The Pittsburgh Steelers of the early 1970s underwent a remarkable transformation under the leadership of Head Coach Chuck Noll. Noll orchestrated a complete overhaul of the struggling team he inherited, laying the foundation for a franchise that would clinch four Super Bowl victories over the next decade.
If you ask football historians and fans familiar with that period about the team’s burgeoning success, running back Franco Harris gets a lot of credit. While Harris was a significant factor in the team’s improvement, it is still a team sport. The championships the team won developed as a result of excellent coaching and a revolutionary method of assessing and drafting players from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Steelers scout Bill Nunn found elite talent that other teams had yet to hear of, and it changed football. The Rooney family’s openness to drafting so many Black athletes during a time when it wasn’t completely commonplace gave the Steelers a leg up.
What’s funny about that time is that people’s memories are often skewed by their feelings. We saw this when Harris passed in 2022, just short of the 50th anniversary of the Immaculate Reception. Many forgot that the amazing catch did not immediately precede the Steelers’ first Super Bowl win. It wasn’t even the season prior; it was in 1972, and the first Championship didn’t come until the end of the 1974 season.
The Immaculate Reception game against the then-Oakland Raiders was the Steelers’ first playoff win ever. It was the AFC Divisional game, with the winner going on to play the Miami Dolphins in the AFC Championship. The Steelers would eventually lose to the Dolphins 21-17. The Dolphins came into that game at Three Rivers Stadium undefeated. Pittsburgh took an early lead in that game, and they might have won if it hadn’t been for a trick play and a little bad karma.
In his book Their Life’s Work, author Gary M. Pomerantz tells how overly exuberant Steelers fans might have jinxed their team. The excitement that developed as a result of the success they had that season might have gone to their heads.
Harris was drafted in the first round out of Penn State in 1972. Yes, that incredible catch was during his rookie season and he had one of the most famous fan groups in history; they called themselves Franco’s Italian Army. The joke was that the Steelers had been so bad for so long, it would take an army to get fans excited. And they got excited, maybe a little too excited, according to Pomerantz.
“In the days that followed Franco’s catch, the Christmas cards atop the mantel at 940 North Lincoln were joined with telegrams of congratulations. On the following Sunday, though, the Miami Dolphins defeated the Steelers 21-17 in the AFC title game at Three Rivers Stadium en route to the NFL’s first ever 17-0 perfect season. At the game’s end, the Steelers muttered about getting beat by, off all things, a fake punt. It had the whiff of S.O.S.: Same Old Steelers. The day before the game had presented a bad omen, Franco’s Italian Army had hired a prop plane to drop two thousand leaflets on the local hotel where the Dolphins were staying. The leaflets read, ‘Surrender now and enjoy life with your loved ones, rather than face destruction on the field of battle at Three Rivers Stadium.’ But the fates conspired, and the leaflets missed the mark, fluttering all over the Chief’s town.”
The members of Franco’s army were like no other fan group. They wore military items and displayed Italian pride, which got much attention. The majority of the army members owned local businesses and had season tickets all together in one section of the stadium. It was a different time; the men’s wives would bake pans of ravioli and manicotti, and send them to the stadium to be eaten with smuggled-in wine and bread. They got the notice of famous Steelers broadcaster Myron Cope and the enthusiasm spread with other fans joining in.
The army members were even able to indoctrinate their favorite Italian-American musician, Frank Sinatra, when out in San Diego. With the help of Cope, Sinatra agreed to meet with two of the founding army members, Al Vento and Tony Stagno. They toasted with wine and gave Sinatra his own Franco’s Italian Army helmet, making him a one-star general.
At least the Steelers lost to the best that year. The Dolphins went on to beat the then-Washington Redskins in the Super Bowl and, to this day, remain the only team to stage a totally perfect season. They won all 14 regular season games and the two playoff games before they won their first championship. Maybe the army was playing a long game, as the Dolphins won one more Super Bowl the following season and then never won another, while the Steelers have six Lombardi Trophies.
Steelers’ Franco Harris One Of Three To Have His Number Retired
The Steelers have never been a very flashy or showy team. Perhaps this is why they only retire a few jersey numbers, choosing to focus on the team, rather than the individual. They have only ever retired three jersey numbers: Harris (32), Ernie Stautner (70), and Joe Greene (75). They have a list of numbers kept from being retired, but out of circulation. That means if you ask for 7, 12, or 52, you are unlikely to get it.
However, with Antonio Brown’s number 84 recently handed out to new Steelers return man, Cordarrelle Patterson, talk has resumed regarding their refusal to retire numbers. The list of incredible players whose numbers could technically still be handed out is long, including Terry Bradshaw, Mike Webster, Jerome Bettis, and Troy Polamalu.
