Ethan Robertson

"The 'Criminal Element' Game" September 12, 1976 Some of the overly-aggressive, often dirty plays from the #Steelers-#Raiders clsssic in Oakland Born perhaps from 1972's controversial "Immaculate Reception" involving the two rivals, and certainly exacerbated by Raider safety George Atkinson's injurious cheap shot on Pittsburgh's Lynn Swann in the AFC Championship the previous January, the 1976 opener was full of illegal hits by both teams. The game got completely out of hand in the second half, with many penalties called. Basically there was a cheap shot on seemingly every play. Steelers head coach Chuck Noll commented afterwards: "You have a criminal element in all aspects of society. Apparently, we have it in the NFL too. Maybe we have a law-and-order problem." His comments were at least tacitly directed at Oakland's George Atkinson and Jack Tatum. Noll further suggested that Atkinson be thrown out of the NFL for his actions. NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle fined Atkinson $1,500 for the play, and Noll $1,000 for his comments. In 1977, Atkinson filed a $2 million libel lawsuit against Noll and the Steelers for comments that he felt slandered his reputation. Noll and the Steelers would eventually win the lawsuit, however he was forced to admit under oath that several of his own Pittsburgh players would possibly fall under the label of the same "criminal element" of which he had previously spoken. The 1976 contest stands as one of the roughest games in NFL history.