2009 James Harrison Super Bowl XLIII "Immaculate Interception" Game Used Football from The James Harrison Collection. ...

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2009 James Harrison Super Bowl XLIII "Immaculate Interception" Game Used Football from The James Harrison Collection. It's been said that lightning never strikes twice, but you'll never convince a Pittsburgh Steelers fan of that maxim, as they've seen proof to the contrary with their own eyes. Two days before Christmas of 1972, the Steelers found themselves at the brink of the abyss, trailing the Oakland Raiders in the AFC Divisional and facing fourth-and-ten at their own forty yard line with just twenty-two seconds remaining. Terry Bradshaw launched a pass toward receiver John "Frenchy" Fuqua, that ball arriving at the same moment as a brutal hit from Raiders safety Jack Tatum. The impact sent the ball bounding back in the direction of the line of scrimmage, by all appearances a game-ending incompletion. But Hall of Fame fullback Franco Harris (may he rest in peace) rescued the ball inches from the turf and rumbled into the end zone to stun the football world and send the Steelers to the AFC Championship Game. It's considered the greatest play in NFL history, "The Immaculate Reception."

Just over thirty-six years later, it was James Harrison who sent Steeler Nation into joyous pandemonium, this time in the biggest game of them all. After the Cardinals intercepted Ben Roethlisberger at the two-minute warning of the first half, Kurt Warner marched his Cardinals to the one-yard line for first-and-goal with eighteen seconds to play. It seemed virtually certain that the Cards would claim their first lead of the game just before Bruce Springsteen took the field in Tampa, but Harrison the sack machine faked the blitz Warner was certain would come and jumped the pass, intercepting it at the goal line.

Check the video at our online listing and you'll see it took every last ounce of energy for the 240-pound linebacker to rumble the full length of the field and crash into the opposite end zone as time expired, a fourteen-point swing that effectively sealed the eventual 27-13 victory for Pittsburgh.

This is the ball that broke a million Arizona hearts, bearing the logo of "Super Bowl XLIII" and the "Cardinals" stamp below indicating use by the Arizona offense. Just above the Roger Goodell facsimile signature we find a handwritten "77," applied by head referee Terry McAulay, who wore that number. A handwritten "92" on the laces was applied by a Steelers staffer on the sidelines to ensure this historic pigskin would make its way back to the man who took it on its wild ride. Letter of provenance from James Harrison. LOA from Heritage Auctions.