Sad news from the NFL tonight. Franco Harris, the star running back and NFL Hall of Fame member of the dynasty Pittsburgh Steelers of the 1970's, has died. He was 72 years old.
Harris is best known for having been an integral part of that Steelers team from 1972 to 1983. They won four Super Bowl championships in a six-year span. That established a record amount of Super Bowl titles in such a short duration which still stands to this day. He was named the MVP of Super Bowl IX, the first of the four Steelers Super Bowl titles of the seventies.
The success that the Steelers had as the NFL's "Team of the Decade" in the seventies greatly altered the public perception of the city of Pittsburgh. Prior to that, before the 1970's, Pittsburgh had the reputation as tough, blue-collar kind of town with working class people, particularly in the steel industry. Not too glamorous, by any stretch. But that success was followed with more sports success. The Pirates had enjoyed some success and won at least one or two World Series up to that point, and then the Penguins would obtain Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr, and win two straight Stanley Cup titles in the early nineties. Since then, both the Steelers and the Penguins have continued to win championships and enjoy serious success at the highest levels, and the city of Pittsburgh has benefited. Compare it's reputation as an interesting city to visit, versus the reputation of other "Rust Belt" cities, such as Cleveland, Detroit, or Buffalo, not to mention other similar cities. A lot of that had to do with the sports success that Pittsburgh specifically continually enjoyed, and Franco Harris was a major part of that in the earliest days, when the Steelers established themselves not merely as a formidable team, but as the preeminent team of the era of the 1970's
Harris also was a prominent part in what wound up being one of the most famous and even iconic plays in NFL history during the 1972 playoffs. It was referred to as the "Immaculate Reception," when a pass intended for a Steeler instead bounced off of that played. Pretty much everyone thought that the play was dead save for Harris, who scooped up the ball just before it hit the ground, and then ran it in for a winning touchdown with very little time left. The Steelers had been trailing the Raiders 7-6 up to that point, and that pretty much lifted them over the Raiders, allowing them to advance. However, under the rules that existed in the NFL back then, it should have been ruled dead, and remains controversial, even to this day. The late John Madden maintained that the only reason that the touchdown call stood was that the referees had called to find out that no additional police protection could arrive to protect them, forcing them to allow that touchdown to stand. In other words, they literally feared for their life and safety if they ruled against the hometown Steelers, and so that was why the touchdown - which they knew should not have stood - remained. But Pittsburgh went on to win the game, and that game is often cited as having lifted the Steelers to that dynasty, which remains one of the most dominant teams in NFL history. Harris was a prominent and iconic member of that team, and that particular play made him a star in the league.
His death came just days before the 50th anniversary of that play. After retiring from football, Harris co-owned a bakery and became active in politics, even running for mayor of Pittsburgh, and finishing second. He always seemed like a very decent guy to me, every time that I saw him on television and/or heard him talking.
RIP, Franco Harris.
Steelers Hall-of-Famer Franco Harris dead at 72 Harris passed away on Tuesday published by WTAE, December 21, 2022;
https://www.wtae.com/article/steelers-hall-of-famer-franco-harris-dead-at-72/42304035
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