Steelers Stars Pay Tribute to Franco Harris With No. 32 Jerseys

The Pro Football Hall of Famer died earlier this week, prompting tributes from around the football world.
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On a day of celebration and mourning for the Steelers franchise, current Pittsburgh players did their part to pay tribute to the late, great Franco Harris.

Harris, a Pro Football Hall of Famer whose Immaculate Reception stands as one of the most iconic plays in NFL history, died unexpectedly earlier this week. Months ago, the team had announced plans to retire his No. 32 jersey on Dec. 24 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the play.

Before Saturday’s game against the Raiders, numerous Steelers players arrived at Acrisure Stadium donning jerseys with Harris’ iconic No. 32.

Among the players to wear the No. 32 jerseys were Minkah Fitzpatrick, TJ Watt, Alex Highsmith, Cam Sutton, Kenny Pickett and Jesse Davis. Steelers coach Mike Tomlin also joined in on the tribute.

No cause of death for Harris has been determined yet. He retired from the NFL after the 1984 season, spending all but one year with the Steelers, and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1990.


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Nick Selbe
NICK SELBE

Nick Selbe is a programming editor at Sports Illustrated who frequently writes about baseball and college sports. Before joining SI in March 2020 as a breaking/trending news writer, he worked for MLB Advanced Media, Yahoo Sports and Bleacher Report. Selbe received a bachelor's in communication from the University of Southern California.