Najee Harris Wants to Help Steelers On Field, Pittsburgh Off It
PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Steelers have a tradition of focusing (maybe a little too much) on a player's personality when scouting them for the NFL Draft. With Najee Harris, the team's first-round pick in 2021, it was impossible not to focus on off-the-field traits.
Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert opened his post-pick press conference by talking about how great of a fit Harris is in Pittsburgh's backfield.
"Najee has the size, he has the speed, he has the athleticism. He has the run skills to run inside and outside," Colbert said following the pick. "Also, he can also play in the passing game as a receiver as a blocker. He's a three-down NFL back."
The conversation shifted, though. Throughout Colbert and head coach Mike Tomlin's press conference, Harris' personality took over the discussion, starting with his unscheduled trip to Alabama's Pro Day to support his teammates despite not participating.
"Najee did a really cool kind of thing because he was flying back for the pro day that he was not going to participate in because he was still coming off of an ankle injury that he had worked his way through during the season," Colbert explained. "His flight got delayed in Dallas and he decided to drive and be available and just watch his teammates at their pro day, and that really struck a chord with Coach and I."
Colbert and Tomlin weren't able to have one-on-one conversations with Harris in person, but watched from afar as they caught on to his off-the-field actions.
"To watch him interact with his teammates while they were going through their pro days was truly special."
Harris, who was one of six Alabama players taken in the first round of the draft, might not have found himself in such a dominant position without making a difficult decision in 2019. The then-junior chose to stay at Alabama for another season and enter the NFL Draft at age 23 - considered late for a running back. By doing so, he added hardware to his resume and impressed his future team with his decision.
"Najee decided to stay in school and go back for his senior year, which is going against the trend in college football right now," Colbert said. "He did that, and he won a National Championship. Obviously, Alabama had a lot of great players, him being the sixth one taken in the first round, but he was a huge part of that. I think obviously that was done because he had ability, but he also made the decision that he was going back to try to win a championship, which they did."
Harris didn't do it for a National Championship - even though it was likely a factor. Instead, he wanted to prove to himself that he can take another step forward on the field.
"The decision was for me mainly because when I went to go on - when I look at tape and film I want to be satisfied with myself," Harris said. "My junior year I was not satisfied with myself.
"There was a lot of things I felt like I needed to improve on and work on for me personally. A lot of people were saying was it a hard decision. No, it wasn't. It was a no-brainer to be honest with you. I didn't really care about what other running backs in the draft class, it was, was happy with what I put on film that year? And no, I was not. I couldn't say I was, so I wanted to go back and improve on all those things that I felt like I needed to work on."
The All-American running back isn't done trying to impress with his actions away from football. In his first Zoom press conference with local media, Harris mentioned helping the city of Pittsburgh and learning about the community as soon as he can.
"In Pittsburgh, I have never lived there, I've never been over there before. All I know is about the football," Harris said. "I'm always hoping to learn new things. I want to see what ways I can help in the community and ways and stuff like that, having food banks, just doing stuff in the area where I can just help out people off-the-field wise stuff, too. Just really stuff like that, giving back to the community."
Harris' community work is no secret. The Bay Area native held an NFL Draft party at a homeless shelter he spent time in growing up. He arrived with pizza and food and made sure to spend enough time there that everyone knew he was serious about how grateful he was for their support. So much time that he was late to his family and friends party.
"I wanted to make sure that I could give back to the community and show them if y'all still need anything, like I'm never too big or too whatever to help you guys out," Harris said. "I'm always going to be the helping hand."
The Steelers' newest member has a league-worst running game to fix on the field, but is going to impact the city of Pittsburgh in more ways than one. In two late-night press conferences with Tomlin, Colbert and then Harris, one thing became very clear - the 24th pick was about drafting someone who was going to change this team, and this community, for the better.
"Man, shoot. I'm me," Harris said, describing himself off the field. "I guess I'm a very giving person."
Noah Strackbein is a Publisher with AllSteelers. Follow Noah on Twitter @NoahStrack, and AllSteelers @si_steelers.
