Franco Harris, the Pittsburgh Steelers running back who caught what became known as the "Immaculate Reception," has died age 72, the Pro Football Hall of Fame said on Wednesday.

Harris rushed for 12,120 yards in 13 NFL seasons and won four Super Bowl rings with the Steelers, but it was a single catch off a ricocheted pass from Terry Bradshaw that turned into a game-winning 60-yard touchdown that is the signature moment of his Hall of Fame career.

That catch, on Dec. 23, 1972, at Three Rivers Stadium, helped the Steelers to their first-ever playoff win, a 13-7 victory over the Oakland Raiders, and has become part of NFL folklore as the Immaculate Reception.

Pittsburgh was scheduled to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Immaculate Reception and retire Harris' No. 32 on Saturday, when the Steelers host the Las Vegas Raiders on Christmas Eve. The team said Wednesday it would still honor Harris and retire his jersey at halftime, although the status of many of the other festivities celebrating Harris and his Immaculate Reception scheduled for Friday and during pregame on Saturday, are uncertain.

The Steelers had invited members of the 1972 team, including Joe Greene, to attend their planned weekend celebrations and be a part of the halftime ceremony to retire Harris' jersey. Greene and former defensive lineman Ernie Stautner are the only other Steelers to have their jerseys retired.

"We have lost an incredible football player, an incredible ambassador to the Hall and most importantly, we have lost one of the finest gentlemen anyone will ever meet," Hall of Fame President Jim Porter said in a statement.

Harris was the Steelers' first selection in the 1972 draft and quickly established himself as one of the NFL's best running backs, rushing for more than 1,000 yards to claim rookie of the year honors.

He rushed for 1,000 yards or more eight times and more than 100 yards in 47 games, earning nine selections to the Pro Bowl.

"It is difficult to find the appropriate words to describe Franco Harris' impact on the Pittsburgh Steelers, his teammates, the city of Pittsburgh and Steelers Nation," Steelers President Art Rooney II said.

"From his rookie season, that included the Immaculate Reception, through the next 50 years, Franco brought joy to people on and off the field."

Harris was a cornerstone of the Steelers dynasty that won four Super Bowls in the 1970s.

In Super Bowl IX, when the Steelers won their first-ever league title with a 16-6 victory over Minnesota, Harris rushed for 158 yards and was named Super Bowl MVP.

"He meant so much to Steelers fans as the Hall of Fame running back who helped form the nucleus of the team's dynasty of the '70s, but he was much more," NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement.

"Franco changed the way people thought of the Steelers, of Pittsburgh, and of the NFL."

Harris's death triggered an outpouring of grief across the worlds of sport, entertainment and politics.

U.S. President Joe Biden recalled that after the car crash 50 years ago that killed his first wife and infant daughter and badly injured his two young sons, Harris and other Steelers players came to the hospital.

"Say the name Franco Harris and most everyone talks about the catch, the Super Bowls, and the glory he brought to the game of football," Biden said. "But in the 50 years we bonded as friends, I always talked about his character and compassion.

"I know there will also be countless families like mine that will remember him for all that he did to lift our spirits when we needed it — in the most quiet, personal and American of ways."