Scary Steelers Defenses Of The Early 2000s Would Tell James Harrison To Put Other Team's Best Player's "A** To Sleep"

The Pittsburgh Steelers had an incredible run on the defensive side of the ball when Dick LeBeau was calling the plays in the early portion of the 21st century. The unit was knowingly responsible for three Super Bowl appearances and two victories. Sure, some heroics from Ben Roethlisberger are never to go without being acknowledged, but the defense was the group that set the tone game after game. When one takes a look at the starting lineup, it's hard to imagine how opposing offenses were even able to get into the red zone. Troy Polamalu, James Harrison, Ryan Clark, Ike Taylor, and many others were dominant for several years.

Taylor is still very much involved with the Steelers organization as he was hired as a scout in the 2023 offseason. He is attempting to help in the draft-evaluating process to bring a seventh Super Bowl to the Steel City. He also co-hosts a podcast, Bleav in Steelers, with Mark Bergin. On their most recent episode that dropped on Thursday, he touched on the ruthless defenses that he played on.

"The rules have got changed because of Troy Polamalu, James Farrior, Ryan Clark, myself on the backend and James Harrison."

The hard-hitting groups that the Steelers were able to consistently put on the field was a nightmare for all members of any opposing offense. Taylor then went into detail about how they would get together and give Harrison, also known as "Deebo," a simple task when it came to star players on other teams.

"When you sitting in that huddle and we arguing with each other who the best player on the opposing team is and we saying, 'Man, hey Deebo, if this man running a crossing route, put his a** to sleep."

Harrison certainly had the ability to do that. Let's not get this confused for any kind of "Bountygate" scandal. The rules were much different back then and it is well-known that Harrison could quite literally knock someone out on the field simply based on how strong he was and how hard he could hit. They don't make them like him anymore in modern-day football.

Taylor also reflected back on Harrison's dominant special teams play. That's how he originally made a name for himself in the NFL and it kept him around on the Steelers roster long enough for him to finally break out into the incredible player that he was nearly five years after entering the league. Taylor hilariously talked about what the linebacker would do to people on kickoffs.

"We ain't even gonna talk about special teams. Him going down on kickoff and just putting a lot of people to sleep. You ask them where they at and they say, 'Alaska.' Na, you in Pittsburgh, take them out the game."

Harrison finished his career with 84.5 sacks. He may not be a lock to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, but he will always be recognized as one of the best undrafted players of all-time. He was a staple for a defense that 31 other teams in the NFL deeply feared. Harrison is not just a two-time Super Bowl champion, but was the 2008 AP Defensive Player of the Year, and also the focal point of one of the best plays in the history of the Super Bowl.

Steelers Super Bowl-Winning Defenses Were Awfully Scary

The depth charts from the 2005 and 2008 seasons speak for themselves. The roster was filled with dominant defensive players and they backed up all the trash-talking and hard-hitting they were involved with on the field. Harrison will always be loved by the Steelers fan base for his contributions and memories of laying into opposing players on the field. The scary Steelers defenses that Harrison was on may never be replicated again as long as the NFL is around.

Do you think Harrison actually had a goal of knocking out whatever key player from another team entered his area? Let us know in the comments below!

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