Penn State Football: 30 greatest players of all-time

A native of Fort Dix, New Jersey, Franco Harris would team with Lydell Mitchell to give the Penn State Nittany Lions arguably the best running back tandem in college football history. While Harris was mostly a blocker for Mitchell during his college days, he was still productive as a ball carrier, scoring at least seven touchdowns in each of his seasons in Happy Valley.

For Harris, Penn State was the place where he really put himself on the map. While he was not the featured back, teams certainly took notice come draft time. Due to his exploits on the football field, Harris would go on to be drafted in the first round of the 1973 NFL Draft, as the Pittsburgh Steelers selected him with the No. 13 overall pick.

From there, Harris became an absolute legend in the game of football, winning four Super Bowls alongside former Penn State teammate Jack Ham. Harris even won the Super Bowl MVP in Super Bowl IX and would parlay his incredible playing career into a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Harris was one of those rare Penn State running backs that actually had a better NFL career, than he did a college career. Still, when you think of legendary Penn State football players, you cannot leave a player like Harris off this list, as he did so much for the team back then and continues to do so to this very day.