Steelers fans honor Franco Harris on 50th anniversary of Immaculate Reception
By: Lauren Linder/KDKA-TV
PITTSBURGH (KDK) — Franco Harris led the Pittsburgh Steelers to victory in one of the best NFL plays of all time 50 years ago.
On Friday and at the exact time of the historic play from Dec. 23, 1972, diehard fans remembered the Immaculate Reception, even in the bitter cold outside. On Friday, fans relived the moment together by listening to the original radio broadcast during a public event at Acrisure Stadium.
They cheered and waved their Terrible Towels to commemorate the special day. Larry Sroka of Pittsburgh was at Three Rivers Stadium as a sophomore in high school when Pittsburgh played Oakland Raiders in the AFC Divisional Playoffs.
"When I saw the ball ricochet off of Tatum, I fell back in my seat thinking an incomplete pass, and when I heard everybody still yelling and screaming, I got up to see Franco running to the opposite side of the stadium and score," Sroka said.
To this day, Sroka still has his ticket. He hoped to finally get it signed by Harris. Then he learned of his death.
"The news hit me like a ton of bricks at 6:30 in the morning Wednesday," Sroka said. "I couldn't believe it."
The anniversary is now taking on a greater meaning for him and other fans like Jim Botti of Pittsburgh.
"Being an 11-year-old, 100 percent Italian from Pittsburgh, I was hook, line and sinker with Franco's Italian Army," Botti said. "I didn't think it was right not to come out and pay my respects to him."
They're honored Harris and the moment that turned the game around for Pittsburgh.
"It changed the Steelers, and then the Steelers helped to change Pittsburgh and move forward," Janice McCormick of Carnegie said.
"It was the start of the Steeler dynasty. It's what made us go from perennial losers to perennial winners," Sroka said.
Harris' No. 32 jersey will be retired during Saturday night's game against the Raiders.