FRANCO HARRIS, THIRD FROM RIGHT, WITH, AMONG OTHERS, COURIER SPORTS COLUMNIST BILL NEAL, THIRD FROM LEFT.
by Bill Neal, For New Pittsburgh Courier
More than likely you don’t know Doug Brown, he of early Penn Hills High School football fame. But if you knew him and more importantly, if you had ever seen him run with a football, you would better understand why this salute to the great Franco Harris begins with him.
You see, Doug was our O.J. from fourth grade on. A magnificent runner with great natural talent and “Grown Man’s” strength by the time we got to seventh grade. And with him the rest of us…Jeff, Greg, Jessie, Johnny, Rip, Clarence and a few others expected to reach the “Promised Land,” aka state title by 1970, our senior year.
Well, things happened and we never got to the gold, not even close, but we fought under the leadership of new head coach Andy Urbanic. That being said, it didn’t dampen my dreams to play at Penn State and on to the Baltimore Colts of the NFL. Only one problem—I wanted Penn State but Penn State didn’t want me, nor did any other Division 1 school and I had a better chance of playing Scrooge at Christmas than playing pro football.
However, here’s where we begin to connect the dots. Penn State wanted Doug, so I was able to sneak in a trip to State College with him on a recruitment trip. It was at that time I learned two things. #1. Coach Joe Paterno made it very clear he appreciated my high school Hall of Fame status but it didn’t add up to what it took to be a Nittany Lion. “Cold-Blooded!” And #2. That meeting Franco Harris playing pick-up basketball in the “Rec Hall” would be the beginning of a lifelong relationship that would make me and countless Pittsburghers all the better for it. Most especially the thousands of young men that would come through the Champions/Franco Harris All-Pro Football Camps that he would go on to sponsor through my agency from 1979 to 2015. Not only did he sponsor the camps, he showed up at the majority of them to shake the hands of the young players as they left the field.
FRANCO HARRIS, AT THE PGH. CITY LEAGUE HIGH SCHOOL HALL OF FAME INDUCTIONS. (PHOTOS BY KEN OGILVE)
Of course it didn’t stop there. He was a co-sponsor in our youth tennis clinics (and if you didn’t know, Franco was a great tennis player) and proved to be a guardian angel for Champion Enterprises and Achieving Greatness Inc., by not only co-sponsoring many of our programs with an annual donation, but attending them as well, most notably the Willie Stargell Pittsburgh MVP Awards and the Connie Hawkins Summer Basketball League. Of course it goes without saying he was good friends with Willie and Connie… and by the way a damn good basketball player, too. Now ya know!!!
With a 40-plus-year relationship with one of the all-time greatest NFL players, it was an easy call on our part to join with Ben and Victor Scott and present Franco with an early Lifetime Achievement/Immaculate Reception 50th Year Anniversary Award. It was solely because Ben and Victor were being inducted into the Pittsburgh City League Hall of Fame that they and the Scott family would have Franco on hand on their behalf because he had such a monumental impact on their lives through high school and college. (For the record that’s an E-60 ESPN story to be told.)
With all that and the support of the Willie Thrower Foundation, represented by basketball legend B.B. Flenory and Foundation President Melvin Smith, the unexpected final pass would be thrown. (Willie Thrower is the first Black man to play quarterback in the NFL and hails from New Kensington) When former Steelers Super Bowl champion, the Honorable Judge Dwayne Woodruff, introduced and praised his teammate in front of the 500-plus guests and the 9th Annual Pittsburgh City League High School Hall of Fame inductees, little did we know it would be “The Last Reception” he would catch and who better to throw it than the late, great Willie Thrower!
Saturday, Dec. 17, 2022, would be the last time we would see our dear friend and the greatness that was Franco Harris. And while none of us could see any difference in him whatsoever, we, like millions of others, were anxiously awaiting his official NFL and Pittsburgh Steelers’ 50-year anniversary celebration and the retirement of his jersey that would join only two others in Steelers history, Ernie Stautner and the great Joe Greene.
All that you’ve heard about Franco Harris is true. That’s an easy blanket statement to make because you never, and I mean you never, heard anything bad about the man.
NFL Hall of Fame football superstar, four-time Super Bowl Champion, Super Bowl MVP, and top two rushing champion…it all, believe it or not, takes second place to the millions that he showcased his talent for and the thousands of lives he personally touched and the fortunate and blessed of us whom he touched and made our lives better.