John Garvin McMakin (born September 24, 1950) is a former professional

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Lik ...

who played five seasons in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) from 1972–1976 for the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Detroit Lions and the Seattle Seahawks. He was a member of the Steelers first World Championship,

Super Bowl IX Super Bowl IX was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Minnesota Vikings to decide the National Football League (NFL) cha ...

over the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...

. He was the Steelers' 3rd round draft pick in the

1972 NFL Draft The 1972 NFL draft was held February 1–2, 1972, at the Essex House in New York City, New York. With the first overall pick of the draft, the Buffalo Bills selected defensive end Walt Patulski. Player selections Round one Round two ...

. McMakin played a role in one of the most famous plays in football history, the

Immaculate Reception The Immaculate Reception is one of the most famous plays in the history of American football. It occurred in the AFC divisional playoff game of the National Football League (NFL), between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Oakland Raiders (now La ...

. In a 1972 playoff game between the Steelers and Oakland Raiders, the Raiders were leading 7-6 with a few seconds left. Steelers quarterback

Terry Bradshaw Terry Paxton Bradshaw (born September 2, 1948) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the National Football League (NFL). Since 1994, he has been a television sports analyst an ...

threw a pass to

John Fuqua John William "Frenchy" Fuqua (born September 12, 1947) is a retired professional American football running back who played from 1969 to 1976, for the New York Giants and Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL) and the New York S ...

that deflected off either Fuqua, Raider safety

Jack Tatum John David Tatum (November 18, 1948 – July 27, 2010) was an American football safety. He played 10 seasons, from 1971 through 1980, with the Oakland Raiders and Houston Oilers in the National Football League (NFL). He was popularly known as " ...

or both, and was caught by Steeler running back

Franco Harris Franco Harris (March 7, 1950 – December 20, 2022) was an American professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, primarily for the Pittsburgh Steelers. A nine-time Pro Bowl selection ...

who ran for the winning touchdown. The main controversy of the play was whether ball hit Tatum or not; under the rules of the time Harris' catch would have been illegal if it had not. But another point of controversy was McMakin's block from behind on Raider

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

Phil Villapiano Philip James Villapiano (born February 26, 1949) is a former American football linebacker who played 13 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). Early life Villapiano played high school football at both Asbury Park High School and Ocean ...

which helped free Harris for the touchdown. Villapiano has always maintained that the block was an illegal clip and so even if the catch was legal the touchdown should have been called back. McMakin's pro career ended when he was waived by the Seahawks prior to the 1977 season after the Seahawks acquired tight end John Sawyer from the

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 a ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McMakin, John 1950 births American football tight ends Detroit Lions players Clemson Tigers football players Living people Pittsburgh Steelers players Seattle Seahawks players People from Spartanburg, South Carolina