Our friend Ron Lippock over at Pittsburgh Sports Daily Bulletin was kind enough to send over quotes from former teammates of James Harrison, collected over the years, but relevant today after Harrison announced his retirement. We wanted to pass it along to you guys. For as sour as things ended between him and the Steelers, in the long-run, I think Harrison will be remembered fondly by the city.
Sean McHugh: “After my first week in Pittsburgh my wife arrived with my son and we were eating dinner in Cranberry when James Harrison was eating there as well and stopped by our table and introduced himself to my wife and told us that if we needed anything to let him know.”
Cortez Allen: “I also used to train at the same facility as James Harrison did in the offseason in Arizona. He was always the first in the building and I’d watch him in awe. He brought everything he had all the time. Well, this day was his upper body day. He finished and then Terrell Suggs came over and was struggling to finish his set. So James walked over and took it over from him and just started lifting like it was nothing, showing Suggs up! I always had a lot of respect for James.”
Fernando Bryant: “I remember James Harrison – the workouts and the energy he brought every day. It was always something with him!”
Tony Hills: “Surprisingly, me and James Harrison were pretty cool. We both enjoyed working out. And practicing versus the most dominant outside linebacker, getting my butt kicked. That helped me learn from the best.”
Casey Hampton: “He’s a cool guy. I love James. But James can be James sometimes. He can go into his things you know?. On the field I wouldn’t trade him for anything in the world. But he could be unapproachable to guys sometimes…”
Kyle Jolly: “Harrison, obviously. He had no off switch. He was always rolling.”
Barrett Brooks: “I remember when James Harrison first was brought in and got cut. You could tell he was good, but he got in with the wrong crowd. He didn’t work hard and took days off. He came back the next season – man, no one could block him. They all got Harrison-itis! I ended up drawing the short straw a lot and got stuck having to block him. It made me a better player.”
Brandon Torrey: “Like James Harrison who was Joey Porters back-up at one point in time, the most complete player I’ve ever played against power and speed short and low to the ground.”
Patrick Bailey: ” James Harrison was helpful – he taught me how to take care of my body.”
Antwaan Randel El: “Harrison was always a character – his style. The way he is now is the way he was as a rookie. When he came in, he was just running into stuff and yelling, telling everyone how crazy he was. We’d be talking to him and in the middle of the conversation he’d just say “Forget it – let’s just knock those guys out!” I was like, what? He kept that angry look on his face all the time too. You could never tell if he was serious or not.”
Mortty Ivy: “But as a Steeler, that would be James Harrison and Lawrence Timmons – they were great role models and taught me how to play in a 3-4 defense.”
Jeremy Parquet: “James Harrison is an absolute beast!! He was hard to get a gauge on because of his body type and strength combined. He is probably her best defender I’ve ever faced.”
Rian Wallace: “Harrison pulled me to the side and tried to show me how to be a better special teams player.”
