PITTSBURGH — The Steelers and Raiders now have played more than 30 times, and they'll meet up again countless more. But there only will be one Immaculate Reception, only one jersey retirement for Steelers legend Franco Harris, albeit amid the dismal backdrop of a frigid night three days after his death.
"It wasn't supposed to be like this," team president Art Rooney II addressed the crowd to kick off a halftime ceremony. "The big man was supposed to be standing here right next to me."
Rooney then thanked Harris' wife, Dana, and son, Dok, for being there to help honor his memory. Nearly two dozen members of that 1972 team wore their jerseys and took the field at halftime for Rooney's speech and a video montage of Harris and the Immaculate Reception.