Franco Harris, a Pro Football Hall of Fame running back best known for scoring a touchdown in a play known as the “Immaculate Reception,” has died, nearly 50 years to the day of the iconic play.
“The pro football world today is mourning the death of Franco Harris, a man whose football accomplishments and commitment to team and community reached iconic status in his adopted hometown of Pittsburgh, Pa.,” the Pro Football Hall of Fame said in a statement to NBC News on Dec. 21.
“Harris died overnight, his family said. No cause was listed. He was 72.”
A graduate of Penn State University, Harris was the Steelers' first-round draft pick in 1972. He would win Rookie of the Year and quickly became one of the stalwarts of the Steelers’ legendary teams of the 1970s.
The franchise had suffered years of futility before a run of four Super Bowl wins during that decade, a dynasty that would be prefaced with a Dec. 23, 1972, playoff game against the Oakland Raiders and the “Immaculate Reception.”
The Raiders led 7-6 with the Steelers facing a fourth-and-10 from their 40-yard line and 22 seconds to play in the game. Quarterback Terry Bradshaw scrambled and threw a pass intended for running back Frenchy Fuqua, who was hit by Oakland’s Jack Tatum. The ball ricocheted down toward the ground where a quick-thinking Harris grabbed it and ran about 45 yards for the game-winning score. The play is considered by many to be the best in NFL history.
“People will never have to ask what the greatest play in Steelers history is,” Steelers President Dan Rooney told The Canton Repository in 1990. “Franco’s Immaculate Reception stands head and shoulders above all the rest. It was a miracle play that just lifted the Steelers to a new level.”
The Steelers would lose the next week in the AFC Championship, but it is widely believed that play helped set the stage for the team’s four Super Bowl wins that would follow. Harris would be named MVP of Super Bowl IX, the first of those four titles.
Harris played with the Steelers from 1972 until 1983. He played part of one more season in Seattle in 1984 before retiring and would be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1990.
“The entire team at the Pro Football Hall of Fame is immensely saddened today,” Pro Football Hall of Fame President Jim Porter said Dec. 21.
“We have lost an incredible football player, an incredible ambassador to the Hall and, most importantly, we have lost one of the finest gentlemen anyone will ever meet. Franco not only impacted the game of football, but he also affected the lives of many, many people in profoundly positive ways,” he added.
The Steelers never had a losing record while Harris played for the team. He retired as one of the league’s top three all-time leading rushers, holding or tying two dozen NFL records.
“When (head coach Chuck Noll) drafted Franco Harris, he gave the offense heart, he gave it discipline, he gave it desire, he gave it the ability to win a championship in Pittsburgh,” teammate Lynn Swann said of Harris while presenting him during Harris' induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. “He gave us pride by his work ethic.”
“We wanted to be able to run the football. He gave us that something special, and he could go all the way,” Noll said.
Interestingly, the Steelers are scheduled to retire Harris’ No. 32 during the Dec. 24 game against the Las Vegas Raiders, which comes one day after the 50th anniversary of the “Immaculate Reception.”
“My grandfather was once quoted as saying: ‘Before Franco got here, we didn’t win much, since he got here, we don’t lose.’ I think that sums it up pretty good,” Steelers President Art Rooney II said in September when the team announced plans to retire his number. “Franco’s impact on the franchise would be hard to overstate.”