Steelers Franco Harris transformed the NFL with his Italian Army

Not just an Italian Army

The Italian army movement began to spread as if it were an infectious virus. Before long the Italian army had an alliance of Black ( who obviously still Counted Franco as one of their own), the Irish Americans-Americans “Franco O’Harris”, and Israeli support, otherwise known as the Israeli Brigade of Francos’ Italian Army. Ethnicities not only worked in unison, but ethnicity also became a badge of pride in the city of Pittsburgh.

If not to be outdone, the Polish Community in Pittsburgh created the Polish Armed Forces allowing other ethnicities to express their ethnic background through the Steelers. Even the Slovak Community became involved when they honored Jack Ham emulating Franco’s Italian Army by creating “Dobre Sunka” or the Great Ham. On the West coast, you had Franco’s Italian Navy. It was a movement unlike any in any other NFL city. For once, ethnicity came together. If only for the love of football and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

You could argue that this phenom occurred with Jackie Robinson when he made MLB, but then Franco’s movement transcended that. Ethnicities of every kind had a place at the table, and it didn’t matter which ethnicity it was as long as you loved the Steelers; it was cool. However, the cultural occurrence had another effect on the NFL