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.
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.
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.
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.