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Franco Harris was doing “great, fantastic” on Tuesday.
That was the former Steelers running back Franco Harris, famous for the “Immaculate Reception,” speaking in an interview with Chris Russo on SiriusXM’s “Mad Dog Unleashed.” Later in the day, Harris died at the age of 72, just days before he was set to have his jersey retired by the Steelers. No cause of death was given.
With the 50th anniversary of the Immaculate Reception on Friday, Russo joked that Harris has done about 50 billion interviews about it — and that this one would mark 50 billion and one.
Asked what Terry Bradshaw was saying in the huddle on the downs leading up to the fateful play, Harris said, “All of them are pass plays, and even that fourth down play my assignment is to stay in and block with the linemen, so things didn’t go too well on those first three plays. Then it gets down to fourth down, a long way to go, 22 seconds.
“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 to the end.’ And he called that 66 halfback option, and once again my assignment was to stand in the backfield and help with the blocking.
