My hero - Franco Harris
 

Gone at age 72

:(

what crappy timing as advertising was touting the Christmas ever re-match and the anniversary of that amazing play now for a few weeks.

72 is too young to die

Sad to learn of his death. I was privileged to be in attendance for a visit he once made to give a talk at my high school in the mid 70's. No entourage, no bling, no airs, just a professional athlete taking a part of his day to speak to a bunch of teenagers. R.I.P. number 32

Rest in Peace, Franco.

I definitely heard nothing but good about the guy, wish more were like him.

Seahawks picked him up LATE in his career and he played sparingly just one season as did Carl Eller.

Agreed

One of my best friends went to the same school as Franco Harris in Mount Holly New Jersey. They were both inducted in to the High School hall of fame together.
He got to speak to him a couple of times. He had good things to say about Franco. They have both passed away now. His passing reminds me of my friend. I met Bob here in oklahoma at OU. This is a sad day.

Very humble man who always gave credit to the entire teams he played on. RIP

When I was a kid I loved the Steelers. I lived about 3 hours west of them in Columbus Ohio.

I remember a neighbor who was in Nam with Rocky Bleier. He told us that he had gone to a reunion or something with Bleier a couple of years after he joined the Steelers. Bleier was asked about Franco’s toughness. Bleier responded that he would rather fight Ali and Fraser together before he would go at it with Franco Harris.

That’s tough :lol:

Great man.

Franco was the epitome of those Steeler teams. Not the fastest. Not the flashiest. Not even close to the most talented, but he was tougher than nails and played his ass off every down.

His recall of the Immaculate Reception is all Franco.

And just hours before his death. Truly remarkable.

https://nypost.com/2022/12/21/franco...-before-death/

If you don't want to open, some solid excerpts from the article:

“And I go into the huddle and I tell myself, ‘Franco, this will probably be the last play of the season, it was a good season, just play it to the end.’ And he called that 66 halfback option, and once again my assignment was to stand in the backfield and help with the blocking. There wasn’t much adrenaline or whatever in the huddle. We were winning the whole game and right at the end Kenny Stabler scored. It seemed more of a letdown than anything.”

After being nudged by Russo that he was an outlet pass for Bradshaw once the quarterback moved out of the pocket, Harris said, “Yes, that’s correct. My thought was to release to be an outlet pass. Bradshaw being as big and strong as he is, with guys trying to bring him down, he was able to fight them off and get the ball into the air. When the ball was in the air, I tell myself, ‘Go to the ball. Go to the ball.’ That’s what Joe [Paterno] preached to us all four years at Penn State — always go to the ball.

“When he threw that ball, automatically my mind said to go to the ball, so I started taking some steps to the ball, and I remember nothing after that. It really blows my mind, that I have no visual, no recollection, no memory of anything — until I’m stiff-arming Jimmy Warren going into the end zone.”

“It just blows my mind how quick that is! I’m saying oh my gosh! That ball flies back! Bradshaw throws that ball and just seconds [later] that ball is upon me. I have no idea how I reacted so quickly and got it and kept in-stride, and even looked up a little bit to try to get the lay of the land. I’m saying, ‘How did all that happen in just those few seconds? It didn’t make any sense. I just don’t understand it.

I wonder what caused his death? Every time I saw him he looked really good and young for his age.

I'll never forget that catch!
I STILL don't believe it! :eek::eek:

Tonight, 50th anniversary of the Imaculate Reception on NFL network, Raiders v Steelers.

:rip::3::2:

Sudden unexplained deaths (without an autopsy) happen all the time