The Pittsburgh Steelers aren’t the only sports team in town honoring Franco Harris. The Pittsburgh Penguins are paying tribute to his life tonight in a variety of ways. Prior to tonight’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes, the team held a video tribute for Harris as captured and shared by KDKA’s Bob Pompeani.
The team is also wearing #32 decals on the side of each player’s helmet for tonight’s game. The team sent out the photo of Jake Guentzel’s helmet with the Harris sticker.
Harris embraced the Pittsburgh community and helped the entire city, not just the Steelers. He opened and ran businesses in the Pittsburgh area while helping create scholarship opportunities and getting involved in the city’s local Special Olympics program.
It’s a classy honor and tribute from the Penguins. All three of the major Pittsburgh sports teams have been closely linked over the years. Though each have had varying degrees of success, all three of the major stadiums are in downtown Pittsburgh, unlike some other cities that have stadiums far away from the city. The Penguins and Steelers have certainly supported each other through the years, wishing each other good luck to start seasons and when one side makes the playoffs. Heck, they both have coaches named Mike Sullivan.
The Steelers will honor Harris’ life and legacy Saturday night during halftime of their game against the Las Vegas Raiders. Despite Harris’ death, the team reportedly plans to still retire his number as they celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Immaculate Reception.
