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”

https://youtu.be/wna_mCmHQeI

 

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:

Upon Further Review

 

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

Link on Apple Podcasts

 

 

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

Episode 8 — John Ziegler (LIV Golf, College Football, and more)

https://briandoleary.substack.com/p/john-ziegler-with-the-benefit-of#details

Episode 9 — John Ziegler (The Penn State Case mega-pod)

https://briandoleary.substack.com/p/the-penn-state-case-with-john-ziegler#details

 

 

 

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