Former Steelers running back Franco Harris, a Hall of Famer who helped Pittsburgh win four Super Bowls during the 1970s, has died. He was 72.
While Harris is best remembered for authoring perhaps the NFL’s signature play — 1972’s “Immaculate Reception” — he finished his career third on the all-time rushing list and was one of the most celebrated players of his era. The Associated Press confirms Harris died in his sleep overnight; no cause of death was provided.
Friday marks the 50th anniversary of the Steelers’ 13-7 divisional-round win over the Raiders, a game Pittsburgh won despite facing a fourth-and-10 on its own 40-yard line with 22 seconds remaining. Harris catching a Terry Bradshaw pass, which ricocheted to him after a collision between Raiders safety Jack Tatum and Steelers running back John “Frenchy” Fuqua, at his shoe-tops and sprinting for a miraculous touchdown gave Pittsburgh its first playoff win and launched one of the NFL’s greatest dynasties. The NFL is set to honor the play this weekend, when the Steelers host the Raiders on Christmas Eve. The Steelers are retiring Harris’ No. 32 on Saturday as well.
“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,” Pro Football Hall of Fame president Jim Porter said in a statement. “The Hall of Fame and historians everywhere will tell Franco’s football story forever. His life story can never be told fully, however, without including his greatness off the field.”
A first-round pick out of Penn State in 1972, Harris made the first of his nine consecutive Pro Bowls as a rookie. He finished his career with the Seahawks in 1984, having rushed for 12,120 yards — a total then topped only by Walter Payton and Jim Brown. Harris joined Bradshaw, Lynn Swann, John Stallworth and Mike Webster as Steelers Hall of Famers on offense from that era. Two years after Harris’ storied catch, he earned MVP honors in the first of the team’s Super Bowl wins. The bruising back rushed for 158 yards on 34 carries in the Steelers’ 16-6 victory over the Vikings in Super Bowl IX.
The Fort Dix, N.J., native finished his career with 100 regular-season touchdowns and added 17 more in the playoffs. He led the NFL with 14 rushing scores in 1976, when he and Rocky Bleier became the second pair of teammates to each surpass 1,000 rushing yards in a season. Harris was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1990, in his first year of eligibility. Harris is survived by his wife, Dana Dokmanovich, and his son, Dok.
