Former Pittsburgh Steelers OLB James Harrison had no hesitation when asked by ESPN where his Super Bowl pick-six ranked among all-time plays in the NFL’s biggest game.
“One. Stop asking stupid questions. One.”
As part of ESPN’s ongoing “I Scored A Touchdown” series to promote the network hosting next season’s Super Bowl, Harrison retold the story behind the play. While he wasn’t supposed to, he dropped out into coverage, and Kurt Warner threw it right at him. Harrison joked that it felt like he had been running for an “hour” and that the Cardinals had “Carl Lewis the lineman” chasing him down.
James Harrison has no doubt his touchdown was the greatest play in Super Bowl history 😲
🍿 Super Bowl LXI is on ESPN and ABC on Feb. 14, 2027. pic.twitter.com/hcEqz7WTiw
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) March 15, 2026
While Harrison was nearly run down at the end of the play by Cardinals LT Mike Gandy, he finished the play, scoring a touchdown that wound up being pivotal in the Steelers’ 27-23 victory.
It’s a play that hasn’t necessarily earned a lot of respect when it comes to the Super Bowl’s greatest plays. ESPN recently failed to include it on their list of the top 10 Super Bowl plays of all time, while SI ranked it the eighth-greatest Super Bowl moment. While plays like the helmet catch and Malcolm Butler’s game-sealing interception seem to get constant attention, for whatever reason, Harrison’s feat doesn’t get a ton of love at times.
While it didn’t seal the game or come at the end of the game, it was a play that took surefire points off the board for the Cardinals and swung the tide over to Pittsburgh. Without Harrison’s play, the Steelers don’t wind up in Arizona and don’t win their sixth Lombardi. Ranking it outside the top-five Super Bowl plays doesn’t make much sense to me, and not including in the top-ten is a particularly egregious offense.
One of the best parts about the play is that Harrison helped reward Dick LeBeau’s faith in his players. While Harrison was supposed to pass-rush, he stepped out because he thought he could make a play on the ball if Warner didn’t see him or just threw it. Harrison stepped at the tackle to free up a blitzing Lawrence Timmons, and Warner made a mistake that led to Harrison rumbling for one of the greatest plays ever.
Not only was it a smart play by Harrison to recognize that if he stepped at the tackle, Timmons could get free, but also to know that the ball could be coming his way and to be ready for it. And the rest is Super Bowl history.
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