Q&A With Franco Harris: Immaculate Reception Anniversary, The "Real" Call, Kenny Pickett, Partnership with NFL ALL DAY

It's no secret that former Pittsburgh Steelers running back Franco Harris was part of one of the greatest plays in NFL history. 

Harris was the man who made the Immaculate Reception to send the Steelers to the American Football Conference Championship Game against the Miami Dolphins. Even though they lost that game, this play set up the Steelers for all kinds of success in the 70s. 

In honor of it being 50 years since the play, we got a chance to sit down with Harris to touch on what he thinks about the play to this day, what the original play call was, the moment that he knew those 70s teams were special, his partnership with NFL ALL DAY, the exclusive digital video collectible platform of the NFL, and so much more.

The Spun: What’s the first thing that goes through your mind when you think of the play today?

Franco Harris: I think about how it connects to so many memories and especially it being my rookie year, right, and the incredible year that we had as a team. To go to 11 wins and three losses and the three losses were by a total of 11 points. Then, personally, I think about how the year turned out with me being Rookie of the Year and then going into the second playoff game ever with the Pittsburgh Steelers and just that excitement still makes it exciting knowing how big this moment really is. 

It was the second time in 40 years that we went to a playoff game and we're winning. Tough defensive game, right? Then, all of a sudden we're losing by a great play that Kenny Stabler made. That was a defensive battle that day and then the last two minutes were two amazing offensive plays. So, when I think about that, you find ways to win, right? It's something that we carried with us through the rest of the 70s. Some things, though, just have to be miraculous or lucky. 

The Spun: Where do you think the franchise would be today if that play never happened? 

Harris: I do think about that because the Steelers have been around for what, 90 years. The first 40 of those, they're the worst team in NFL history, and in the last 50 years, I believe we're the winningest team so it goes to show that you can change your fortune. In 1972, the fortunes started to roll but as I said, in 50 years, it's been incredible. It put us on another plane or another train of thought and also, as you know, we have one of the best and biggest fanbases of any team. If you look at the games when we play away, doesn't that blow your mind? With all the terrible towels and black and gold that you see? It builds a feeling and a following that has just been incredible. 

The Spun: Were you stunned that basically every Raider player just stopped playing on the play?  

Harris: Well, I tell people that the immaculate reception and the preparation, you know they say preparation meets opportunity. That makes things happen. Little did I know that years before at Penn State, Joe Paterno always yelled "Go to the ball, go to the ball!" Little did I know that it was unbelievable preparation because when Bradshaw threw the ball, I'm telling myself "Go to the ball." I start taking some steps toward the ball and then I see the collision (on film) with Jack Tatum and "Frenchy" Fuqua and I notice a couple of Raiders start clapping their hands and jumping up and down. Those two-to-three seconds that they were doing gave me the amount of time I needed to make it to the endzone. Stuff like that helps, you know? 

The Spun: What was the original play call on that play? And what was said in the huddle?

Harris: It was a 66-circle option and my part of that play was to help our offensive linemen block. I wasn't part of the pass patterns. But just like anything, when Bradshaw was scrambling, I released to see if he could drop me the ball or be an outlet pass. With Bradshaw being as big and strong as he is, he's able to get the ball off, even though guys are trying to tackle him. As I mentioned earlier, I told myself, "Go to the ball." 

The first memory I have is stiff-arming Jimmy Warren going into the endzone. Other than that, I remember nothing at the time. But, I watched the film and I said, "Oh, okay!" What's interesting, though, is that I caught passes but I've never been a big part of a whole passing game. But, when I see myself catching this ball, and not breaking stride, and how low that ball was, I'm saying to myself, "Man that doesn't make much sense. Who catches the ball like that?" In that position, if I would've broken stride, they would've caught me. I still don't get how these things fell into place. It kind of blows my mind in a way when I think about it.

The Spun: What was the moment when you knew those 70s teams were special?

Harris: Obviously, 1972 was spectacular. To go from a team being the worst ever to being one win away from a berth in the Super Bowl is unbelievable. That said, when we really knew that we were a great football team was in 1974 when we beat Oakland in Oakland in the championship game. When we won that game, we knew that we were the best team in football. We weren't cocky, but we knew that we were the best and that we were ready for the Super Bowl. We were also ready for the run that we had for the rest of the 70s. 

It's funny, the 74' championship game against the Raiders is the biggest game that we played (even though the Immaculate Reception happened in 72'). It seems like it's all the Raiders, right? Then, in 1976, the Raiders beat us because all the running backs, including myself, were hurt. But, a lot of us say the 76' season was our greatest season even though we didn't win the Super Bowl. Still, we showed our true character of not giving up during the nine games we had without Bradshaw, we had to refocus and it was some incredible football. 

The Spun: To fast forward a bit to today's team, do you think Kenny Pickett is the real deal?

Harris: Oh, I think Kenny is developing really well, and sometimes, someone is just a winner. He makes things happen and I like where he's at. When you think about it, it's been rough for a lot of rookie quarterbacks as we know throughout history. A lot of them have had some tough seasons and have gone on to be incredible. I think he'll keep developing and hopefully, he's alright injury-wise. Still, we need some help. We're not a team where sometimes the defense can carry us and sometimes the offense can carry us. During the 70s, when our defense had a bad game, we rose to the occasion. If the offense was not having a good game, we rose to the occasion. Hopefully, we can get back in that position again. 

The Spun: Do you think you see any parallels between yourself and Najee Harris?

Harris: You know what? Boy, he is a tough runner. I'm just hoping that he can get some daylight. He's just not getting enough daylight right now and that makes it tough. Get him some daylight and let him show his talent. Back then, I liked the plays we had with the "trap special" but they don't do that stuff anymore. I loved being a running back and the art of running. I love the "how did he through this" or "how did he navigate that" and all that stuff so I love the art of running. 

The Spun: Why don’t you tell us about the partnership with NFL ALL DAY?

Harris: I think it's great to have this new format of digital collectibles. It's super exciting. I'm glad to partner with NFL ALL DAY and they can bring these special moments to the NFL fans. They can own these moments and I'm really excited about it. This takes it to a whole new level and I'm glad this content has come along and this whole digital format and I feel honored to be part of this new set coming out. I feel great that the Immaculate Reception and a couple of other plays are on this.

Fans can join the Immaculate Reception Pack Drop' on Tuesday, Dec. 20 for a chance to own 1 of 10 available Ultimate-tier moments of the Immaculate Reception. All you have to do is sign up for free at NFLALLDAY.com

You can read our other interviews here.