We are now a year away since the passing of Pittsburgh Steelers legend Franco Harris. The Hall of Fame running back passed away just days before the team was set to honor him at Acrisure Stadium. It was the 50-year anniversary of the Immaculate Reception, a play that encapsulated Harris' impact in Pittsburgh. The team honored him accordingly, as Kenny Pickett led the offense down the field for a last-minute game-winning drive against the Las Vegas Raiders.
It was the perfect way to honor Harris, who has been a pillar in the Pittsburgh community. To this day, he is missed by many, including several of his former teammates. Joe Cook of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette caught up with "Mean" Joe Greene on the one-year anniversary of Harris' passing. In Cook's article, Greene admitted that he initially had questions when the team took Harris in the 1972 NFL Draft.
“The scuttlebutt around the team was we were looking at another running back from Houston [Robert Newhouse] and one from Cornell University [Ed Marinaro]. Instead, we drafted the second running back from Penn State [Lydell Mitchell being the first]. Franco was looking like a fullback when he came in. I thought we needed a halfback. I thought we were drafting a halfback. I didn’t know any better," Greene said via Cook.
Fortunately for the Steelers, Harris ended up being quite the pick. He was selected to nine Pro Bowls in his 13-year career, 12 of which were spent in Pittsburgh. The former first-rounder helped solve the Steelers' issues in the running game, and it led to a ton of team success. Harris won four Super Bowls with the Steelers, which included MVP honors in 1975 in a victory over the Minnesota Vikings.
What Would The Steelers Have Done Without Harris In The 1970s?
In that contest, Harris carried the ball 34 times for 158 yards and a touchdown. On the contrary, the other potential running back options never became much of anything. Between the three, they combined for three Pro Bowl appearances in their careers, all of which came from Harris' former college teammate, Mitchell. Nonetheless, they didn't have the career(s) that Harris had. Greene remembered the specific moment, a preseason contest in Atlanta, that he changed his mind on the team's new running back.
"When Franco got in the [preseason] game, he did the same thing he was doing in practice — a little bit to the left, a little bit to the right. Then he took off running for a 75-yard touchdown. I remember thinking, ‘Wow! We got one.’ I was so, so elated. I think I ran halfway down the sideline chasing after him. When I saw that, I never ever called Franco a dud again," Greene said.
Harris would go on and establish himself immediately as he went for 1,235 yards from scrimmage and 11 total touchdowns in 14 games in 1972. In his first season, Harris won NFL Rookie of the Year and was selected to his first Pro Bowl. In fact, he finished eighth in the MVP voting and even made the All-Pro Second Team. It was quite the start to his career, and he proceeded to make the Pro Bowl in each of his first nine NFL seasons.
Greene admitted his wrongs, and the two would go on to enjoy a ton of success together as friends. It goes to show just how much Harris meant to the city of Pittsburgh, which lasted all the way up to his death and lives on to this day. One has to wonder how Greene and Harris feel about the current state of the struggling Steelers squad.
Where does Harris rank amongst the best running backs in NFL history? Given the circumstances, is the Immaculate Reception the greatest play ever? What do you think these icons think of the current state of the Steelers?
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