Najee Harris is an American football running back who plays for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the NFL. He played his college football at Alabama and was drafted by the Steelers in the 2021 NFL Draft in the first round as the 24th overall pick.

Who is Najee Harris? 

Harris was born in Martinez, California on 9th March 1998, and moved to Antioch where he attended Antioch High School. He enjoyed a flourishing high school football career there, considered as the #1 recruit in the class of 17 by Scout and Rivals, and multiple top football programs including Alabama Crimson Tide, Michigan Wolverines, Ohio State Buckeyes, USC Trojans, and Notre Dame Fighting Irish, among others, vied for his signature. He ended up committing to the Crimson Tide, entering his collegiate career as one of the most hyped running backs in the country. 

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In his freshman year, Harris played all 14 games for the Crimson Tides, finishing the season with 370 yards on 61 carries averaging 6.1 yards per carry. He also scored three rushing touchdowns. He had to play fourth fiddle in the team though, as Damien Harris, Bo Scarbrough, and Josh Jacobs handled the bulk of the workload. The following year was similar, as Harris played in 15 games, recording 783 yards on 117 carries and scoring four rushing touchdowns. He gained a career-high 135 yards, carrying the ball 13 times against Arkansas State, in what was his best game that year. 

In his junior year, after Damien Harris and Josh Jacobs had moved on to the NFL, Najee was able to finally become the starting running back for the Crimson Tides, and his numbers reflected that- as he had 1,224 yards and 13 touchdowns while catching 27 passes for 304 yards and 7 touchdowns that season. In spite of speculation that Najee Harris would declare for the 2020 NFL Draft, he returned to Alabama for his senior year instead. That year he finished as the all-time leader in rushing yards (3,843), total scrimmage yards (4,624), and touchdowns (57) for the Crimson Tide. 

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After declaring for the 2021 NFL Draft, Harris became the first running back to be selected when the Pittsburgh Steelers gave him his rookie worth $13.1 million including a $6.9 million signing bonus over 4 years.

He got off to a fine start in his NFL career, when in week 3 he recorded 142 all-purpose yards, including 14 catches in 19 targets against the Cincinnati Bengals. This tied the NFL record for most catches in a game for a rookie running back and was the second-highest number of targets for a running back since 1992 when the data first started getting tracked. Harris then recorded 122 yards on 23 carries and a rushing touchdown in the 27–19 win against the Denver Broncos in weeks 5- his first game rushing over 100 yards. Later in week 17, he ran a career-high 188 yards and further scored the game-sealing touchdown in a 26-14 win over the Cleveland Browns. 

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Harris finished his first season with 1,200 rushing yards and seven touchdowns, as well as 74 catches for 467 yards and three touchdowns, making it as an alternate for the 2022 Pro Bowl, replacing Bengals running back Joe Mixon. 

In spite of his meteoric rise, Harris has kept in touch with his roots throughout. He opted to follow the 2021 NFL Draft by hosting a party for the kids at the homeless shelter where he had spent a part of his childhood, declining an invitation to the event in Cleveland, Ohio. In 2021, he further founded Da’ Bigger Picture Foundation, which is a Not For Profit organisation that serves families impacted by homelessness and hunger.