The Brian D. O'Leary Show - Remembering the great Franco Harris - December 21, 2022
The Brian D. O’Leary Show
December 21, 2022
Bill Schonely
“… wherever you may be…”
The Final Goodbye for “The Schonz”
Franco Harris
Steelers Hall of Fame RB Franco Harris, author of 'The Immaculate Reception,' dies at 72
Starting with the 1980 season, Harris became the career rushing leader among active players.
The 1984 Seattle Seahawks did have the “Original” Curt Warner on the roster, but the 3rd pick of the 1983 NFL Draft out of Penn State was injured in the opening game versus the Cleveland Browns, ending his season.
Franco Harris—coming off a season in 1983 where he rushed for 1,007 yards—was released by the Steelers during training camp before the 1984 season, over an ostensible pay dispute.
After the 1983 season, Harris was only 363 yards away from breaking Jim Brown’s career rushing record. Harris joined the Seahawks in September, but only ended up playing in 8 games and ended up with 170 yards rushing on the season. He never played in the NFL again.
After taping this episode, John Ziegler tweeted that Franco had been at work on a podcast of his own about the Penn State-Paterno-Sandusky case. Here is the link:
NFL All-Time Leading Rushers
Harris is now 15th all-time. Jim Brown is 11th!
+ indicates Pro Football Hall of Fame
Highlighted players mentioned in podcast
Rank
Player
Yds
Years
1
Emmitt Smith+
18,355
1990-2004
2
Walter Payton+
16,726
1975-1987
3
Frank Gore
16,000
2005-2020
4
Barry Sanders+
15,269
1989-1998
5
Adrian Peterson
14,918
2007-2021
6
Curtis Martin+
14,101
1995-2005
7
LaDainian Tomlinson+
13,684
2001-2011
8
Jerome Bettis+
13,662
1993-2005
9
Eric Dickerson+
13,259
1983-1993
10
Tony Dorsett+
12,739
1977-1988
11
Jim Brown+
12,312
1957-1965
12
Marshall Faulk+
12,279
1994-2005
13
Edgerrin James+
12,246
1999-2009
14
Marcus Allen+
12,243
1982-1997
15
Franco Harris+
12,120
1972-1984
16
Thurman Thomas+
12,074
1988-2000
17
Fred Taylor
11,695
1998-2010
18
Steven Jackson
11,438
2004-2015
19
John Riggins+
11,352
1971-1985
20
Corey Dillon
11,241
1997-2006
Joe Paterno
Wikipedia article about JoePa (Warning: some information, especially about the end of his career is dubious.)
The Immaculate Reception
How the Immaculate Reception shaped Steelers history
Wikipedia on the Immaculate Reception
Harris caught a deflected pass, leading to a 13-7 Steelers victory over their rival Oakland Raiders in the 1972 AFC Divisional Playoff.
Notably, the NFL playoffs started in December in those days.
The 50th anniversary of the play will be on Friday, December 23, 2002. The number 32 that Franco Harris wore for the Pittsburgh Steelers is due to be retired on Saturday and will be only the third number to be officially retired by the club.
With the Benefit of Hindsight Podcast
The Framing of Joe Paterno: Documenting an outrageous rush to judgment
The Website of Record for Truth in the Sandusky Scandal
The Death of Journalism
Tweet Mentioned:
https://twitter.com/Zigmanfreud/status/1605630072680894464
John Ziegler (@Zigmanfreud)
We just taped Episode 18 of “The Death of Journalism,” which was dedicated to Franco Harris.
I forgot to tell the story of how we showed up to his packed Super Bowl party & he immediately bought my daughters squares, gave them T-shirts & got us seating.
I will miss him SO much.
Peyton’s Places on ESPN+
Link to Ep. 24 of the first season of Peyton’s Places (You’ll probably need an ESPN+ subscription to watch)
The O’Leary Review Podcast
https://briandoleary.substack.com/p/john-ziegler-with-the-benefit-of#details
https://briandoleary.substack.com/p/the-penn-state-case-with-john-ziegler#details
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