Franco Harris, one of the great Steelers. Archive version, but the NYT keeps saying “This is a developing story. A full obituary will be published soon.”
The 6-foot-2 running back won four Super Bowls with the Steelers as they established themselves as the N.F.L.’s dominant team of the 1970s, and he was named to the Pro Bowl in each of his first nine seasons. But it was a single, heads-up play that more than anything defined his career.
On Dec. 23, 1972, the Steelers were trailing, 7-6, in a divisional round playoff game against the Oakland Raiders. With less than 30 seconds to play in the fourth quarter, the Steelers quarterback, Terry Bradshaw, lofted a desperation pass to John “Frenchy” Fuqua, only to see the ball deflect toward the ground. But Harris scooped the ball out of the air just inches from the turf and ran untouched for the game-winning touchdown, a miraculous finish that has been replayed thousands of times since.
Five decades later, Harris, who played college football at Penn State, remained one of the most beloved Steelers players, an instantly recognizable face in Pittsburgh. He rushed for 12,120 yards over 13 seasons, 12 of which were with Pittsburgh, and was a linchpin of the Steelers’ most successful era, winning Super Bowls in the 1974, 1975, 1978 and 1979 seasons.
I want to mention pigpen51’s obit for Les Lowery, leather and saddle maker. I was unfamiliar with him until pigpen posted, but he sounds like a really good guy: anybody who helps people walk is doing a mitzvah in my book. I spent some time trying to find more about Mr. Lowery online, but everything I did find was paywalled.
Mike Hodges, director. Other credits include “The Terminal Man”, “Morons From Outer Space”, and “A Prayer For the Dying”.
Frank “Cadillac Frank” Salemme, notorious New England mobster.
Sorry about the lack of info on Mr. Lowery. I only got as much as I did from his obit that was posted in my hometown facebook page. I am from Hesperia, MI, and we played Walkerville in baseball. They were a very small town, much smaller than even Hesperia.
So a lot of their students came to our school, for high school. Kind of a strange arraignment, but we had a couple of other places in the area that did the same thing. Such is the case for rural areas, even in a state as populous as Michigan. Certain places are just wide open, with no industry to hold people there. It has gotten even worse, with the industrial base leaving.
Now they want to make Michigan a tourist mecca, with our scenic wonders. And it truly is beautiful. But the jobs that tourism creates don’t pay what a job like I had, making steel for the investment cast and the aerospace industry paid. So there is a LOT of poverty in Michigan, with the marijuana industry becoming a real money maker, and causing a lot of criminal activity in fighting over licenses.
This on the total other side of the state from Detroit. There are murders in my city just about every other week, with another one just a couple of nights ago, of a newly elected school board member, in a mostly black district. They have a suspect in custody, but no details have been released yet. It is pretty much the same all over America, from the reports that I have read. What a different world from what we grew up in. What used to end in fists now ends up with gunshots.
No worries, pigpen. It’s not your fault: I just wanted to explain to folks why I had such a scanty obit entry.
Ever since Mr. Pen’s mention of Les Lowery, I have been searching for information on him and located a social media site for his Michigan business. I dislike social media but will be sending you (Stainles) the link I found and a couple of photos I extracted from said link. Thank you for pointing out such a straight-up dude, pigpen.