Pitt basketball alum Curtis Aiken was supposed to see his friend Franco Harris on Thursday — a day in advance of celebrations to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Steelers legend’s “Immaculate Reception.”

On Tuesday, Aiken was on the phone with Harris’ wife, Dana Dokmanovich. Aiken could hear the NFL Hall of Famer laughing in the background of the call as Dana was passing along details of an event for friends and family planned for Friday following some of the public celebrations.

The next time Aiken heard from Dana was approximately 2:15 a.m. Wednesday, as she and her son Dok shared the news that Harris had died in his sleep on the sofa.

“I’ve just been so selfish,” Aiken said through tears during a telephone conversation with TribLIVE Wednesday. “Thinking about how much I’m going to miss him, how much he has taught me.”

Aiken had just concluded calling a Pitt basketball game in Syracuse on the Panthers Radio Network. He said he could tell that Harris’ son and wife were having trouble processing what had happened and that they were in “disbelief.”

Aiken used the same words to describe himself as he discussed what he remembered about Harris, a man who he considered a “big brother.”

“He taught me about giving back to the community. Charity. The importance of it. He was just a great guy,” Aiken said.

Aiken and Harris forged a friendship that began in 1983. Aiken says he met Harris while he was a player at Pitt. Harris would come to Trees Hall and work out. He’d play basketball with some of the Pitt players, as well. By that point, Harris was nearing the end of his career in Pittsburgh. He would play the 1983 season with the Steelers before playing with the Seattle Seahawks in 1984. Meanwhile, Aiken was at the beginning of a Panthers career that would see him score 1,200 points.

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“You could never tell it was the end of his career,” Aiken recalled. “He was still coming out and working out every day. I’ve never seen anybody with the work ethic that he had.”

Aiken said he traveled a lot with Harris this past year, including a trip to the Kentucky Derby. He said the two had spoken frequently as the ramp-up to events of the Immaculate Reception’s 50th anniversary started to build. The Steelers, the NFL and the entire city were planning numerous ceremonies and events in advance of the Christmas Eve game between the Steelers and the Las Vegas Raiders, which would have been one day after the 50th anniversary of the famous playoff game between the two franchises.

“It was nice. But he didn’t care about that stuff. I think everybody else wanted it more for him,” Aiken insisted.

It’s Aiken’s opinion that Harris would prefer people remember him for his personal interactions than the Immaculate Reception itself or his Hall of Fame career.

“He created some great memories. He loved talking about them. Laughing about them. But he just loved people,” Aiken said. “If you met him, just think about the times that you met him, and the time that you spent with him. Because I know he made everybody feel so good when he was around them. That’s what he would want people to think about. … He’s just going to be missed.”

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