It’s hard to imagine there was ever a time when Najee Harris would be considered a “nobody” on the football field. But that was the word used to describe him Friday afternoon after Steelers practice.
Who would dare offer such a characterization of a running back who excelled in the high school and college ranks before becoming the Steelers’ first-round pick in the spring?
It was none other than Harris himself -- and the fascinating story provides a delicious backdrop to Sunday’s divisional rematch with Joe Mixon and the Bengals in Cincinnati.
Mixon is the NFL’s fourth-leading rusher with 759 yards and nine touchdowns. Harris ranks seventh with 685 yards and five TDs. These two sons of the Bay Area already have met once this season with Mixon, a fifth-year pro, and the Bengals emerging victorious, 24-10, on Sept. 26 at Heinz Field.
Yet it was their first encounter — late in the 2013 season when they were both prep players in Northern California — that proved pivotal in Harris’ ascendancy. Mixon was a standout senior at Freedom High in Oakley, Calif., on his way to being a five-star recruit at Oklahoma. Harris was a freshman at nearby Antioch High, a raw talent who weeks earlier had been playing for the jayvee team.
“It was cool because Joe at that time I think he was the No. 1 running back in the country — whatever he was, it was pretty high, though — and I was nobody,” Harris said Friday.
After that night, Harris shed the portrayal the way he would so many high-school defenders en route to becoming a prize recruit at Alabama.
— Luke Johnson (@Scoop_Johnson) September 26, 2021
Mixon and Freedom won the game in overtime, but Harris won something almost as precious — Mixon’s respect. The unheralded Antioch freshman rushed for 92 yards and his first varsity touchdown. Harris also played defense, forcing a Mixon fumble and limiting the Freedom star to a season-low 59 yards.
Antioch coaches knew they had a good young player in Harris, but the Freedom game changed the trajectory of his prep career.
“That was Najee’s coming-out party,” Antioch coach John Lucido told DK Pittsburgh Sports during a visit to his high school in May. “That game gave him so much confidence.”
The bond among Bay Area football players, regardless of the generation, is as strong as any in the nation. They tend to look out for each other, with the older ones taking it upon themselves to mentor youngsters showing promise. Sometimes, it doesn’t even require a large age gap to make the connection.
Such was the case with Mixon and Harris. As players from Freedom and Antioch mingled after the overtime thriller, Harris’ coaches saw Mixon approach their running back.
“For him to come up to me after the game, that was pretty big,” Harris recalled. “He gave me some words and we’ve been cool ever since that.”
When Harris arrived at Antioch several months earlier, his coaches were simply trying to keep him engaged and out of trouble. His family had overcome a string of evictions in the Northern California region and spells of homelessness that saw him living in shelters and sometimes sleeping in vans with his mother and siblings.
Raised by a single-parent mom, Harris blossomed with the help of coaches and teachers at Antioch. The game against Freedom also would bring other influential people into his orbit.
Marcus Malu had helped train Mixon at a local gym. A few weeks after the game, Malu received a phone call from a friend asking if he would take Harris to a football camp. Malu had been in the stands that night to watch Mixon, and he remembered how well Harris had performed.
The personal trainer agreed to shuttle the freshman to the camp, and before long Harris began training early in the morning and late at night with Malu at his gym.
Malu helped sculpt the muscular 6-foot-1, 232-pound frame that Harris carries into battle each week. But the trainer described his role as minor, and stressed that it was Harris’ desire and work ethic that put him on a path to the NFL.
“What a lot of people didn’t realize at the time was this was Najee's getaway from everything that was going on in his life,” Malu told DK Pittsburgh Sports in May. “A lot of people find that escape in the bottle or in drugs, some kind of addiction to fill that void. For him, it was working out.”
Would Harris have found his way to college and the NFL without his breakout performance against Mixon and Freedom High? Of course. But that night certainly opened eyes and doors for him.
Nowadays, Harris is adjusting to life in the NFL, trying to find running lanes behind an inexperienced but improving offensive line. He’s also showcasing his skills as a pass catcher out of the backfield.
While Harris managed just 40 yards rushing on 14 carries against the Bengals in their first meeting, he also caught 14 passes for 102 receiving yards.
Mixon and Harris are carrying on a proud Bay Area tradition of running backs succeeding at the NFL level. They are following in the Pro-Bowl footsteps of Maurice Jones-Drew and Marshawn Lynch.
On Thursday, Harris enjoyed a chance to step away from the grind and bond with some teammates as they ate Thanksgiving dinner at coach Mike Tomlin’s home.
“You know it was different not spending time with my family,” Harris said. “They FaceTimed me. I talked to them. But it was good to be in a new city (during) the holidays and spend time with my team and my coach and talk about stuff other than football.”
It was back to business Friday as the Steelers prepared for a massive division showdown. Tomlin has been stressing the importance of this game all week to Harris and the rest of the club.
Harris and Mixon figure to be key contributors to the Steelers-Bengals series for years to come. But their individual rivalry and friendship was born eight years ago on a Northern California gridiron.
It was a big night for Harris, and likely the last time anyone thought of him as a “nobody.”
