PITTSBURGH (AP) — It was never just about football to Franco Harris. It couldn't be. That would have been too limiting. Too easy. A cop out.
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Photos: Franco Harris through the years, 1950-2022
Pittsburgh Steelers running back Franco Harris, named offensive player of the week for the second time this season by The Associated Press, arrives outside the Steelers offices prior to a workout in Pittsburgh, Nov. 29, 1972. The rookie from Penn State, who has a chance to become the most productive rookie rusher in pro football history, has gained more than 100 yards per game in six of his last seven games. (AP Photo/Harry Cabluck)
Steelers rookie running back Franco Harris pulls off the pads after a workout in Pittsburgh, Dec. 30, 1972. The Steelers will meet the Miami Dolphins here in the AFC title game. Harris grabbed off a tipped pass in the last seconds of he game here last week, allowing the Steelers to defeat Oakland. (AP Photo)
FILE - In this Dec. 23, 1972, file photo, Pittsburgh Steelers' Franco Harris (32) eludes a tackle by Oakland Raiders' Jimmy Warren as he runs 42-yards for a touchdown after catching a deflected pass during an AFC Divisional NFL football playoff game in Pittsburgh. Harris’ scoop of a deflected pass and subsequent run for the winning touchdown _ forever known as the “Immaculate Reception” _ has been voted the greatest play in NFL history. A nationwide panel of 68 media members chose the Immaculate Reception as the top play with 3,270 points and 39 first-place votes. (AP Photo/Harry Cabluck, File)
Pittsburgh Steelers running back Franco Harris, named as offensive rookie of the year by The Associated Press, is pictured before a collage of posters in the team offices in Pittsburgh, Penn., Jan. 2, 1973. The graduate of Penn State, who lives in Mount Holly, N.J., gained over 1,000 yards rushing this season. He is one of nine children in his family. (AP Photo/Harry Cabluck)
Pittsburgh Steelers' running back Franco Harris (32) pushes through a weight lifting routine as part of his training in Pitssburgh, Pa., Nov. 29, 1972. (AP Photo/Harry Cabluck)
Steelers running back Franco Harris, one of the veterans of the NFL club, maintains a picket line outside the team's training camp near the western Pennsylvania community of Latrobe, July 29, 1974. Harris, who played his college ball at Penn State, led the Steelers in rushing 1973 for the second straight year. (AP Photo/Harry Cabluck)
Franco Harris, left, and Lynn Swann of the Pittsburgh Steelers hug each other at the end of AFC championship game in Oakland, California on Sunday, Dec. 29, 1974 which the Steelers won 24 to 13. The victory sends the Steelers to the Super Bowl game where they'll play against the Minnesota Vikings. (AP Photo)
Pittsburgh Steelers running back Franco Harris smiles as he displays keys to automobile, left, presented him by Sport magazine, Jan. 23, 1975, in New York, as MVP in Super Bowl IX game against the Minnesota Vikings. Harris' gaining 158 yards in 34 rushes - both records - helped the Steelers to a 16-6 victory over the Vikings. (AP Photo/Harry Harris)
Franco Harris, the star running back of the Pittsburgh Steelers, checks over his shoulder pads before taking the field to participate in a session with photographers in New Orleans, Jan. 6, 1975. The Steelers meet the Minnesota Vikings in the ninth annual Super Bowl game on Sunday. (AP Photo)
Steelers Franco Harris breaks free of Houston Oilers defenders to add to his yardage in AFC championship game on Jan. 6, 1979 at Pittsburgh. (AP Photo)
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw (12) turns around to hand the ball off to running back Franco Harris (32) during Super Bowl XIII action against the Dallas Cowboys in Miami, Fla., Jan. 21, 1979. The Steelers won the NFL championship 35-31. Bradshaw made four touchdown passes and broke two Super Bowl passing records. (AP Photo)
Chicago running back Walter Payton (left) has a few words Seattle running back Franco Harris following Seattle's 38-9 victory over the Chicago Bear on Sunday, Sept. 23, 1984 in Seattle. (AP Photo/Betty Kumpf)
Franco Harris holds his Pro Football Hall of Fame bust aloft after being inducted into the hall in Canton on Saturday, August 4, 1990. Harris played for the Pittsburgh Steelers where he led them to four Super Bowl championships. (AP Photo/Jeff Glidden)
Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, left, shares a moment with former Penn State and Pittsburgh Steelers running back, NFL Hall of Famer Franco Harris before Paterno received a lifetime achievement award at the 70th annual Dapper Dan Dinner and Sports Auction in this April 30, 2006 file photo in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)
Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama D-Ill., left, accompanied by former Pittsburgh Steelers NFL football players Jerome Bettis, centre, and Franco Harris, holds up a towel as they leave the Soldiers and Sailors Museum and Memorial in Pittsburgh, Pa., Friday, March 28, 2008. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Former NFL Pittsburgh Steelers running back Franco Harris, right, listens to instructions along with York, Pa., Mayor John S. Brenner, left, as they wait to casts their ballots at Pennsylvania's 56th Electoral College Monday, Dec. 15, 2008 at the capitol in Harrisburg, Pa. (AP Photo Bradley C Bower)
Pittsburgh Steelers Hall of Fame running back Franco Harris celebrates after the Steelers' 24-19 win over the New York Jets in the AFC Championship NFL football game in Pittsburgh, Sunday, Jan. 23, 2011. The Steelers won 24-19 to advance to the Super Bowl. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Former Pittsburgh Steelers Hall-of Fame running back Franco Harris greets members of the one time Pittsburgh Steelers cheerleaders, the Steelerettes, before an NFL football game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, Dec. 15, 2013 in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Hall of Fame running back, Pittsburgh Steelers' Franco Harris stands on the spot of the "Immaculate Reception" after a marker commemorating the 40th anniversary of the play was unveiled where Three Rivers Stadium once stood on the Northside of Pittsburgh, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2012. It is the 40th anniversary of the play in which Harris caught a deflected Terry Bradshaw pass intended for Steelers running back John "Frenchy" Fuqua, and returned it 42 yards for a game winning touchdown against the Oakland Raiders. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Fred Rogers wife, Mrs. Joanne Rogers, left, gets a hug from Pittsburgh Steelers Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Franco Harris in front of a giant Mister Rogers Forever Stamp following the first-day-of-issue dedication in WQED's Fred Rogers Studio in Pittsburgh, Friday, March 23, 2018. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Former NFL Pittsburgh Steelers player Franco Harris speaks during a drive-in rally for Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden at Lexington Technology Park, Monday, Nov. 2, 2020, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
NFL Hall of Famer Franco Harris waves a terrible towel mask during the second round of the NFL football draf Friday, April 30, 2021, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/David Dermer)
