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Pittsburgh Steelers Pro Football Hall of Famer Joe Greene, left,  hugs former teammate Franco Harris after a ceremony to retire Greene's jersey number 75 at half time of an NFL football game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens, Sunday, Nov. 2, 2014, in Pittsburgh.
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One year after Franco Harris' death, Joe Greene echos Pittsburgh: 'I think about him all the time'

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One year after Franco Harris' death, Joe Greene echos Pittsburgh: 'I think about him all the time'

One was a defensive star, the unquestioned best player in Steelers history. He was the foundation on which the franchise’s Super Bowl dynasty of the 1970s was built.

The other was an offensive standout, the running back who pushed the Steelers over the top to greatness. He ran and ran and ran, all the way to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Joe Greene and Franco Harris.

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It seemed right to call Greene as the one-year anniversary of Harris’ sudden, unexpected, horribly timed death approached. He eagerly took the call, glad to talk about his great teammate and better friend, a man who, like Roberto and Mario and Sid and Ben, doesn’t need a last name in this town.

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“I still can’t believe it,” Greene said from his home in Grand Prairie, Texas. “I’ve been trying to get over it. I can’t get past it. I think about him all the time. All the time. All the time.”

Greene laughed when he talked about Franco’s unorthodox ball-toting style. He cried — literally cried — when he talked about how Franco had a positive influence on everyone he met. He spoke reverentially about Franco’s impact on the Steelers and their four Super Bowl wins in the 1970s, virtually echoing franchise founder Art Rooney Sr.’s words from long ago:

“We never won before Franco got here. We never lost after he did.”

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I reminded Greene of that quote. I also told him about some amazing statistics dug up by Post-Gazette columnist Gene Collier for his wonderful tribute to Franco in 2020: The Steelers were 26-71-3 in the 100 games before Franco joined the team in 1972 and 74-25-1 in the first 100 games after he was here.

I could almost see Greene smiling in his family room.

“He gave us a bona fide threat, a bona fide player in the backfield who could run the ball,” he said. “He meant that third down, a lot of times, was third down-and-1 or 3rd-and-2 as opposed to 3rd-and-8 or 3rd-and-13. We could give the ball to Franco on first down and he would get 5 or 6 yards. He put pressure on the opposing defense in terms of stopping the run. It made it a little easier for the wide receivers to get open and for Terry [Bradshaw] to find someone to catch the ball. It just balanced out the offense. We got competitive against some of the top teams because of Franco.”

Everyone has their favorite Franco memory in a stadium. First and foremost, the “Immaculate Reception” against the Oakland Raiders in the 1972 playoffs, the greatest play in NFL history. His 158 rushing yards and a touchdown against the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl IX. His 12,120 career rushing yards, which ranked third behind Jim Brown and Walter Payton on the NFL’s all-time list when he retired after the 1984 season. His 91 rushing touchdowns. Frank Sinatra’s induction into Franco’s Italian Army in Palm Springs in 1972.

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A different Franco memory stands out for Greene.

“It was a game in the preseason against the Falcons in Atlanta in his rookie year.”

A little background:

Greene acknowledged he was a little disappointed when the Steelers took Franco with the 13th overall pick in the 1972 draft.

“The scuttlebutt around the team was we were looking at another running back from Houston (Robert Newhouse) and one from Cornell University (Ed Marinaro). Instead, we drafted the second running back from Penn State (Lydell Mitchell being the first).

“Franco was looking like a fullback when he came in. I thought we needed a halfback. I thought we were drafting a halfback. I didn’t know any better.”

The Steelers’ early practices at Saint Vincent College in 1972 did nothing to inspire Greene’s confidence in Franco.

“He would run up to the line and stop, go to the left or go to the right. I’d be looking at him, thinking, ‘What’s he doing?’ We all got tired of watching him go back and forth. He did it all the time. I said to myself, ‘Oh, my, we got us a dud here.’”

Jump ahead to that exhibition game in Atlanta.

“When Franco got in the game, he did the same thing he was doing in practice — a little bit to the left, a little bit to the right,” Greene said. “Then he took off running for a 75-yard touchdown. I remember thinking, ‘Wow! We got one.’ I was so, so elated. I think I ran halfway down the sideline chasing after him. When I saw that, I never ever called Franco a dud again.”

All of the accolades for Franco as a ballplayer are justified. But his work off the field was just as impressive. He won the NFL’s prestigious Walter Payton Man of the Year award in 1976. Joe Gordon, the Steelers’ long-time, terrific public relations man, often said Franco did more for the City of Pittsburgh than any athlete. I would put Franco right there with Mario.

“No one rose to the level where Franco was in terms of being cordial to the fans,” Greene said. “He signed all the autographs. He took all the pictures. He was never in a hurry. I never saw him meet a fan and that fan not walking away thinking they were friends.

“He just had a way. It wasn’t anything that he was doing because he had to. That was just him. He had that personality. He was very happy to be Franco and have people care about him like that. He never met a stranger. They were all friends to him. ...

“When things were good, he was good, and when things were bad, he was still good. He never was negative. When people started talking about the coaching or whatever, Franco wasn’t a part of those conversations. He always had something positive to say about our football team.”

Greene, tears in his eyes now and his voice cracking, paused to gather himself.

“Franco was so special,” he finally whispered. “So special. So special in so many ways.”

Franco’s death was reported Dec. 21 last year. He did not live quite long enough to see the Steelers retire his No. 32 jersey three days later on Christmas Eve in an Acrisure Stadium ceremony in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the “Immaculate Reception.” He was 72.

“I can’t tell you how special it is and how great it feels,” Franco told me in an interview two weeks earlier. “I’m really looking forward to that weekend. The thing that makes it really special is we get to celebrate it during the Christmas holidays. I love the Christmas holidays.”

Greene got the news of Franco’s passing from Franco’s son, Dok.

“My phone rang. I looked at it and the name said Franco,” Greene said. “I answered and said, ‘Mr. Harris!’ like I always did.”

Greene still is struggling with the words he heard next.

“No, it’s Dok. Franco’s dead.”

One year ago.

“It wasn’t supposed to be like this,” Art Rooney II said during the subdued ceremony retiring Franco’s number. “The big man was supposed to be standing here right next to me.”

Greene was among 20 former teammates who showed up on an absolutely frigid Christmas Eve to honor Franco. Hall of Famer Mel Blount was there, wiping tears from his eyes with a Terrible Towel and later saying, “Franco was an icon, not just to football fans, but to his peers. He was the most kind, loving person. He was a special guy.”

“The timing was just terrible ... that close to his big night,” Greene said of Franco’s death. “But he was always so positive. I’m sure he would have said something like it, ‘It’s time,’ and meant it. He was one of a kind. You just don’t meet someone like that in your lifetime.

“How lucky were we?”

Ron Cook: rcook@post-gazette.com and Twitter@RonCookPG. Ron Cook can be heard on the “Cook and Joe” show weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on 93.7 The Fan.

First Published: December 21, 2023, 10:30 a.m.
Updated: December 22, 2023, 5:10 p.m.

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Pittsburgh Steelers Pro Football Hall of Famer Joe Greene, left, hugs former teammate Franco Harris after a ceremony to retire Greene's jersey number 75 at half time of an NFL football game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens, Sunday, Nov. 2, 2014, in Pittsburgh.  (AP)
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