Joe Greene ready to welcome Franco Harris into Steelers' exclusive retired number fraternity

Joe Greene sees no reason why the Pittsburgh Steelers shouldn’t be retiring Franco Harris’ No. 32 in December on the 50th anniversary of the Immaculate Reception.

“Before Franco, we hadn’t done very much,” Greene said. “After Franco, we didn’t do much, either. But during Franco, we did a lot.”

Greene took part in the Steelers’ alumni reunion weekend. Players were recognized before the Steelers’ game against the New York Jets at Acrisure Stadium.

The Immaculate Reception helped the Steelers win the first playoff game in franchise history. Two years later, the Steelers won the Lombardi Trophy for the first time, a feat they would repeat three other times in a six-year span to become the first NFL team to win four championships in the Super Bowl era.

Greene, who joined the franchise in 1969, and Harris, a rookie in 1972, were lynchpins of that historic run. It wasn’t until 2005 that the Steelers earned a fifth Lombardi Trophy.

Harris was the MVP of the Steelers’ first championship, and when he retired, he was third on the NFL’s all-time rushing list.

In December, Harris will join Greene and Ernie Stautner as Steelers players who had their uniform number retired. After Stautner’s number was retired in 1964, the Steelers waited 50 years before adding Greene to the fraternity. Harris’ selection came eight years later.

“That’s irrelevant, joining me,” Greene said when asked what he thinks of Harris’ inclusion. “He thinks it is (an honor), and all the people that love Franco — and that’s thousands of them — think so.”

The Immaculate Reception was a defining moment in franchise history. The Steelers used it as a springboard to the most dominant era in franchise history. But what if Harris never caught that deflected pass on fourth down and the Steelers had lost that playoff game to the Raiders?

“You can only guess about the future,” Green said. “In hindsight, we can look back. After ’72, we skipped a year and then won four Super Bowls in six years. We can say that it gave us the confidence and level of expertise and experience that we could play against anybody at any time and compete for a championship.”

Greene said he had a clear view of the play and said it was a legal catch by Harris, who scooped the ball at his shoetops before it hit the turf and after it was deflected following a collision between Jack Tatum and Frenchy Fuqua.

“I saw Franco catching the ball before it hit the ground,” he said. “I saw it sail in the air. When he caught it, he started running, and I started running simultaneously with him. Therefore, it was a catch.”