Steelers’ Franco Harris timeline: From Rookie of the Year to the Hall of Fame
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Pittsburgh Steelers running back Franco Harris embodied the Steelers teams of the 1970s. His career and the team’s success were intertwined for many years.
Here are some highlights from his illustrious career.
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Feb. 1, 1972
The Steelers selected fullback Franco Harris in the first round, 13th overall, after he played three seasons for Penn State (including an 11-0 season in 1969). Harris had run for six touchdowns and 684 yards in his senior season. After joining the Steelers, he went on to rush for 1,055 yards and 11 touchdowns en route to being named the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year.
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Dec. 23, 1972
What more needs to be said about the Immaculate Reception, chosen as the greatest play in NFL history in an NFL Network countdown celebrating the league’s first 100 years?
“The thoughts that come into your mind during a game can have an effect on the game, and going into the huddle I remember telling myself ‘Franco, this will probably be the last play of the season,’ ” Harris said earlier this year. “ ‘Play it to the end.’ ”
“People will never have to ask what the greatest play in Steelers history is,” Steelers President Dan Rooney told The Canton Repository in August 1990. “Franco’s Immaculate Reception stands head and shoulders above all the rest. It was a miracle play that just lifted the Steelers to a new level.”
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Jan. 12, 1975
Harris was named Super Bowl MVP after the Steelers claimed their first championship with a 16-6 win over the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl IX. He ran for a then-record 158 yards and a touchdown in the game. Harris is also credited for making history as the first Black Super Bowl MVP. The Associated Press described his performance as “combining the finesse of a slashing halfback and the brute force of a bulldozer.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Harris told the AP when informed of his record-breaking performance (Miami’s Larry Csonka had held the mark with 145 yards). “I can’t believe it. I never thought it could have been that high.”
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Jan. 18, 1976
Harris ran for 82 yards on 27 carries as the Steelers won their second straight Super Bowl, beating the Dallas Cowboys, 21-17, in Super Bowl X.
“All I heard all last week was a big Dallas buildup, and about how Pittsburgh was hum-drumming it,” Harris told the AP at the time. “Everything was ‘Dallas this’ and ‘Dallas that’ and we just had to show them who was best. I guess we did.”
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Jan. 21, 1979
Harris ran 20 times for 68 yards and a 22-yard touchdown as the Steelers won their third championship with a 35-31 win over the Cowboys in Super Bowl XIII.
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Jan. 20, 1980
Harris scored two touchdowns, while rushing for 46 yards on 20 carries as the Steelers picked up their fourth championship in six years, defeating the Los Angeles Rams, 31-19, in Super Bowl XIV. Harris still holds the NFL record for most career rushing yards in the Super Bowl, racking up 354, with Csonka second at 297.
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Aug. 20, 1984
The Steelers released Harris after a contract dispute, with neither side apparently willing to back down. According to Sports Illustrated, the Steelers had offered Harris $557,000 as well as a $100,000 bonus for breaking Jim Brown’s all-time rushing record of 12,312 yards. “We made Franco a fair offer,” Steelers president Dan Rooney said at the time.
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Oct. 29, 1984
Harris played in his final NFL game, rushing for 3 yards on three attempts. The Seahawks released him two days later. Harris had signed with the Seahawks in September, playing eight games for Seattle. In his final season, he had only 170 yards on 68 carries to finish 192 yards short of Brown’s record.
“I wasn’t ready to play for another team,” Harris told the Associated Press in 2006. “I really couldn’t envision myself in another uniform. Even though I felt good physically and thought I was in really good shape, I just wasn’t ready mentally, and mentally is what it’s all about.
“I just couldn’t see myself doing it in a Seahawks uniform. Even though I tried to, I just couldn’t do it.”
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Aug. 4, 1990
Harris was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, alongside teammate Jack Lambert, as well as Junious (Buck) Buchanan, Bob Griese, Ted Hendricks, Tom Landry and Bob St. Clair.
”We remember, but while we were playing, we never knew what the future would bring,” Harris said in his enshrinement speech. “We were just trying to win the next game, we tried to give you the best we had each week and by trying to give you the best each week, we never knew at that time that we were building a Steeler wing to the Hall of Fame, we never knew. But now you always know that you saw the best, you will know because it says so right here in Canton for all to see, the Pittsburgh Steelers are here and here to stay, remember.”
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Sept. 6, 2022
The Steelers announced that they will retire Harris’ No. 32, becoming just the third number retired by the team, joining Ernie Stautner (No. 70) and Joe Greene (No. 75). The ceremony was scheduled to take place on Dec. 24 during halftime of the Steelers’ game against the Las Vegas Raiders.
“What can I say but wow,” Harris said at the time. “I am blown away. … I know this consideration was a tough one because I know there are a number of players that could have been honored.”
Franco Harris dies:
• Steelers great Franco Harris dies at age 72
• Terry Bradshaw’s memories of Franco Harris ‘all good stuff’
• Photos: Franco Harris through the years
• Steelers players, fans remember Franco Harris
• Greensburg’s Dick Hoak recalls Franco Harris’ early days with the Steelers
• Video: 50th anniversary of the Immaculate Reception