RIP Franco Harris

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Roberto71

Roberto71

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He's died aged 72. Sad to hear this, he was a giant figure for the Steelers. And so soon to the 50th anniversary of the immaculate reception too. Condolences to Steeler Nation.

www.cbsnews.com

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

Legendary Steelers running back and Pro Football Hall of Famer Franco Harris has died.
www.cbsnews.com www.cbsnews.com
 
heard it on radio earlier. man, sad. right before the ceremony to retire his #. this play is what got my mother interested in football, and she became a steelers fan. i didn't realize he was just 22 when he made this play, wow.
 
RIP, Franco. A huge part of the NFL in the '70s and an icon for the Steelers from that era.
He was frustrating for defenses to stop even though he wasn't built like and didn't run like a typical RB.
Condolences to Steelers nation and esp. AOT.

4× Super Bowl champion (IX, X, XIII, XIV)
Super Bowl MVP (IX)
NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year (1972)
NFL Man of the Year (1976)
First-team All-Pro (1977)
2× Second-team All-Pro (1972, 1975)
9× Pro Bowl (1972–1980)
NFL rushing touchdowns leader (1976)
NFL 1970s All-Decade Team
Pittsburgh Steelers All-Time Team
Pittsburgh Steelers Hall of Honor
Pittsburgh Steelers No.32 retired
Pittsburgh Pro Football Hall of Fame
 
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Roberto71 said:
He's died aged 72. Sad to hear this, he was a giant figure for the Steelers. And so soon to the 50th anniversary of the immaculate reception too. Condolences to Steeler Nation.

www.cbsnews.com

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

Legendary Steelers running back and Pro Football Hall of Famer Franco Harris has died.
www.cbsnews.com www.cbsnews.com
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Rest In Peace Franco.

Don't really know much about his football career other than The Immaculate Reception.

Even without that lack of knowledge, his post playing life was brilliant full of his wonderfully unique personality.

Off to share this with condolences to our old friend LVent who is a member of a Facebook group No1Jag created and mistakenly elected me a moderator of. :)

Condolences to you as well @AnOldTroll.

An icon has just left the stadium.
 
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Very sad news. Still the all-time leading rusher in Super Bowls (for context, Thurman Thomas also played in 4 and sits in 6th place). He's also 15th all-time in rushing and if I am not mistaken, everyone on the list above him, played in the 16 game-era., save for Walter Payton for a few seasons.
 
John Locke said:
Rest In Peace Franco.

Don't really know much about his football career other than The Immaculate Reception.

Even without that lack of knowledge, his post playing life was brilliant full of his wonderfully unique personality.

Off to share this with condolences to our old friend LVent who is a member of a Facebook group No1Jag created and mistakenly elected me a moderator of. :)

Condolences to you as well @AnOldTroll.

An icon has just left the stadium.
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Just as an addendum, the full post about Franco's passing.

Credit to you guys.

"Pittsburgh Steelers legend Franco Harris has passed away at 72.

The Steelers became a most hated rival of the New England Patriots over the last 23 years, and we usually took it to em.

But that's the beauty of it.

Incredible mutual respect even in the depths of a heated rivalry.

6 Championships a piece, more than any other teams in history.

We share that.

This is what it's all about.

Football just exemplifies it.

Don't really know much about his football career other than "The Immaculate Reception". I'm way too young at 50 to know anything about the 70s. ;)

Even without that lack of knowledge, his post playing life was brilliant full of his wonderfully unique personality.

This is "Life, the Universe and Everything". To quote the author of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the late Douglas Adams.

A part of Franco Harris' Pro Football Hall Of Fame induction speech.

Rest In Peace Franco, you so earned it.

Thank you Franco for all that you were and always will be in the hearts of millions.

An icon has just left the stadium. ♥ 🥲


View: https://youtu.be/gRMd1DiTvv0
 
Loved Franco back in the day that I didn't hate the Steelers. The Immaculate Reception will live on and so will Franco.
 
Another great one gone, condolences to Steeler fans and his entire family.


RIP Franco Harris
 
I got home from work @ 3:30 am this morning. To wind down, I often come here. So I learned about this on PP. Was thinking title was a bad joke. But it’s wasn’t. I never met Franco but both my brothers have and there are pics to prove it. The immaculate reception changed a city. Franco embraced that and did so much good in his life after, so much.

I was looking forward to him seeing his number retired and the celebration. Now it’s going to be “different”.

Than you Franco, a major part of making Steeler Nation ended up being the least of your accomplishments. Truth. A great man. In my memory always.

Your Italian Army mourns.
 
AnOldTroll said:
I got home from work @ 3:30 am this morning. To wind down, I often come here. So I learned about this on PP. Was thinking title was a bad joke. But it’s wasn’t. I never met Franco but both my brothers have and there are pics to prove it. The immaculate reception changed a city. Franco embraced that and did so much good in his life after, so much.

I was looking forward to him seeing his number retired and the celebration. Now it’s going to be “different”.

Than you Franco, a major part of making Steeler Nation ended up being the least of your accomplishments. Truth. A great man. In my memory always.

Your Italian Army mourns.
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You're the first person I thought of. I'm sorry; our sports heroes should never die.
 
must have been 1972, I met a guy who was a student at Penn State. I jokingly asked if he knew Lydell Mitchell, who was the famous Penn State player then. He said no, but I know Franco Harris. I was very impressed. Followed his career from that moment on. A year or so later I remember someone commented that Pittsburgh suddenly had a really good team, kind of out of nowhere. In those days, Patriots fans rooted for Reggie Rucker(?) because he lead the league in catches.
 
AnOldTroll said:
probably will get dinged for this, but if his death was caused by a 3rd, 4th or 5th booster, I am going to go ballistic.
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He gave an interview on the radio with Mad Dog Russo the night he died. I heard parts of it and he sounded like he had a bad cold or RSV or flu or similar. Here's the interview.


View: https://twitter.com/MadDogRadio/status/1605574936990318592?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1605574936990318592%7Ctwgr%5E91fed2140b5951690c331d47d5f7c3a26392b64a%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.foxnews.com%2Fsports%2Fsteelers-legend-franco-harris-radio-interview-just-hours-before-death
 
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A former coworker of mine (Steve Fedell) played with Franco Harris for two seasons with the Steelers. Steve was a young linebacker out of Pitt and Franco was nearing the end of his career. Steve didn’t play long due to injury, but amongst the people he spoke most highly of was Franco Harris.
 
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