The Pittsburgh Steelers selected RB Najee Harris in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft. Harris had a phenomenal rookie campaign last season as he eclipsed 1,200 rushing yards on 307 carries and 7 touchdowns. Harris showed that he is a more than capable receiver as well; as he caught 74 receptions (second on the team) for 467 yards and 3 touchdowns. The most beautiful part about it is that, he's just getting started! Harris is just the epitome of what Steelers football is all about. He's a hard-working, tough, do-it all type of running back who's such a team player!
Pittsburgh Steelers running back, Najee Harris participates in 2022 training camp at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, PA. | Jordan Schofield/SteelerNation (@JSKO_PHOTO Twitter)
If you had no clue what college Harris attended before turning pro with the Steelers, you would most likely be able to guess it if you had any kind of knowledge of college football the past decade or so. Harris has exhibited leadership qualities, professionalism, and an incredibly strong work ethic since entering the league. That is just who Harris is as a person, but his hard-working attitude screams "Alabama Crimson Tide."
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Harris took the belief he had in himself and went to the top football program in all of college football; where he continued to work hard under his head coach and arguably one of the best college football coaches of all-time, Nick Saban. Harris recently opened up about the special relationship he had with Saban while attending Alabama.
Steelers superstar, Cam Heyward had Harris and current QB1 Mitch Trubisky on the most recent episode of his Not Just Football podcast. Heyward looked at Harris with great anticipation and said, "Give me your best Nick Saban story."
"Man, good question," Harris stated emphatically while Heyward and Trubisky shared a laugh. "Me and Saban actually got a special relationship." "Do you?" Heyward questioned as if he knew the story that followed."Yeah man," Harris continued. "Because, you know, I can be hardheaded. Yeah, I can be hardheaded sometimes. I guess he wasn't used to that, he was used to like, 'yes, sir,' kind of. So, I kind of talked back. So, something must have happened and something he must have said something to me and I said something back to him kind of like, angrily. He kind of looked at me weird. And he just, like, looked at me weird, we had some conversations. I'm not going to put on air."
Heyward shouts at Harris encouraging him to "Put it on air, let them know!"
"And we went our separate ways," Harris continued. "And then, another incident happened. I got into a fight at practice, another fight, another fight, and he was just like, 'G****** it 22, it's always you,' that's how he talk." Harris continued imitating Saban in the story. "'Next time you get in a fight, you're leaving practice,' then another incident happened when me and him got into another argument. I think after all that stuff, we became best friends, man."
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What a great story of Harris' time at Alabama with Saban! I'm sure he's proud of his hardheaded running back who has made a big name for himself in only his second year in the NFL with the Steelers.
What are yinz thoughts on Harris' story of how he and Nick Saban became best friends? Sound off in the comment section below, or on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Instagram!
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