Franco Harris, Steeler Who Caught ‘Immaculate Reception,’ Dies at 72

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A Hall of Fame running back, he died days before the 50th anniversary of one of the most memorable plays in N.F.L. history.

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By Richard Sandomir and Daniel Victor

Franco Harris, the Hall of Fame running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers whose shoestring catch known as the "Immaculate Reception" in 1972 remains one of the most memorable moments in N.F.L. history, died on Tuesday night at his home in Sewickley, Pa., a suburb of Pittsburgh. He was 72.

His death was confirmed by his son, Franco, who is known as Dok. He said that he did not know the cause.

Harris's death comes days before the 50th anniversary of the "Immaculate Reception," which Mike Tomlin, the current Steelers head coach, said this week was "the most significant play in the history of the game."

The Steelers plan to retire Harris's jersey number, 32, during a halftime ceremony at their game in Pittsburgh on Saturday against the Las Vegas Raiders. It would be only the third number in team history to receive that honor. (The others belonged to Ernie Stautner and Mean Joe Greene.)

The 6-foot-2 Harris won four Super Bowls with the Steelers as they established themselves as the N.F.L.'s most dominant team of the 1970s. He was named to the Pro Bowl in each of his first nine seasons. But it was a single heads-up play that more than anything defined his career.

On Dec. 23, 1972, the Steelers were trailing, 7-6, in a divisional round playoff game against the Raiders, then based in Oakland, Calif. With 22 seconds to play in the fourth quarter, Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw rolled out, eluding tacklers, and lofted a desperation pass on fourth down to Frenchy Fuqua. As Fuqua leaped for the ball, Jack Tatum, a Raiders safety known as the Assassin, slammed into him, and the ball ricocheted back upfield to Harris, who bent and scooped it up. He then ran some 40 yards for the game-winning touchdown — a miraculous finish that has been replayed thousands of times since.

"He threw the ball downfield and automatically in my head came Joe Paterno's voice of ‘Go to the ball,’" Harris told nfl.com in 2019, referring to his former coach at Penn State University. "That's what he always told us in college, but in college I never listened."

Controversy about the catch has continued over two points: whether the ball touched the ground before Harris caught it, and whether the ball deflected from Fuqua to Harris, which would have made it an incomplete pass under the rules at the time, or from Tatum to Harris, which meant it was complete. Without a sophisticated replay system, the play was ruled a touchdown.

"I always told him he had terrible hands — no way he caught the Immaculate Reception," Bradshaw said with a laugh in an interview on the NFL Network after Harris's death. "He had to have trapped it."

In a statement on Wednesday, President Biden, who described Harris as a friend, recalled a scene at his home in Delaware some time after his first wife, Neilia, and his daughter, Naomi, were killed in a car accident on Dec. 18, 1972.

After he returned home from shopping for his sons, Hunter and Beau, who had been injured in the crash, President Biden said, the boys "were smiling for the first time since the accident."

"Art Rooney, the generous and honorable owner of the Steelers, had flown out with a couple of players, including Franco and the tough as nails Rocky Bleier," Mr. Biden said. "Busy with their own lives, they took the time to be with my boys, sign footballs, and then left with no publicity."

Five decades later, Harris remained one of the most beloved Steelers, an instantly recognizable face in Pittsburgh. He rushed for 12,120 yards over 13 seasons — including eight in which he gained more than 1,000 yards — and was a linchpin of the Steelers’ most successful era, winning Super Bowls in the 1974, ’75, ’78 and ’79 seasons. He played 12 seasons with Pittsburgh and his final one with the Seattle Seahawks

Harris retired after the 1984 season as the third-leading rusher in N.F.L. history, behind Walter Payton and Jim Brown. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1990.

Franco Harris was born on March 7, 1950, at Fort Dix, N.J. His father, Cad, who was Black, met his mother, Gina Parenti, who was Italian, in Pisa, Italy, where Cad was stationed as an Army medic. After graduating from Rancocas Valley Regional High School in Mount Holly, N.J., he played fullback at Penn State, opening running lanes for the running back Lydell Mitchell.

The Steelers drafted him with the 13th pick in the first round of the 1972 N.F.L. draft. He made an immediate impact, rushing for 1,055 yards and scoring 10 touchdowns in his first season and winning offensive rookie of the year honors from The Associated Press. In 1975, his most productive year, he rushed for 1,246 yards, second to O.J. Simpson, and scored 10 touchdowns.

His career total of 354 rushing yards in Super Bowls remains a record today.

"All I know is, he's dependable," Bradshaw, the Steelers quarterback throughout the 1970s, told The New York Times in 1983. "He's a Rolls-Royce, and since I haven't seen too many of them driving around the streets of Pittsburgh, it's nice to know there's one sitting right behind me on the field."

The Steelers never had a losing campaign in Harris's 12 seasons with them. His fans called themselves Franco's Italian Army, a nod to his mother's ancestry.

Harris was released by the Steelers after a contract squabble in 1984. He signed with the Seahawks and gained 170 yards in eight games before being cut.

Although Harris left the Steelers, his popularity never flagged in Pittsburgh, where a statue of his famous catch, next to one of George Washington, greets visitors at Pittsburgh International Airport. (It was moved to a more prominent position at the airport after news of his death.) He opened a business selling nutritious baked goods and another selling fitness gear, both based in the city.

The Penn State Athletics Department said in a statement, citing his support for the Special Olympics, that Harris was a tough competitor "with a philanthropic heart."

Harris remained devoted to Paterno, his Penn State coach, who was fired by the university in 2011 after his longtime former defensive assistant, Jerry Sandusky, was charged with sexually abusing boys. An investigative report found that Paterno had done little to stop Sandusky.

"I feel that the board made a bad decision in letting Joe Paterno go," Harris told The Los Angeles Times soon after Paterno was dismissed. "I thought they showed no courage, not to back someone who really needed it at the time." Five years later, he told ESPN that Penn State should apologize to Paterno, who died in 2012, and reinstall a statue of him that had been taken down.

In addition to his son, Harris is survived by his wife, Dana Dokmanovich; his sisters, Daniela, Marisa and Luana; and his brothers, Giuseppe and Michael.

The Immaculate Reception was a major step in the Steelers’ maturation into a championship team, which culminated in the 1974 season, when they beat the Minnesota Vikings, 16-6, in the Super Bowl. They repeated as champions the next year.

"I have to admit that catch keeps getting bigger and bigger and bigger," Harris told The Times in 2012. "When people look back at the great success that the Steelers have had the last 40 years and wonder where it all started, well, it all began right there. If not for that catch, all the success that followed might not have ever happened."

Richard Sandomir is an obituaries writer. He previously wrote about sports media and sports business. He is also the author of several books, including "The Pride of the Yankees: Lou Gehrig, Gary Cooper and the Making of a Classic." @RichSandomir

Daniel Victor is a general assignment reporter based in London after stints in Hong Kong and New York. He joined The Times in 2012. @bydanielvictor

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