Brandon Short was one of the first people to arrive Tuesday morning at Acrisure Stadium. A McKeesport native and former NFL player, Short had to be here for Franco Harris because Franco had been there for Short so many times throughout his life.
Short and Harris were close friends. They met 33 years ago when Short played in a 3-on-3 basketball tournament that Harris sponsored. Short would go on to star in football at McKeesport High School and earned a scholarship to Penn State — where Harris played two decades earlier — and then followed in Harris’ footsteps into the NFL.
In the years since he retired from the NFL, through their mutual love for Penn State and Pittsburgh, Short became close with Franco and his wife, Dana.
“Franco and Dana became part of our family,” Short said, choking back tears. “Franco and Dana were at my wedding. He’s been there for the Penn State community whenever we needed a champion. I recently lost my daughter, and he and Dana were there for me.
“I know I’m not special. Franco is because he had that relationship with so many people. He gave so much of himself to so many people. I’m heartbroken. It’s not an overstatement to say he might be the best human being I ever met. He was so caring. He genuinely wanted to make people feel better and make the world a better place. I hope that my children can be like Franco.”
Short and his wife, Mahreen, drove from New Jersey to Washington, D.C. on Monday night to drop their children off at his in-laws. On Tuesday morning, they drove to Pittsburgh to be with the Harris family as they grieve.
Short, 45, grew up a Steelers fan and used to carry a Terrible Towel around with him.
“My first dream was playing for the Steelers,” said Short, who played six seasons in the NFL with the Giants and Panthers. “I wanted to be a part of the great teams that Franco was a part of.”
Short was among the thousands of mourners who made their way to Acrisure Stadium to pay their final respects to Harris, who died Dec. 20 at the age of 72, just days shy of the 50th anniversary of the Immaculate Reception and a weekend long celebration that was planned in his honor.
Darnell Stuvaints of Homewood came dressed in his Franco No. 32 jersey and a Steelers hat. Like Short, his relationship with Harris goes back years.
When Stuvaints was growing up, he often would visit his uncle, who lived near Harris on the North Side. Stuvaints, 57, said Harris would play ping pong with children in the neighborhood.
“Kids would be at his house all the time,” Stuvaints said. “He was just a very good person. He would give us advice. Football gave him his fame, but who he was as a person is what gave him his legacy.”
Carol Thomas of Brownsville came to the viewing with her son, Larry, and her grandson, Frankie Checchio. She’s been a season ticket holder since the late 1970s and received a signed jar of tomato sauce from Frankie for her Christmas gift.
Harris was at the Market District Giant Eagle in Robinson one week before he died, doing a meet and greet and autograph signing for his Immaculate Marinara sauce made by DelGrosso.
“He said he couldn’t wait for the anniversary,” Checchio said.
Steelers president Art Rooney II and his wife, Greta, along with general manager Omar Khan and head coach Mike Tomlin arrived at noon for a private viewing with friends and family. Fans began filing through at 1 p.m. after standing in the bitter cold for more than an hour.
It’s been a week since Harris died, and Short reiterated what so many others in the past week have said about him. He was a Hall of Fame player on the field, but is so beloved because of the person he was off the field.
“I’m just glad to see the outpouring of love and respect,” Short said. “I’m not surprised, but I’m glad he’s being honored in the way he is. He deserves it. I can only compare this to a president or a leader of a country passing away, to see this type of support. It’s because of how he tried to improve people’s lives, the difference he made. I can only hope to come close to that.”
