Pressley Harvin III was one of the most buzz-worthy players from the Steelers' 2021 rookie draft class.
The seventh-round pick was blessed with a big leg and a big personality.
At 6-0, 255 pounds, the 2020 Ray Guy Award winner as college football's best punter didn't look other punters with his tank-like build.
Steelers fans couldn't wait to see what Harvin, who had averaged 48 yards per kick as a senior and had videos on the internet of him completing passes in games, would do as a rookie.
Turns out, it wasn't all that special. Harvin struggled with his consistency throughout his rookie season, finishing 26th in the NFL in gross average at 42.6 yards per kick and 25th in net average at 38.0 yards.
Not much about the season was all that special for Harvin -- at least on the field.
Off it, he learned a lot, more about himself than anything else and largely through personal tragedy.
Harvin's father died after an illness on Christmas Day as the Steelers were preparing to leave for a Week 16 game in Kansas City. Two weeks later, right before the Steelers played their regular season finale in Baltimore, his grandmother also died.
Mike Tomlin often uses the phrase, "Iron sharpens iron." But this was perhaps more than anyone could bear in such a short period of time.
"This was one of the most trying years of my life," Harvin said Thursday. "The Baltimore game, my grandma had passed, as well, which was two weeks after my dad. We had a decision that had to be made Sunday morning. I wanted to go out there. Everybody has adversity, but I had to try to fight through it. It was the biggest thing for me. That was the biggest thing I learned this year. Any adversity can happen at any time."
Harvin was part of the Steelers' winning efforts in that game against the Ravens, placing three of his eight punts inside the Baltimore 20 as the Steelers won a field position battle in a steady rain storm. More importantly, all of his holds were perfect on Chris Boswell's three field goals and one PAT in the 16-13 overtime win that helped put the Steelers into the playoffs.
It wasn't his best day kicking the ball, but Harvin was able to find a peace in the week between the end of the regular season and the team's playoff game in Kansas City. The Steelers lost that game, 42-21, but Harvin had one of his best days as a pro, averaging 49.7 yards per punt on seven kicks with one landing inside the 20.
He said a conversation he had with his father before he died helped bring about that effort.
"One of the last things he told me was that whenever the time comes that he wasn’t going to be here was to handle my business and take care of my family," Harvin said. "I think that’s the biggest thing I take from this season. My life is different now. I’m not home. I have that job that is the NFL.
"At the same time, you still have to handle your business outside of it. It showed me that you kind of have to live almost two lives, when you’re on the field or in the building and outside of it. I was trying too hard to get both of those to come together, I realized when he said that to me that, sometimes, you don’t have to have it come together. Sometimes, you have to reflect back to your family, those that are closest to you, to get that motivation during the year."
It was a struggle he lived throughout his rookie season. Harvin found out during the season that his father didn't have long to live. The whole family came to Pittsburgh for the team's 19-13 victory over the Titans in Week 15.
Harvin didn't have a good game. He averaged just 39.8 yards on five punts. He was booed by fans at Heinz Field after hitting a 27-yard punt following a three-and-out by the offense on the game's opening possession.
None of that mattered.
"I’ll never forget the game we got them up for the last home game I played in," Harvin said. "I’ll never forget that moment, all of us being in the house as a family, just that last time. It makes me smile. That was the biggest thing I wanted to lean on. I didn’t want them to worry about anything on my side of things. I was more worried about them. That true pleasure and joy they got from being at that game was the biggest thing."
Less than a week later, his father was gone with his grandmother following soon after.
Harvin didn't punt in the teams' regular season game against the Chiefs. Then, upon his return, he missed the team's following game because of an illness as the Steelers used Corliss Waitman to punt in those two games.
It all caused him to take a step back and look at his life and what he was doing.
"I was always talking to my family and my little brother throughout the year, but I never really sat down and talked about outside of football as much as I wanted to," Harvin said. "It was always, ‘How’s the season going? How did practice go?’ I never got to focus on those other things as much because I was always focused on doing well on the field. I never really focused on things outside of it, getting away from it a little bit."
He feels like that realization will help him moving forward in 2022.
With the Steelers' season now over, Harvin will take some time to spend with his family and pick up the pieces from a devastating couple of weeks back home in South Carolina.
Then, his focus will return to making himself better on the football field in 2022.
"I still have my little brother at home that I’m still worried about every day. So, I’ll get to spend a little time with him," Harvin said. "The biggest thing is working on consistency. I’m going to be training in different kinds of climates in different locations. I’ll go back home to South Carolina and kick. I’ll go to Georgia. I’m going to try to come back up here and kick, too, just to get more of a rhythm and being in climates in the places that we play in during the season. That’s the biggest thing.
"The other is to continue to have that mental toughness. When you’re in the building every day during the season, you have have accountability and people see what you’re doing. When you’re in the offseason, you get too comfortable. You’ve got to keep yourself motivated and stay accountable for yourself and continue to do the work you need to do."
