He was a member of the Steelers first World Championship, Super Bowl IX over the Minnesota Vikings.
Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw threw a pass to John Fuqua that deflected off either Fuqua, Raider safety Jack Tatum or both, and was caught by Steeler running back Franco Harris 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 Phil Villapiano 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.