Franco Harris, the Hall of Fame running back whose heads-up thinking led to the most famous play in the history of the National Football League, has died. He was old.
Dok said his father died overnight. There wasn't a cause of death.
He died two days before the 50th anniversary of the play that helped transform the Steelers from also-rans into the league's elite and three days before Pittsburgh is scheduled to retire his No. 32 during a ceremony at halftime of its game against the Las Vegas Raiders.
Harris ran for over 12,000 yards in his career and won four Super Bowl rings with the PittsburghSteelers in the 1970s, a dynasty that began when Harris decided to keep running during a last-second heave by Terry Bradshaw in a playoff game against Oakland in 1972.
With Pittsburgh trailing 6-7 and facing a fourth-and-10 from their own 40 yard line, Bradshaw threw a ball to French Fuqua. The ball was sent back toward the center of the field by the collision between the two Oakland players.
While nearly everyone else on the field stopped, Harris kept his legs moving, snatching the ball just inches above the Three Rivers Stadium turf near the Oakland 45 then outracing several stunned Raider defenders to give theSteelers their first playoff victory in the franchise's four-decade history.
The ”Immaculate Reception” was voted the greatest play in NFL history during the league's 100thanniversary season in 2020.
After the 1974 and 1975 seasons, Pittsburgh won back-to-back Super Bowls, the first after the 1978 and 1979 seasons, and the second after the 1983 and 1984 seasons.
The workhorse from Penn State found himself in the center of it all. He won the game's Most Valuable Player award after rushing for 158 yards and a touchdown in Pittsburgh's victory over Minnesota. He scored at least once in three of the four Super Bowls he played in, and his 354 career yards rushing on the NFL's biggest stage remains a record nearly 40 years after his retirement.
Harris was born in Fort Dix, New Jersey, on March 7, 1950, and played collegiately at Penn State. Harris was the 13th overall pick in the 1972 draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers, who were in the final stages of a rebuild.
Lynn Swann said that Franco Harris gave the offense heart, discipline, and desire when he was drafted by Noll.
The impact was instantaneous. He won the NFL'sRookie of the Year award in 1972 after rushing for a then-team-rookie record 1,055 yards and 10 touchdown as the Steelers reached the playoffs.
The city's large Italian-American population embraced Harris immediately, led by two local businessmen who founded what became known as "Franco's Italian Army."
Harris was a star because of theculate reception, but he preferred to let his play do the talking. The quiet Harris spent 12 seasons as the engine that helped Pittsburgh's offense go, on a team that featured big personalities in Bradshaw, defensive tackle Joe Greene, and LB JackLambert.
He ran for over 1,000 yards eight times in a season and five times in a 14-game schedule. He had 1,556 yards rushing and 16 rushing touchdown in the playoffs, second only to Smith.
Harris said he was just one part of an amazing machine that redefined greatness.
Harris said during his Hall of Fame speech in 1990 that each player brought their own piece with them. Each player had their own strengths and weaknesses and their own methods. It all came together to forge the greatest team of all time.
Harris stuck up for his teammates. Harris demanded Bradshaw give him the ball on the next play when Bradshaw took what Harris felt was an illegal late hit from Henderson in the 1978 Super Bowl. All Harris did was sprint up the middle 22 yards, right by Henderson, for a touchdown that gave the Steelers an 11 point lead they would not relinquish on their way to their third championship in six years.
His time in Pittsburgh ended in acrimony after he held out during training camp in 1984 and the team cut him. When asked about Harris' absence from the team's camp, Noll replied "Franco who?"
In eight games with Seattle, Harris ran for 170 yards, but was released in the middle of the season. He retired as the third all-time leading scorer in the league.
Harris said in 2006 that he didn't even think about that. "I'm still black and gold."
After retiring, Harris opened a bakery and became heavily involved in several charities, including serving as the chairman of "Pittsburgh Promise", a college scholarship program for Pittsburgh Public School students.
Harris is survived by his family.
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