When you watch Pittsburgh Steelers RB Najee Harris, two moves come to mind that he likes to utilize as a runner with the ball in his hands: the hurdle and the stiff arm.
Harris joined DL Cameron Heyward on his podcast Not Just Football with Cam Heyward and talked about using those two moves both in college and in the NFL. When Heyward asked Harris which stiff arm in the league was his favorite, he answered saying that the one against the Las Vegas Raiders his rookie season stood out to him the most. Heyward disagreed with Harris, stating that another stiff arm that went viral was his favorite for one specific reason.
“I like the Atlanta one, because I feel like you watch his head just bounce off the ground,” Heyward said on the podcast.
Harris’ stiff arm on Falcons S Richie Grant was up for GMFB’s Angry Run of the Year last season and caught the NFL by storm. As you can see in the clip below. Harris showed off that physical, aggressive running style when he met Grant trying to tackle him. As he tried to sidestep the defender, Harris delivered a punishing stiff arm that threw Grant to the turf with enough force that Grant’s head ricochet off the ground.
When asked about the stiff arm, Harris didn’t know if it should’ve been an offensive penalty on him, but also clarified why he prefers the Raiders stiff arm as his favorite.
“No, I just felt bad for him after ’cause I saw his head bounce off the ground,” Harris said on Not Just Football, which aired on the show’s YouTube channel. “I did because I saw his head bounce off the ground. See, Johnathan Abram, he’s known for laying the boom, you know? I mean, he’s a hard-hitting guy. The other dude, I felt bad ’cause I’m like this probably was his only rep, you know what I mean?”
Harris was trying to be kind to Grant as the Falcons safety was a 17-game starter last season with the attempted tackle on Harris definitely not being his only rep. However, Harris has a point about the desire to stiff arm a player like Abram, who was known for being a hard-hitting safety coming out of Mississippi State. The Raiders drafted him 27th overall in the 2019 NFL Draft, but his career hasn’t turned out the way they’d hoped as they released Abram after the 2021 season. Harris’ stiff arm on Abram during that season was impressive as well as Harris basically threw Abram as he tried to tackle him, chucking him toward the sideline as Harris kept running.
Harris may not possess great speed or explosiveness, but he is a physical back who can be a load to bring down. Just ask Grant and Abram, who both tried and failed, finding themselves on the wrong side of a signature Najee Harris stiff arm.
