Post-football
Harris and Lydell Mitchell, successful college teammates at Penn State, now own Super Bakery, a company founded in 1990 to produce nutrition-oriented foods for schoolchildren. The business was renamed to RSuper Foods in 2006. RSuper foods produces the Super Donut that has been served to students at public schools in the eastern United States.
Harris and Mitchell also partnered in 1996 to rescue the Parks Sausage Company in Baltimore, the first African-American owned business to go public in the U.S.
Harris is also a paid representative for the Harrah's/Forest City Enterprises casino plan for downtown Pittsburgh. This association has earned him the tongue-in-cheek nickname, "Franco Harrahs".
On July 9, 2006, Harris made an appearance in the 2006 Taco Bell "All-Star Legends and Celebrity Softball Game" at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.
In August 2008, Harris attended the 2008 Democratic National Convention, in Denver, Colorado, as part of the Pennsylvania delegation. Harris voted for Obama on December 15, 2008, as one of Pennsylvania's 21 Democratic presidential electors.
In John Grisham's 2008 novel Playing For Pizza, the fullback of the Parma Panthers is nicknamed Franco as a tribute to his hero, Franco Harris, who he refers to as the "greatest Italian football player". This is a reference to Franco's mixed racial heritage.
Harris briefly worked with The Meadows Racetrack and Casino in 2011, before the casino suspended the relationship after Harris' comments in support of Joe Paterno, his coach while at Penn State, during the Penn State sex abuse scandal.
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