James Henry Harrison Jr. (born May 4, 1978) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Kent State Golden Flashes and was signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers as an undrafted free agent in 2002. A five-time Pro Bowl selection, Harrison won two Super Bowls with the Steelers: XL and XLIII. In 2008, he became the only undrafted player to be named Associated Press NFL Defensive Player of the Year. Harrison was known for his hard-hitting style during games.
Harrison also played for NFL Europe's Rhein Fire and had brief stints with the Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals. After the 2013 season, he stated that he would be retiring from the NFL, but Harrison came out of retirement a few weeks later to return to the Steelers and then spent part of his final NFL season with the New England Patriots. Harrison ranks third on the Steelers' all-time sack leaders list, with 80.5. He currently appears on FOX Sports 1 as a football analyst.
Early life Born in Akron, Ohio, Harrison was the youngest of 14 children to James Sr. (a chemical truck driver) and Mildred. He played Little League baseball in Scranton, Pennsylvania for Sloan Little League's Green Team. Harrison was selected to the All-Star team in 1991.Sports Illustrated Super Bowl XLIII Champions Pittsburgh Steelers, page 69 He grew up in Akron, and his favorite NFL team was the Cleveland Browns, who played only from his house. Initially, his mother did not want him to play football. It took both Harrison and his childhood best friend, David Walker, to convince her. When Harrison started to play, he excelled at both linebacker and running back.
Harrison attended two high schools his freshman year, Archbishop Hoban High School then Coventry High School, where, in addition to football, he also participated in track & field, competing in events ranging from the shot put to the high jump. Harrison had personal records of 15.63 meters (51 ft 3in) in the shot put, 38.86 meters in the discus throw (127 ft 5 in), and 1.85 meters (6 ft 1 in) in the high jump. He was also a state-qualifier in the 4 × 100 m relay. Harrison along with Jonathan Holloman were two of the first African-Americans to play football at Coventry. Harrison graduated in 1998.
Harrison's high school football ability was great, but his lack of maturity at times was a struggle. Harrison did not pay attention to his grades or college entrance tests, and by his senior year, Harrison had become disruptive to his football team. Early in his senior year, Coventry staff had to suspend him for two games for challenging an assistant coach to a fight. After returning from his suspension, in his next game, Harrison began the game by rushing thrice for nearly 100 yards and two touchdowns. After his second touchdown, Harrison ran down the opposing team's sideline, but was ejected and later suspended for one game for making obscene gestures to the fans. Harrison was in court soon thereafter, after he shot a BB gun in the school locker room towards a defensive coach. Harrison pled guilty to a minor charge and was able to return to school to finish his senior year. Due to his off-the-field issues, powerhouse football programs like Ohio State, Notre Dame, and Nebraska rescinded their scholarship offers."Biography Today", pp.72–73
College career Harrison attended Kent State University and walked on the Kent State Golden Flashes football team. After sitting out his freshman season in 1998 due to NCAA academic guidelines, Harrison became a starter for the last three games of the 1999 season and led the team with 106 total tackles and 13 tackles for a loss. He also had an interception and three fumble recoveries.
During his last collegiate game against Miami University, Harrison finished with 12 tackles, five sacks, and a forced fumble. At the end of the fourth quarter, he sacked future teammate Ben Roethlisberger on third and fourth down to seal a 24–20 victory. In 2001, Harrison recorded 98 total tackles, 20 tackles for loss, and led the MAC conference with 15 sacks, while also being voted to first-team Mid-American Conference.
After graduating, Harrison returned in 2010 to be inducted into Kent State's Varsity "K" Hall of Fame along with San Diego Chargers tight end, Antonio Gates. Harrison also made a donation of $100k to his alma mater, who in turn named the field house in his honor. In 2013, Kent State retired his 16 jersey.
Professional career Pittsburgh Steelers (first stint) Harrison went undrafted in the 2002 NFL draft, as teams feared he was too short (six feet) to play linebacker, and too light (240 pounds) to play on the defensive line. A few teams did send him training camp invites."Biography Today", pp.74–75 The Steelers signed Harrison as an undrafted rookie in 2002, making him the first Kent State alumnus to play at linebacker for the team since Hall of Famer Jack Lambert.
Harrison spent two years on and off the practice squad for the Steelers, being released thrice, and was also briefly on the active roster towards the end of the 2002 season, playing only on special teams. Teammate and fellow linebacker, James Farrior, later told NFL Network that Harrison was so green early on in his career that he would simply "give up" on plays on which he was struggling and even would ask the coaches not to play him when he was struggling. Farrior said, "He was a knucklehead that didn't know the plays. We'd be in practice, in training camp, and he might not know what he was doing so he'd just stop and throw his hands up and tell (the coaches) to get him out of there. We thought the guy was crazy.""Biography Today", p.75
Harrison wore number 93 during this period before adopting his more well known number 92, which at the time was worn by fellow linebacker and Pro Bowler Jason Gildon.
Baltimore Ravens and Rhein Fire Harrison signed a reserve/future contract with the Baltimore Ravens on January 15, 2004. He was allocated to the Rhein Fire of NFL Europe. Harrison played in five games, all starts, for the Fire during the 2004 NFL Europe season, recording 27 defensive tackles, three special teams tackles, and a pass deflection. He was cut by the Ravens on June 17, 2004.
Pittsburgh Steelers (second stint) 2004 After being cut for a fourth time, Harrison considered not playing anymore. Shortly thereafter, he was signed a fourth time by the Steelers during training camp after Clark Haggans sustained an injury in an offseason weightlifting accident. Showing much improvement, Harrison made the final roster and remained with the Steelers through the 2012 season. Harrison later told the Beaver County Times that if not for Haggans's injury, he planned to retire from football at age 26 to focus on becoming a veterinarian, something that Harrison still plans on doing now that his football career has ended. Harrison also considered following in his father's footsteps to become a truck driver, and to this day does have a commercial driver's license.Sports Illustrated Super Bowl XLIII Champions Pittsburgh Steelers, page 71
Throughout the 2004 season, Harrison mostly played on special teams and on defense at linebacker, with occasional reps at defensive end. His first career start came against his hometown team, the Cleveland Browns in Cleveland on November 14 after teammate Joey Porter and Browns running back William Green were ejected for fighting during the pregame warm-ups. Harrison had a good game statistically in the Steelers' 24–10 victory against their hated rival.
Harrison scored his first career touchdown on a fumble recovery in the final week of the season against the Buffalo Bills.
2005–2006
Harrison started in three games of the 2005 season when starting linebacker Clark Haggans was injured. His biggest highlight of the year was in a game against the San Diego Chargers, where he intercepted a Drew Brees pass for a 25-yard return. During the return, he made a huge leap over LaDainian Tomlinson, the Chargers star running back.
Harrison gained some attention and popularity when he restrained a Cleveland Browns fan during a 41–0 Pittsburgh win on Christmas Eve. The intoxicated fan was on the field when Harrison lifted the man and slammed him on the ground. Harrison restrained the fan until authorities took him away.
The Steelers went on to win Super Bowl XL that season. Although Harrison was not a major factor in the game, he did play and earn a Super Bowl ring with the team, recording a team-high three special teams tackles.
2007 In the 2007 offseason, with longtime head coach Bill Cowher resigning after 15 seasons and Mike Tomlin taking over the reins, the Steelers controversially cut Joey Porter for salary cap reasons. Although the Steelers drafted two linebackers with their first two picks that year (Lawrence Timmons and LaMarr Woodley), Harrison was appointed the starter in place of Porter. The decision would ultimately pay off, as Harrison would go on to have a breakout season, making All-Pro Second-team and earning his first trip to the Pro Bowl as a starter on the AFC squad.
On November 5, Harrison had a standout game on Monday Night Football against the Baltimore Ravens. He piled up 9 total tackles, 3.5 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery, and 1 interception. The most memorable moment of the game, however, was Harrison's tackle of Baltimore safety Ed Reed. After a Steelers punt by Daniel Sepulveda, Reed had recovered the kick and was looking to return it. As Reed ran up the sidelines, he was blindsided by Harrison and the ball was knocked away from Reed's grasp. Pittsburgh linebacker Lawrence Timmons immediately recovered the fumble. The Steelers would go on to blow out the Ravens, 38–7.
On November 26, during a Monday Night Football game, an announcer gave Harrison the nickname, "Mr. Monday Night", because of his outstanding performance on November 5. He piled up 8.5 sacks, 7 forced fumbles, 3 recovered fumbles, and 98 tackles on the year. He was voted team MVP for the 2007 season.
2008
During Week 4 against the Baltimore Ravens on Monday Night Football, Harrison recorded 10 total tackles, 2.5 sacks, two tackles for a loss, and a forced fumble.
Along with LaMarr Woodley, who by this point was a starter in his own right, after the team chose not to re-sign Clark Haggans the previous offseason, Harrison and Woodley had become arguably the team's best pass-rushing duo since Greg Lloyd and Kevin Greene in 1994. Harrison amassed 16 sacks, breaking the team record set by Mike Merriweather in 1984. The two teammates set a team record with 27.5 sacks.
Harrison also played special teams on a regular basis, making him one of the few regular NFL starters to also play special teams. His most notable special teams play for 2008, however, arguably cost the Steelers their game against the New York Giants in Week 8. With the Steelers leading 14–12 in the fourth quarter and having to punt from their own end zone, Harrison played as long snapper after regular long snapper Greg Warren suffered a season-ending knee injury earlier in the game. Harrison inadvertently snapped it over Mitch Berger's head for a safety, tying the score.
On January 5, 2009, Harrison was named the AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year for the 2008 season, beating out Cowboys linebacker DeMarcus Ware for the award.newsday.com Harrison became the first undrafted player to win the award.Harrison named NFL Defensive Player of the Year Steelers.com