Hall of Fame running back Franco Harris has died. He was 72. Harris' heads-up thinking authored “The Immaculate Reception.”
PITTSBURGH — Franco Harris, the Hall of Fame running back whose heads-up thinking authored “The Immaculate Reception,” considered the most iconic play in NFL history, has died. He was 72.
Harris ran for 12,120 yards and won four Super Bowl rings with the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1970s, a dynasty that began in earnest when Harris decided to keep running during a last-second heave by Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw in a playoff game against Oakland in 1972. “That play really represents our teams of the ’70s,” Harris said after the ”Immaculate Reception" was voted the greatest play in NFL history during the league's 100th anniversary season in 2020.
Born in Fort Dix, New Jersey, on March 7, 1950, Harris played collegiately at Penn State, where his primary job was to open holes for backfield mate Lydell Mitchell. The Steelers, in the final stages of a rebuild led by Hall of Fame coach Chuck Noll, saw enough in Harris to make him the 13th overall pick in the 1972 draft.
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,” a nod to Harris' roots as the son of an African-American father and an Italian mother. Despite his gaudy numbers, Harris stressed he was just one cog in an extraordinary machine that redefined greatness.
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