James Harrison

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. He grew up in Akron, and his favorite NFL team was the Cleveland Browns, who played only 40 miles (64 km) 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 Due to his off-the-field issues, powerhouse football programs like Ohio State, Notre Dame, and Nebraska rescinded their scholarship offers.

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 No. 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.

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."

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)

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.

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.

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.

Cincinnati Bengals

Harrison signed with the Cincinnati Bengals on April 23, 2013. He recorded 30 total tackles (16 solo), two sacks, and an interception in limited playing time.

On March 13, 2014, Harrison was released by the Bengals.

Initial retirement

On August 30, 2014, Harrison announced his retirement and officially retired as a member of the Steelers on September 5.

Pittsburgh Steelers (third stint)

On September 23, 2014, rumors surfaced that Harrison was set to return to the NFL after Mike Tomlin noted in a press conference that there were significant injuries suffered by members of the Steelers defense. The Steelers posted a message on their Twitter page announcing that Harrison would return to the Steelers. He officially signed with the Steelers that same day. Harrison recorded 45 tackles and 5.5 sacks in 11 games.

On March 22, 2015, Harrison signed a two-year, $2.65 million extension with a $500,000 signing bonus.

On February 17, 2016, Harrison announced that he would be returning for a 14th season with the team.

On November 20, 2016, Harrison surpassed Jason Gildon to become the Steelers' all-time sack leader with 77.5, during a 24–9 victory over the Cleveland Browns and finished the season with 79.5 sacks during his Steelers career. On January 8, 2017, he recorded ten combined tackles, sacked Matt Moore 1½ times, and forced a fumble in a 30–12 AFC Wildcard victory over the Miami Dolphins.

On March 1, 2017, Harrison signed a two-year contract extension with the Steelers. Through the first 12 games of the 2017 season, Harrison played only 29 snaps, with 15 of those coming in Week 6 against the Kansas City Chiefs. Following injuries to Ryan Shazier and Tyler Matakevich and the subsequent move of Arthur Moats from the outside to the inside linebacker position, Harrison played 11 snaps in Week 14 against the Baltimore Ravens. On December 23, 2017, Harrison was released by the Steelers after only playing in five games and being a healthy scratch for most of the season.

New England Patriots

On December 26, 2017, Harrison signed a one-year contract with the New England Patriots. In his Patriots debut, Harrison registered two sacks, a forced fumble, and five tackles against the New York Jets. The Patriots went on to reach Super Bowl LII, but lost 41–33 to the Philadelphia Eagles.

Second retirement

On April 16, 2018, Harrison announced his second retirement from the NFL after 15 seasons, saying in an Instagram post, "I've missed way too much for way too long...I'm done".

NFL career statistics

Acting

Harrison plays Apocalypse on Heels. He also appeared on S.W.A.T. in the Season 2 episode "The B-Team", playing Marcus King, the social media manager for the Los Angeles Fire Department when the LAFD goes against the Los Angeles Police Department in a charity competition.

Personal life

As well as being nicknamed "Silverback", Harrison's teammates also call him Deebo, after the character from the Friday movies.

Harrison has two sons, James III, born in 2007, and Henry, born in 2009. Harrison made the news in August 2015 for refusing to let either of his sons keep student-athlete awards that were deemed participation trophies they had received from a sports program. In an Instagram post, Harrison wrote: "While I am very proud of my boys for everything they do and will encourage them till the day I die, these trophies will be given back until they EARN a real trophy [...]". Harrison's post was mostly met with positive feedback.

Harrison elected not to visit the White House with the rest of the team after the Steelers won Super Bowl XLIII. Skipping the visit gained some media attention, as Harrison said that Barack Obama (who supported the Steelers in the game and considers his second favorite NFL team after his hometown team, Chicago Bears) would have invited the Arizona Cardinals had they won: "This is how I feel — if you want to see the Pittsburgh Steelers, invite us when we don't win the Super Bowl. As far as I'm concerned, he [Obama] would've invited Arizona if they had won." Harrison had also skipped the team's visit after winning Super Bowl XL when George W. Bush was president.

Arrest

Harrison was arrested in March 2008 and was charged with simple assault and criminal mischief stemming from a domestic altercation with his girlfriend, Beth Tibbott. On April 3, 2008, the district attorney dropped all charges because Harrison had completed anger management counseling and psychological counseling.

The arrest gained some controversy after the team released wide receiver Cedrick Wilson in a similar, but unrelated, incident around the same time but did not release Harrison. The Steelers even issued a press release shortly after they released Wilson stating that Harrison's incident and Wilson's incident were examined "on a case-by-case basis" and Wilson's incident determined that his warranted release while Harrison had "taken responsibility for his actions." Steelers owner Dan Rooney, a lifelong devout Catholic, added that the incident was concerning their son's baptism, that Harrison's girlfriend reportedly did not want their son baptized, and that Harrison promptly called the Rooney family about the incident. Nonetheless, there were still accusations of a double standard because of the timing of both Harrison's and Wilson's incidents. The NFL, which had been cracking down on off-the-field conduct, took no action in either incident.

Dog incident

On May 23, 2009, Harrison's son, James III, sustained an injury to his thigh when the family's pit bull became agitated and bit him. The boy's mother, Beth Tibbott, who had let the dog out of his cage, was also bitten when she tried to intervene. The dog also bit the player's massage therapist, who needed three stitches. Harrison's agent, William Parise, said the boy's injuries were "serious but certainly not life-threatening." Three days later, James III was released from the hospital. The pit bull was scheduled to be euthanized but, through the team, Harrison was able to place the dog in a temporary home which specializes in training aggressive dogs.

Men's Journal article

On July 13, 2011, a controversial magazine article titled "James Harrison: Confessions of an NFL Hitman" was published by Paul Solotaroff in Men's Journal. In the article, Harrison was asked multiple questions about who he is and why he plays the game of football the way he does. The controversy comes into play when Harrison begins talking about the NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. Harrison called Goodell a "crook and a puppet", and then proceeded to say that, "I hate him and will never respect him." Harrison also made comments towards his quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger, and other players in the National Football League such as Brian Cushing. Harrison released an apology for his statements on July 14, 2011.

Deebo & Joe

In 2025, Harrison began co-hosting the podcast Deebo & Joe alongside former NFL player Joe Haden. The podcast features the two former players discussing NFL news, notable plays, current events, and their experiences in professional football, as well as topics involving culture and life outside of football.