FRANCO HARRIS, with Steelers team president Art Rooney II. (Photo courtesy Pittsburgh Steelers)
Franco Harris’ No. 32 will forever be immortalized in Pittsburgh.
The New Pittsburgh Courier learned on Tuesday, Sept. 6, that the Steelers will retire Harris’ jersey number on Dec. 24, a home game against the Las Vegas Raiders. As most Steelers fans know, Harris caught the “Immaculate Reception” against the then-Oakland Raiders on Dec. 23, 1972, at Three Rivers Stadium, the deflected pass that almost hit the turf, but scooped by Harris at the last second. Harris then trucked it into the end zone for the playoff-winning touchdown.
The Steelers didn’t win the Super Bowl that year, but that playoff win gave the Team of the ‘70s all the confidence it needed to win four Super Bowls later in the decade. The seasons of 1974, ‘75, and ‘78 and ‘79 were the Super Bowl-winning seasons for the Steelers, which endured the team to millions of fans nationwide. Steeler Nation is a vast nation, and as Steeler great and Hall of Famer Joe Greene once said, the Steelers didn’t start winning until Franco Harris joined the team in ‘72, as a rookie out of Penn State.
The rest is history.
– Rob Taylor Jr.
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