Harris showcases his ability and personality
Rookie opines on Ben’s house, drops, crazy fans and more
Najee Harris sounds as if he’s already hitting it off with Ben Roethlisberger, but the fun-loving firstround pick has made inroads with at least one other member of the quarterback’ s family, too.
Roethlisberger had Harris and a couple of other rookies to his house in the spring, which included dinner for the new guys and a pool party. Harris went swimming with Bodie Roethlisberger, who just turned 5 and is the youngest of Ben’s three kids.
“It was amazing. He has a nice family, too. Nice house,” Harris said, then stopped himself and smiled. “I can’t even call it a house. I went to his building.His compound.”
That was just one glimpse into the delightfully unpredictable, at times wildly philosophical Najee Harris after practice Saturday, his first time speakingto reporters since the Steelers opened training camp July 22. It’s no surprise that Harris, 23, had a ball with the Roe th li sb er ger boys, considering he’s kind of a big kid himself, entering his first seasonin the NFL.
Harris’ wide-ranging, 10-minute back-and-forth with reporters included plenty of existential answers from the starting runningback, one accidental curse word after bumping the podium full of microphones in front of him, and even a brief impersonation of venerable Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert.
“I was playing Sam Cooke and I was like, ‘Hey, who’s this?’ And he’s like, ‘I don’t know who this is,’” Harris said, doing a comically high-pitched but raspy imitation of Colbert.