Franco Haris died at the age of 72.
Who was Franco Haris?
Franco Haris, who was born on March 7th, 1950, in Fort Dix, New Jersey, played college football at Penn State until the Steelers, who were at the time in the midst of a rebuild, chose to choose him with the 13th overall pick in the 1972 NFL Draft.
The offense gained heart, discipline, drive, and the capacity to win a title in Pittsburgh when Franco Harris was selected by Noll, according to Steelers Hall of Fame wide receiver Lynn Swann, who frequently shared a hotel room with the team while on the road.
It would be an understatement to say that Harris made an immediate impression. After amassing a then-team rookie record of 1,055 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground in 1972, he was named the NFL’s Rookie of the Year as the Steelers made the playoffs for just the second time in the team’s history.
Being the son of an African-American father and an Italian mother, he was also popular with the city’s sizable Italian-American community. Harris, a modest man, has consistently insisted that he is only a cog in the Steelers’ machine.
Franco Harris’s cause of death
CBS Pittsburgh has reported the death of Franco Harris. He was 72.
The station received word from Harris’ family that he had passed away.
The four-time Super Bowl champion and nine-time Pro Bowler was chosen by the Steelers with the 13th overall pick in 1972 after playing for Joe Paterno at Penn State.
During the course of his lengthy NFL career, Harris ran for more than 11,000 yards with the Steelers, making him the team’s all-time leading rusher. He received votes for Super Bowl IX MVP as well.
Almost everyone mentions the catch, the Super Bowls, and the glory he gave to football when you mention Franco Harris. But over the course of our fifty-year friendship, I frequently mentioned his integrity and compassion.
The Pittsburgh Steelers had just won their first division title after a strong regular season fifty years prior. They celebrated Christmas only a few days after defeating the Oakland Raiders thanks to one of the most iconic plays in NFL history: Franco Harris, their rookie running back last-second,’s Immaculate Reception.
While Franco went on to have a Hall of Fame career and lead the Steelers to four Super Bowl titles in six years as the dominant club of the 1970s, the Steelers would narrowly lose the conference championship game to the unbeaten Miami Dolphins.
But that’s not the main reason I love Franco and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
In a car accident fifty years ago this week while we were out purchasing a Christmas tree, my first wife and infant daughter perished, and my two young children were seriously hurt.
Having just been elected to the U.S. Senate, I was in Washington when I received the call, and I immediately left for Delaware.
I hardly ever left my boys’ bedsides while they were ill. I did, however, go shopping for them once. When I returned, they were beaming for the first time since the mishap. Art Rooney, the charitable and honorable owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, had boarded a plane with a few players, including Franco and the aggressive Rocky Bleier.
They took the time to sign footballs for my boys while they were preoccupied with their own lives, and then they left without getting any attention. a small but immensely significant act of kindness.
Sports have a strong ability to unite people. This weekend, as families get together for Christmas, countless supporters of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Penn State will tell their children and grandchildren stories about Franco so they may learn about his brilliance on the field.
But I’m also sure that countless other families will remember him for all the little, independent, and patriotic things he did to lift us up when we needed it, just like my own. There is no need for us to ask. We get here. We get in touch. Our shared compassion is what has given our nation its enduring strength.
I last saw Franco while he was campaigning in Latrobe and Pittsburgh in September and November of 2020. This week more than any other, my family keeps him on our minds and in our hearts.
Franco Harris was a wonderful friend, a heroic American, and a lovely man. Godspeed.
May God abundantly bless him, his wife Dana, their family, and the whole Steelers’ fan base.
