Prior to his induction into the Hall of Honor within the Pittsburgh Steelers’ organization Sunday at halftime at Acrisure Stadium, former Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker James Harrison made it quite clear that without former defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau, there is no “Deebo” in Steelers history.
Harrison also has one other person to thank, too.
That would be head coach Mike Tomlin. Harrison remembers everything, and his first interaction with Tomlin when he became the Steelers’ head coach in 2007 still sticks with him today.
Speaking in the locker room ahead of the Jaguars-Steelers matchup Sunday in Week Eight on the North Shore, Harrison stated that Tomlin pushed him to greatness, thanks to his decision to draft outside linebackers in the first two rounds of the 2007 NFL Draft.
That would be Lawrence Timmons, who was selected at No. 15 overall out of Florida State, and LaMarr Woodley, who was selected at No. 46 overall out of Michigan.
Those two were expected to be the cornerstone outside linebackers for the Steelers under Tomlin after the franchise moved on from veteran Joey Porter that offseason. Seeing the opportunity to grab additional playing time in the Steel City, Harrison seized upon the opportunity, took the first two selections as a bit of a slight, and the rest is history.
“Mike Tomlin actually pushed me, because when he came in [in 2007] he drafted one and two outside linebackers. I thank him for that,” Harrison said to reporters Sunday, according to video via Johnstown Tribune-Democrat beat writer Amanda Godsey’s YouTube page. “I think that was part of his plan. You don’t just go one and two with outside linebackers. Timmons was originally an outside linebacker; a lot of people forget that. It wasn’t because they had me slated to start. That for dang sure wasn’t the case.”
Harrison took the slight, worked his tail off and ultimately became one of the best — and most feared — defensive players in the league.
In 2007, Harrison forced his way into the starting role opposite Clark Haggans and turned in 8.5 sacks, earned second-team All-Pro honors and earned a trip to the Pro Bowl.
Then, in 2008 Harrison took off entirely into stardom, recording 16.0 sacks, winning the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year award and finishing fourth in the NFL MVP voting that season as the Steelers won the Super Bowl. Harrison topped it all off that season by returning an interception 100 yards for a touchdown in the Super Bowl win over the Cardinals, setting the record for the longest play in Super Bowl history, which still stands today.
Following that 2008 season, Harrison had two straight seasons of 10-plus sacks before slowly starting to decline. He had 9.0 sacks in 2010, though he missed five games, before then quietly settling into a reserve role, closing out his career with three straight seasons of 5.0-plus sacks from 2014-16 before finishing his playing days in 2017.
Prior to T.J. Watt surpassing him in Week Two against Cleveland with a sack of Deshaun Watson, Harrison was the Steelers’ all-time sacks leader. With the induction into the Hall of Honor, the next step for the dominant outside linebacker is the Pro Football Hall of Fame, even if he doesn’t believe he has the production to earn a spot in the hallowed halls of Canton.
