Steelers to retire Harris’ No. 32 jersey

The Steelers will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Immaculate Reception at their Christmas Eve home game against the Raiders by retiring the No. 32 jersey of the game’s hero — running back Franco Harris. The announcement was made Tuesday by Steelers president Art Rooney II, who presented the 72-year-old Harris with a jersey with a 50th anniversary patch at a news conference. The Steelers will wear that special jersey for the Raiders game only.“The Immaculate Reception marked the turning point in franchise history,” Rooney said. Harris, whose catch of a deflected pass and winning TD produced what has been judged the greatest play in NFL history, becomes only the third Steelers player to have his number retired. The others are Joe Greene (75) and Ernie Stautner (70). The Steelers have never given Harris’ jersey number to another player after he retired in 1984. They’ve maintained a similar practice with some of their other Hall of Famers, including Terry Bradshaw, Jack Lambert, Mike Webster, Dermontti Dawson and Jerome Bettis.