RIP Franco Harris

[outofplace]

I don't want to be that guy who posts something like this that turns out to be wrong, but today, I really hope I'm that guy. I just can't imagine that they would go with this if they aren't sure, but I would love to be wrong.

Steelers Hall-of-Famer Franco Harris dead at 72

Local Pittsburgh station WTAE is reporting that Franco Harris died. He was due to have his number retired by the Steelers as part of a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Immaculate Reception Saturday night when the Steelers play the Raiders.

I'm just stunned. I know there are some people who don't love Harris, but he means a lot to anyone who grew up in Pittsburgh in the '70s. All I can think of is a day when I was six or seven years old and we saw him walking around Monroeville Mall in Pittsburgh. He was stopping and talking to people and signing autographs. It wasn't part of some promotion. He was just walking around the mall. Very much in character for me as a kid, I was too shy to approach him. Given everything I've heard about how gracious he was in situations like that, I've always regretted it, never more so than today.

Harris was 72. Man, I hope this is wrong, but I don't think it is. RIP Franco.

 

[outofplace]

Damn. Just saw it on ESPN and another local station in Pittsburgh has it with confirmation from his family. This sucks.

Franco Harris, Hall of Fame Steelers running back dies at 72

 

[cyclingwriter2]

All I can add is that I often use Franco’s dinner blessing when people ask me to say grace. “In the name of the father, son and the Holy Ghost, whoever gets here first, gets the most.”

 

[Baron Scicluna]

“Franco Harris, who played for a brief time with the Seattle Seahawks, died Tuesday …”

Too soon? RIP

 

[Inky_Wretch]

Holy ****. He and Rocky Bleier are why I became a Steelers fan. And to die just days before being honored at the Immaculate Reception anniversary game … damn.

 

[Noholesin1]

I had the pleasure of being a spectator at two great events — Franco plucking the ball off the turf (you can pick me out on the video from the high camera in the press box) and being in the front row, 50 yards from the finish line, when Affirmed won the Triple Crown.
I was a high school senior in ‘72. I stood out in the cold at Three Rivers to buy tickets; I wish I’d kept the ticket stub. Back then, they didn’t show a replay a million times like they do today. We all stood around for what seemed like forever, waiting for the official call.
RIP, Franco.

 

[Corky Ramirez up on 94th St.]

I can't believe what it must have been like for a Steelers fan in 1972. You've been a laughingstock for decades. You even combined with another team 30 years earlier. Then, in 1969, you hire Chuck Noll and draft Joe Greene. In 1970, you open Three Rivers and draft Terry Bradshaw. In 1971, you get Jack Ham in the second round. Then in '72, Franco. And finally the playoffs, and then the Immaculate Reception. Talk about catharsis.

RIP to one of the best RBs to wear No. 32 - and there have been plenty.

 

[CD Boogie]

Huge Steelers fan and met him at a game and had a picture taken with him a few years ago, which is now my facebook profile pic. Totally gracious and even put his arm around me.

This hurts a lot.

 

[Scout]

The Italian Army…

Franco had such great north to south speed. He was actually a break away runner. Too fast for the linebackers. Too fast for the secondary.

RIP

Fun fact, was the #2 man in the backfield at Penn State.

 

[Scout]

Webster, Mansfield, Dwight White, Franco, LC, Holmes…

 

[Baron Scicluna]

I was looking up the stats for the Immaculate Reception game and two things stood out for me. One was that Lamonica and Bradshaw, stats-wise, had poor games and Stabler was mediocre.

The second was that Jim Otto had caught a five-yard pass for some reason.

 

[outofplace]

“Franco Harris, who played for a brief time with the Seattle Seahawks, died Tuesday …”

Too soon? RIP

I thought about that today, too.

 

[BTExpress]

Fun fact, was the #2 man in the backfield at Penn State.

Tennessee 31, Penn State 11 in 1971 will always be in the top 10 of favorite Vol games.

Fun fact 2: The teams played in consecutive years . . . both in Knoxville! Somehow the AD convinced PSU to make a return trip for Neyland's first night game. Both Harris and Lydell Mitchell were gone by the 1972 game.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

I was looking up the stats for the Immaculate Reception game and two things stood out for me. One was that Lamonica and Bradshaw, stats-wise, had poor games and Stabler was mediocre.

The second was that Jim Otto had caught a five-yard pass for some reason.

The early '70s were the pinnacle of defensive dominance in the NFL and those were two really good ones.

 

[DanielSimpsonDay]

 

[BitterYoungMatador2]

I can't believe what it must have been like for a Steelers fan in 1972. You've been a laughingstock for decades. You even combined with another team 30 years earlier. Then, in 1969, you hire Chuck Noll and draft Joe Greene. In 1970, you open Three Rivers and draft Terry Bradshaw. In 1971, you get Jack Ham in the second round. Then in '72, Franco. And finally the playoffs, and then the Immaculate Reception. Talk about catharsis.

RIP to one of the best RBs to wear No. 32 - and there have been plenty.

And it all came at a time when this city’s steel mill industry was beginning to deteriorate and the region needed a shot in the ass of self esteem. You may not know if you were gonna have a job soon but you had this team to get you through the rough times.

 

[BitterYoungMatador2]

Tennessee 31, Penn State 11 in 1971 will always be in the top 10 of favorite Vol games.

Fun fact 2: The teams played in consecutive years . . . both in Knoxville! Somehow the AD convinced PSU to make a return trip for Neyland's first night game. Both Harris and Lydell Mitchell were gone by the 1972 game.

Beaver Stadium only held 46,000 in those days and Paterno farmed out a bunch of these “home” games for a split of the gate. The Pitt-PSU game was held at Three Rivers Stadium a couple of times because it was bigger and had lights, which Beaver Stadium didn’t.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

Huge Steelers fan …

This hurts a lot.

I saw the news this morning before showering. When I got out, I passed my wife in the hallway and told her. I was fine until the words came out of my mouth. I didn’t expect to shed any tears over Franco, but a couple rolled out.

 

[Sam Mills 51]

I saw the news this morning before showering. When I got out, I passed my wife in the hallway and told her. I was fine until the words came out of my mouth. I didn’t expect to shed any tears over Franco, but a couple rolled out.

Know the feeling. First, Walter Payton. Then some guy named Mills, which prompted a handle change. Tried to change it back ... friend on here urged me not to. That was 17 years ago. How time flies.

The stories about how the folks of Italian descent rallied behind him in Pittsburgh is all one needs to know about how beloved he is. While there's never a good time to go, it stinks that it occurred right before Christmas on the 50th anniversary of a landmark play that helped turned the plight of a franchise with such an awful track record where they were going to retire No. 32.

RIP, good sir and Thank You.

 

[TigerVols]

Franco Harris was a rookie when he made the IR? I did not know this.