Call it the Immaculate Handoff.

Fifty years ago Friday, Jim Baker and his then-14-year-old nephew, Bobby Pavuchak, attended the Pittsburgh Steelers’ playoff game against the Oakland Raiders at Three Rivers Stadium. On that day, Dec. 23, 1972, they witnessed what is generally regarded as the greatest play in NFL history: Franco Harris’ improbable, last-second, game-winning touchdown.

The Immaculate Reception.

Moments after Harris scooped the deflected Terry Bradshaw pass out of midair just inches from the turf and made his way into the end zone, fans started streaming onto the field. That’s when Baker, now 76, turned to his nephew and said, “Let’s go.”

“We were probably about 10 or 12 rows behind where the dugout was,” said Pavuchak, 64, who, like his uncle, is from West Mifflin. “At 14, jumping off that dugout was really high for me.

“We were in the end zone congratulating the players like everybody else while (game officials) were figuring things out.”

After Harris scored, the ball was kept in play and used for Steelers kicker Roy Gerela’s extra-point try. Baker, Pavuchak and others were keeping track of the historic ball as it moved around the field, and Baker and Pavuchak positioned themselves behind the goal posts with hopes of grabbing the souvenir of a lifetime.

“We were in that one corner, and when Gerela kicked it, it went high to the right and caromed off the cement (wall) above us down into a pile of people,” Pavuchak said. “It was a total pileup. I was down in there, but I got crushed. But Uncle Jim came up with it. And he just came firing out of the pile and said, ‘Run!’ ”

Baker and Pavuchak made it about halfway across the field with the ball before Baker turned around, stuffed it into Pavuchak’s oversized winter jacket and made like a blocker as they tore through the crowd.

• Steelers greats recall The Immaculate Reception as it turns 50

“He said, ‘Stay on my (butt); don’t stop for anything!’ And we just ran up the ramp and out of the stadium. So it was pretty crazy,” Pavuchak said. “Uncle Jim stopped this couple sitting in a ’58 Pontiac, and he was like, ‘Hey, can you ride us over the (Fort Pitt) bridge to our car? We got the ball. And the guy is like, ‘What? If I can see it, I’ll let you.’ And we just jumped in this couple’s car and drove across the bridge. It was incredible.”

Baker said he offered to give the ball to the Steelers in exchange for lifetime season tickets, but the Steelers declined. (When contacted by the Tribune-Review, longtime Steelers public relations maven Joe Gordon, who worked for the team from 1969 to 1998, said he had never heard of such an offer.)

Baker has held onto the ball since, declining offers from memorabilia collectors. He described one offer as being worth more than $1 million. Instead, he said he has kept the Immaculate Reception ball in a bank vault in West Mifflin.

One might wonder what made Baker turn down such lucrative offers. He has a simple answer.

“The ball is tied to my family history because my son, Sam, who passed away, was born that week. I came home (from the game) and dedicated the ball to my two sons, Sam and Ben (age 3 at the time),” Baker said. “As far as money, because of that connection to Sam and Ben, I’ve just refused to give up that football.”

Every so often, Baker brings the ball out for public appearances, including one with Harris in 1997 to commemorate the play’s 25th anniversary. It was the first time Harris had touched the ball since the day the play happened.

“That was the first time that Uncle Jim tossed the ball to Franco,” Pavuchak said.

Baker and Pavuchak were on hand in October when the Senator John Heinz History Center unveiled an exhibit to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the play. The installation features the ball on public view in a museum exhibition for just the second time. The exhibition runs through Jan. 31, 2024, but the football will be there only through Dec. 26.

At the History Center event, Baker credited his nephew with making it all possible.

“He’s responsible for getting me the tickets from his dad (late Pittsburgh Press photographer Robert J. Pavuchak). He’s responsible for running down with me,” Baker said. “He’s responsible for protecting that ball, even at age 14.”

Baker went on to tell Harris, “Truthfully, you’re the best thing that ever happened to Pittsburgh.” Harris, in turn, thanked Baker for protecting the ball for the past half-­century.

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