The NFL lost an icon this week with the passing of Steelers great and Pro Football Hall of Famer Franco Harris at age 72.
Mere hours before his death, Harris had an opportunity to reflect on his fabled Immaculate Reception ahead of the play’s 50th anniversary in one of his final interviews. Arguably the most famous highlight in NFL history, the legendary running back hauled in a deflected pass on fourth down just before it hit the ground and ran for a game-winning, 60-yard touchdown to beat the Raiders in a AFC divisional playoff game on Dec. 23, 1972.
Harris joined SiriusXM’s “Mad Dog Unleashed” on Tuesday to discuss the play with host Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo and recalled the moments leading up to and during his iconic walk-off score.
“So, things didn’t go too well on those first three plays, as you know. And then it gets down to fourth down. A long way to go [in] 22 seconds,” said Harris, who was a rookie in ’72. “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 till the end.’ And [the coach] called that 66 halfback option.”
The four-time Super Bowl champion explained to Russo that his assignment was to stay in and block with the linemen while quarterback Terry Bradshaw looked to make a play. Bradshaw tossed a pass to halfback John “Frenchy” Fuqua, who then took a huge hit from Raiders safety Jack Tatum as the ball arrived, sending it backward.
As Harris watched the play unfold, he said he made the call to go to the ball, a lesson the former Penn State star said longtime Nittany Lions coach Joe Paterno “preached to us all four years.” Sixty yards later, Harris was in the end zone, which, as he explained, is a sequence that still blew his mind five decades later.
“So, I start taking some steps to the ball, and I remember nothing after that, which blows my mind, that I have no visual, no recollection of anything until I am stiff-arming (Raiders defender) Jimmy Warren, going into the end zone,” he said.
Harris continued, “When I see the film, and I see it in real time, it just blows my mind how quick that is. … 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 and 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. Like, I just don’t understand it.
“I’ve always had great reflexes, but you don’t practice stuff like this.”
While many football fans rightfully remember the play for all of its glory, some fans still debate whether Harris caught the ball before it touched the ground, or if the ball bounced off Fuqua (which would’ve made Harris’s reception illegal). Harris also offered his take during the conversation, which will hopefully settle the controversy once and for all.
“I don’t see Frenchy. I don’t see Tatum,” he began, “I have no visual of the ball. I have no recollection. But looking at how it came back and how fast it came back, I’m thinking that it could have only been Tatum that the ball bounced off of.”
Harris retired in 1984 with 12,120 rushing yards, the most in NFL history at the time, and nine Pro Bowl nods. The Steelers will retire his No. 32 jersey at Saturday’s game against the Raiders in conjunction with the Reception’s 50-year anniversary.
