Tag: Franco Harris

Steelers’ VP Art Rooney Jr. named a 2025 Hall of Fame candidate

Beloved member of the Rooney family, Steelers’ VP Art Rooney Jr., is one of 25 candidates from the Contributor category for 2025 HOF.

Steelers’ Vice President Art Rooney Jr., son of the Steelers’ founder Art Rooney Sr. and father of Steelers’ owner Art Rooney II, is one of 25 candidates named for the Contributor category in the 2025 Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Rooney Jr. served as the Steelers’ Personnel Director from 1965 to 1986, before becoming the Steelers’ Vice President in 1987.

Without Rooney Jr., the Pittsburgh Steelers’ generational success might have never come to fruition, as he  and the scouting department was responsible for 10 Hall of Fame caliber players from 1969 to 1974.  Players drafted or signed from his guidance included ‘Mean’ Joe Green, Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris, Jack Ham, Jack Lambert, and Mel Blount, just to name a few.

The Rooney family is a vital and beloved piece of Steelers history, and in some ways, the heart of Pittsburgh itself.  Rooney Jr. created the tradition of winning for the ‘Steel City’, and much of what we fans love today about our great team is because of him.

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Top 10 Penn State bowl game individual rushing performances

Here is a look at the top 10 individual rushing performances in Penn State bowl history.

As we count down the days until Penn State kicks off against Ole Miss in the 2023 Peach Bowl, it’s fun to look back on some Nittany Lions’ bowl game history. Two standout backs, [autotag]Kaytron Allen[/autotag] and [autotag]Nick Singleton[/autotag], are expected to play in the bowl game this year so perhaps more memorable performances are on deck.

Penn State has had its share of quality running backs throughout its storied history, none more famous than [autotag]Saquon Barkley[/autotag] and [autotag]Franco Harris[/autotag]. Harris was a big and powerful runner who led the Nittany Lions to an undefeated season in 1971 as an All-American. He would go on to win four Super Bowls with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Barkley broke several Penn State rushing records during his time in Happy Valley and showed the innate ability to break off highlight plays. He was one of if not the most electrifying players in Penn State history

Do either of these two backs make the list of top-10 rushing performances in Penn State bowl game history?

Steelers to reveal Franco Harris retired jersey display on Saturday

You don’t want to miss Saturday’s preseason game.

If you weren’t sure if you wanted to attend the Pittsburgh Steelers preseason game on Saturday, this might change your mind. The team announced on Wednesday that the team plans to unveil its display for the retired jersey number of Steelers legendary running back Franco Harris.

Harris played for the Steelers from 1972-1983 and is the team’s all-time leading rusher with 11,950 rushing yards. Harris was the workhorse back for the greatest franchise in NFL history as the Steelers won four Super Bowls in six seasons. Harris was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1990.

Tragically, Harris died in December of 2022, just three days before the 50th Anniversary of the Immaculate Reception, widely considered the greatest play in NFL history. The team will honor Harris’ memory by retiring the No. 32. In addition, Saturday’s game will also be Family Day and fans are encouraged to arrive early, join in the festivities and enter Acrisure Stadium early for the jersey ceremony.

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Penn State’s all-time first-round NFL draft picks

Every Penn State football player ever drafted in the first round of the NFL draft in school history.

In the history of the NFL draft, only a handful of schools have had more players drafted by NFL franchises than Penn State. The Nittany Lions have sent over 360 players through the NFL draft over the years, and that number continues to climb every year. And when it comes to first-round picks, Penn State has had a solid number of those as well, including some top draft picks.

Lenny Moore, arguably the best player in Penn State football history, is appropriately the first player in program history to be selected by an NFL franchise in the NFL draft. Since then, Penn State players have been selected in the first round numerous times through the decades with players like Shane Conlan, Blair Thomas, Ki-Jana Carter, LaVar Arrington, Saquon Barkley, and Micah Parsons.

Here is a look at every first-round NFL draft pick in Penn State history, starting with the first.

ChatGPT ranks Penn State football’s top 10 players of all-time

ChatGPT ranks the top 10 players in Penn State history. Did it get it right?

The storied history of Penn State football is full of all-time great players not just in program history, but in the history of the sport of football. Coming up with a list of the top 10 players of all time is always an interesting exercise because the opinions you have on the subject may change by the day. Do you lean more toward the defensive standouts or give preference to some of the top offensive players of all time?

In an ever-evolving world of artificial intelligence and analytical analysis, what if you just let a computer do the ranking for you? It may not be a perfect science, but out of curiosity, I turned to ChatGPT, a language model trained by OpenAI, and asked the AI interface to rank the top 10 players in Penn State football history for me.

The results were not too bad, although I do have some different opinions on the ranking. But let’s take a look at how ChatGPT ranked the top 10 players in Penn State’s football history.

Penn State honoring Franco Harris at the Rose Bowl

Penn State will honor Franco Harris with helmet decal in Rose Bowl

Penn State recently lost a big member of the football family with the recent passing of former running back Franco Harris. So as the Nittany Lions made their way to Pasadena to face Utah in the Rose Bowl, Penn State made sure to pay tribute to one of the biggest names in program history.

Penn State players showed up to the Rose Bowl Stadium getting off the bus in jerseys with Harris’ no. 34, including head coach James Franklin and radio broadcaster and former linebacker Jack Ham.

A no. 34 jersey was also placed in a locker in Penn State’s locker room at the stadium.

Penn State will also be wearing a special helmet decal with Harris’ initials on the back.

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Penn State faces Utah in the Rose Bowl at 5:00 p.m. ET on ESPN.

50 years and a day after the Immaculate Reception, Steelers stun Raiders on late touchdown

The Steelers got a late TD on the day they retired Franco Harris’ number to jar the Raiders

Fifth years and a day ago, Franco Harris won a game for Pittsburgh.

On Saturday, the Steelers won one for their late, great running back.

On a night when Harris’ No. 32 was retired, the Steelers got a last-minute touchdown pass from rookie Kenny Pickett to rookie George Pickens that gave Pittsburgh a 13-10 victory over the Raiders.

The game-winning drive covered 76 yards over 10 plays and took 2:09.

Pickett found Pickens over the middle for the 14-yard touchdown.

Chris Boswell hit the PAT to give the Steelers the three-point edge.

Las Vegas’ final drive ended with the third interception thrown by Derek Carr.

Pickett was 26-of-39 for 244 yards and the score on an emotional night. He spoke about the emotions that went along with retiring Harris’ jersey number days after he died at 72.

The TD with 46 seconds left was the only time Pittsburgh led.

In the Immaculate Reception game, the Raiders had gotten a 30-yard touchdown run from Ken Stabler only to see Harris pull the deflected ball out of the air and run to the end zone.

In some way, this was history repeating itself, just not with the same drama.

 

Pittsburgh Steelers’ emotional Franco Harris jersey retirement ceremony

The Steelers retired Franco Harris’ No. 32 at halftime

The Pittsburgh Steelers retired Franco Harris No. 32 at halftime of their game with the Las Vegas Raiders on Saturday.

Harris passed away earlier in the week at the age of 72.  What was expected to be a joyous occasion had a somber tone. Still, Steelers fans delivered love as the jersey was presented to Harris’ family.

Teammates from Harris’ Pro Football Hall of Fame career were seated on the field during the ceremony, which took place in bitter weather conditions.

The weather did not deter those in attendance from showing their appreciation for the legendary running back.

Prior to the game a moment of silence was held in memory of and tribute to Harris.

The Raiders and Steelers played 50 years and a day after the Immaculate Reception.

The Steelers’ players honored Franco Harris in the classiest way by having every player wear his jersey

This is such a great gesture from the Steelers’ players

The NFL world lost an absolute legend in Franco Harris this week when he died at the age of 72.

Harris is a legend when it comes to the game of football, of course. But he’s something more than that when it comes to the Steelers and the city of Pittsburgh.

He gave that team his all and from that came so many big moments, including the legendary immaculate reception.

Considering all that, it makes perfect sense that the Steelers would honor him in a special way this week. And the players did such an awesome thing to pay homage to the legend.

Players wore Franco Harris jerseys to the game and it was so cool.

Football fans absolutely loved this gesture.

Steelers players arrive for game wearing Franco Harris No. 32 jerseys

Steelers players paid tribute to the late Franco Harris on Saturday

The Pittsburgh Steelers arrived for Saturday’s game with the Las Vegas Raiders each wearing an homage to the late Franco Harris.

One by one players arrived for the contest wearing No. 32 jerseys.

The team is going to retire the Pro Football Hall of Fame running back’s No. 32 before the game with the Raiders.

The ceremony comes a day after the 50th anniversary of the Immaculate Reception.