Former Steelers RB Jerome Bettis remembers 'brother, mentor' Franco Harris

Bettis joins Harris on the Mount Rushmore of Steelers offensive greats. 

"The Bus" sits right behind his close friend and mentor Harris on Pittsburgh's all-time rushing yardage list. Harris leads the team with 11,950 career rushing yards, while Bettis is right behind him with 10,571 yards. 

Harris also leads the team in all-time rushing touchdowns with 91. Bettis also holds second place in that category with 78. 

Bettis appeared on ESPN's "First Take" Wednesday to commemorate Harris, someone who joined "The Bus" for lunch and befriended him when Bettis landed in Pittsburgh as a rookie.

"I'll remember Franco as just a wonderful individual," Bettis said. "He was so special because he knew how to welcome you in. He was such a huge figure, but he knew how to just ingratiate himself with you to make you feel comfortable because you knew you were talking to a legend. ... He was so kind, generous." 

As a kid, Bettis said he actually "hated" Harris because he wasn't a Steelers fan growing up. As fate would have it, Harris would help Bettis push ahead for a Hall of Fame career. Bettis said he remembers telling Harris about his childhood distaste when they first met. 

"He laughed it off and said, 'Now, you've got to love me,'" Bettis recalled. "That's when our relationship really took off. He was a special man, and I'll never forget him." 

Longtime Steelers running backs coach Dick Hoak coached both Harris and Bettis during their heydays. He compared their styles in a reflection piece for ESPN. 

“Jerome would run over you more, Franco would run away from you,” Hoak told ESPN in 2015. “Franco was probably faster than Jerome, Jerome was more powerful. Franco, he had great, great vision. Jerome had good vision too but not quite as good as Franco. They were different types of backs.”

Harris, the four-time Super Bowl champion and "Immaculate Reception" fixture, has a monument built to his legendary touchdown play outside of Pittsburgh's Acrisure Stadium. 

The Steelers organization will celebrate the 50th anniversary of that iconic moment over the weekend. Pittsburgh will also retire Franco's "No. 32" jersey on Sunday during a remembrance ceremony that now takes much deeper meaning. 

Bettis said on "First Take" that Harris' death comes as a shock to many given that he felt Harris was in good health and that he had spoken to him recently. He gave context to how the loss affects the massive Pittsburgh fandom. 

"Franco was really the architect, if you will, of that Steeler tradition," Bettis said. "Franco came and really changed the culture. ... After his career, he was able to show all of the future Steeler players how to be a professional, how to handle the celebrity with grace, with class.

"I was a fan of Franco in terms of everything he did after he played. I modeled myself after him because of what he meant to the city, but what he did for the city as well."