Franco Harris, a four-time Super Bowl champion with the Pittsburgh Steelers who was briefly the NFL's second all-time leading rusher behind only the incomparable Jim Brown (before Walter Payton surpassed both players during the 1984 season), passed away yesterday at the age of 72. Harris was the key participant in the most famous play in NFL history, the "Immaculate Reception," but his career was characterized not just by one great moment but rather by sustained greatness as he accumulated eight 1000 yard rushing seasons and earned nine Pro Bowl selections plus the Super Bowl IX MVP.
Harris made a big impact as a rookie in 1972, rushing for 1055 yards while averaging 5.6 yards per attempt and scoring 10 rushing touchdowns. He ranked second in the league in yards per attempt, third in the league in rushing touchdowns, and sixth in the league in rushing yards en route to winning the AP Rookie of the Year award and finishing eighth in MVP voting. The Steelers improved from 6-8 in 1971 to 11-3 in 1972, qualifying for the playoffs for the first time since 1947; the Steelers won at least 10 games in six of the next seven seasons, capturing four Super Bowl titles along the way (1974-75, 1978-79).
Although the 1972 playoff run did not culminate in a Super Bowl title, it was still quite memorable. In the Divisional Round, the Steelers faced 4th and 10 while trailing the Oakland Raiders 7-6 with 22 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. Terry Bradshaw threw a deep pass to running back Frenchy Fuqua, who collided with defensive back Jack Tatum as the ball arrived. The ball flew back through the air before Harris caught it just inches above the turf and raced to the end zone for the game-winning touchdown. Raiders fans insist to this day that the play was illegal under the rules at the time--which would be correct if the ball hit Fuqua before Tatum touched the ball (an illegal "double touch" by the offense until that rule was changed in 1978)--but the point here is not what the officials called but rather that Harris put himself at the right place at the right time to make the game-winning play. Local sportscaster Myron Cope is credited with terming the play the "Immaculate Reception."
The Steelers lost 21-17 in the AFC Championship Game to the soon to be 17-0 Miami Dolphins, but Harris' arrival signified the beginning of the Steelers' dynasty that dominated the NFL for the next several years. Before Harris joined the team in 1972, the Steelers had never won a playoff game. The Steelers went 14-5 in the playoffs with Harris (he missed one playoff game due to injury, a 24-7 loss to the Raiders in the 1976 AFC Championship Game). Former Steelers defensive lineman John Banaszak declared, "For me,
Franco was one of the greatest money backs of all time. When the game
was on
the line, when the games got more important, when the championship was
on the line the better Franco Harris was."
Harris' numbers back up Banaszak's statement. Harris set the Super Bowl single game rushing record (since broken) with 158 yards as Pittsburgh defeated Minnesota 16-6 in Super Bowl IX. He scored at least one touchdown in three of Pittsburgh's four Super Bowl wins, and his 354 career Super Bowl rushing yards remains the all-time record nearly 40 years after he retired. Harris retired as the NFL's career postseason rushing leader with 1556 yards, a total that has only been surpassed by Emmitt Smith (1586 yards).
Harris was a big, powerful runner who did most of his damage between the tackles, but he also had breakaway speed (he had a 75 yard run as a rookie, and he also had a 71 yard run in 1979). He never won a regular season rushing title, but he ranked in the top 10 eight times, including a second place finish in 1975 when he accumulated a career-high 1246 yards and only trailed O.J. Simpson (1817).
The 50th anniversary of the "Immaculate Reception" is this Friday, and the day after that the Pittsburgh Steelers will host the Las Vegas Raiders. Prior to Harris' passing, the Steelers had already planned to retire Harris' number 32 during that game (it is very surprising that his number had not been retired a long time ago). It is sad that Harris did not live long enough to celebrate that anniversary and see his jersey being retired.
The first football season that I remember clearly is 1978, and the first Super Bowl that I remember clearly is Super Bowl XIII, when the Pittsburgh Steelers won their third Super Bowl in five years by defeating the Dallas Cowboys, 35-31. Harris did not put up gaudy numbers in that game (20 carries for 68 yards), but his fourth quarter 22 yard touchdown run pushed the Steelers' lead to 28-17. That Super Bowl featured many dramatic plays and moments, and ranks high on the list of most memorable Super Bowls of all-time.
As a Cleveland Browns fan, I did not like Harris or the Steelers, but I respected their greatness, and I feared them as an opponent; it seemed to me as a kid that he saved some of his best performances for the Browns, and the numbers support my recollections: for example, his two top rushing performances in the 1979 regular season (153 yards and 151 yards) both came against the Browns.
As a child, sports superstars seem bigger than life, and indestructible. When I think about sports in the 1970s, many players dance across my mind, including Julius Erving, Pete Maravich, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, a host of my favorite Cleveland Browns (including Brian Sipe, Greg Pruitt, Mike Pruitt, and Ozzie Newsome), Bjorn Borg, Mario Andretti, and Pete Rose, but if I had to name one team that defined the 1970s I would probably pick the Pittsburgh Steelers--and it is impossible to think of the Pittsburgh Steelers without picturing Franco Harris. I can still see in my mind's eye his hip pads sticking up out of his yellow pants as his big thighs broke tackles and piled up yardage.
I never rooted for Harris and the Steelers, but I have many childhood memories of watching in awe at their excellence. With Harris' sudden and unexpected passing, it feels like a part of my childhood is gone, or at least somewhere beyond reach.
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