throughout, and irrevocably connected together.
The book begins with the history of the region and its Native Peoples, and tells its story of settlement as it weaves in the origin and early history of the Steelers. Then, it traces the rise of the Steelers against the contextual backdrop of the steel industry’s collapse and the city’s unfolding crisis. The Steelers then provide the foundational inflection point for a “New Economy” Pittsburgh to emerge and prosper. Immaculate brings to life the colorful stories and people that shaped a city and a team over the rich tapestry of profoundly different eras.
This Core Conversation is generously sponsored by Belt Magazine.
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