Moments of Destiny

Moments of Destiny
By LLT


December 23, 1972: With 22 seconds left in the game, the Steelers are trailing the Oakland Raiders 7-6 with a 4th down and 10 yards to go. Terry Bradshaw throws to Frenchy Fuqua, who collides with raiders safety, Jack "The Assassin" Tatum as he tried to make a catch. Franco Harris catches the deflected football just before it hits the ground, and he runs it in for a touchdown.


January 18,1976: Pittsburgh kicker Roy Gerela, misses a field goal. Cliff Harris of the Cowboys runs up, claps both hands on Roy's helmet and says 'Nice going. That really helps us”. Smilin’ Jack Lambert takes some offense and grabs Harris by the shoulder pads and tosses him to the ground. The Steelers instantly go from being intimidated to being the intimidators and win Super Bowl X, 21-17.

January 15, 2006: With 1:20 left in the game, Pittsburgh's Joey Porter sacks Colts quarterback Peyton Manning on fourth down at the Indianapolis's 2-yard line. It was all but over. Winning 21-18 Pittsburgh is ready to ice the win, when running back Jerome Bettis goes for the short yardage touchdown but coughs up the ball. Colts defensive player Nick Harper picks up the fumble and races towards the opposite end zone. Ben Roethlisberger is all that stands between Harper and a Colts touchdown. Roethlisberger starts backpedaling, changes direction, and makes a diving tackle on Nick Harper, stopping him on the Colts 42 yard line.



These are moments etched in the minds of the Steeler Nation. Moments that some may say defined Steelers football for a generation of fans. But can any one moment actually define a team? Is there a place, or places, in the space/time continuum that determines the future of a person or an organization? The argument seems to have always fallen into two camps. Those that hold to the belief that there are crossroads in time that determine destiny and those that think most outcomes are the result of mathematical equations.

The first camp is more emotional in their assessment of those moments that defined Steelers history. They will talk about “momentum” and “changed mindsets”. They will talk about the passionate appeals of retiring players and the affect it had the team. The will bring up phrases like “having a chip on their shoulder” and “being the underdog”. This camp believes that our team is a team of destiny, propelled through history by preordained, pivotal moments. They can remember specific dates that they believe were the catalysts towards a karma determined end.

The second camp is much more analytical. The will quote stats for each year, and show through mathematical equations why some years we were champions, and others we were unable to achieve. They will present the rankings of our defense, offense, and special teams. They will prove their points with; yards per carry, third down statistics, and red zone efficiency. In their world, wins and losses are completely reliant, and explained through, formula and equation.

I tend to fall in between these two schools of thought. In fact, I think that there are hundreds of “moments” throughout each season that each team has to take advantage of. I believe that the only way to take advantage of those moments is through hard work and through near perfect execution. The funny thing is that hard work and good execution produces good stats and good stats produce good rankings.

In my mind, moments of destiny are those times in which well coached and well trained players achieve at critical times. Lambert was passionate, but he was a workout warrior and understood fundamentals. Roethlisberger and Harris were lucky, but they put themselves in positions to take advantage of those "moments" they were given, through great football awareness and through practice and preparation.

Are the 2010 Steelers a "Team of Destiny"? The answer doesn't lie in the hands of fate or in the reliance on numbers. Its in the weight room. It's in the film room. The destiny of this team lies in sweat and blood...not in stats or fate.


-LLT