Once a Pittsburgh Steeler, always a Pittsburgh Steeler. That’s a motto the team lives by and one that again proved true Tuesday. During an appearance by Steelers GM Omar Khan on the Pat McAfee Show, former OLB James Harrison popped on screen for a few moments to say hello.
McAfee and his co-hosts reacted to Harrison with McAfee jokingly asking if Harrison was unretiring.
“He told me, come here and sign a contract,” Harrison joked back. “He need me for at least three games.”
Looking at Harrison, he could probably still give the Steelers some quality snaps. Now 45, Harrison has been out of the league since 2017. But those who follow him on social media know he’s still doing his legendary workouts that virtually no player in the NFL could match.
And despite a bumpy exit from the team in 2017, along with joining the hated New England Patriots, Harrison seems to be in good standing with the organization. He is now second on the team’s all-time sack list, surpassed by T.J. Watt early in the 2023 season. But Harrison was a key component of those dominant 2000s-2010s Steelers defenses with 2008 arguably their greatest year, winning a Super Bowl and going down in history.
Harrison is far from the only Steeler still with ties to the building. Attend any given training camp practice and you’re bound to see former Steelers before and after practice. It’s also when the team announces its upcoming Hall of Honor class, a chance to reunite with former players.
In 2023, that was TE Heath Miller, who attended practice for the day. It’s just one of the cool traditions the team has and why McAfee, as he’s done in the past, calls it the NFL’s college town. A place where you can go and meet the guys you grew up watching. Names like James Harrison who might pop into a practice, a workout, or a phone call.
