Shortly after the Pittsburgh Steelers dropped a frustrating 27-24 decision to the Indianapolis Colts Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium, Colts linebacker Zaire Franklin didn’t waste any time taking to social media.
His target? Steelers running back Najee Harris.
Following the Colts’ win, Franklin called Harris soft, stating that Cordarrelle Patterson runs harder than Harris, raising plenty of eyebrows and drawing quite a bit of attention.
Franklin calling out Harris stemmed from one thing, and one thing only: Harris flipping off Colts fans with double birds as the Steelers ran out of the tunnel before the start of the game.
That got under Franklin’s skin, leading to him having it out for Harris throughout the game and on social media afterwards. On the latest episode of his podcast “The Trenches with Zaire Franklin” the Colts linebacker explained what went on.
“I mean honestly I really don’t know that brother personally. So let me start there. I don’t really know that guy personally. I wouldn’t say I have personal feelings towards that guy, but what I will say is, I mean first of all he flipped the double birds at our fans. That’s the only thing I’m saying. He ain’t have to do that,” Franklin said, according to video via the show’s YouTube page. “That’s where I’m at with it. Like bro, I’m rocking with Indy. You flipping off my city. This is where we at…this is my city, bro. Like you feel me? You flipping off my city coming in and then you going to go put out that type of performance. I’m gonna speak on that.”
Harris gave fans the double middle fingers and then struggled against the Colts, finishing with just 19 yards rushing on 13 carries. He had the NFL’s worst Rush Yards Over Expected in Week 4 at minus-30 yards, averaging -2.28 yards per carry RYOE from Next Gen Stats.
It was a tough performance for Harris, though he did have 54 yards receiving on three receptions, including an impressive 32-yard catch and run on a screen in the fourth quarter that set up a Steelers touchdown.
But outside of that, Harris wasn’t very effective, and Franklin wanted to have the last word.
He has now, twice.
“And you not a dog. Like, that’s my only issue. Like, you are pretending. You throwing up the birds like you about to go stand on something, bro. That’s not what you really wanna do. You don’t really want to hit nobody out here, bro. Don’t do that. You not that guy,” Franklin added regarding Harris. “You not that guy like, you know what I’m saying? That’s not true. You not that guy. That’s not who you are, bro. You a nice kid, bro. You probably got a good home, and you know you talk, you feel me? Don’t do that, bro.
“You not that guy, bro. You flipping all birds to the fans like you the bully. You not the bully, for real.”
While Franklin said he doesn’t know Harris personally, he certainly seemed to take some personal shots at Harris toward the end of his conversation regarding the Steelers running back, talking about his upbringing, how he talks, etc.
All that over Harris flipping off fans.
Seems a bit excessive, but that’s what happens in sports. Franklin feels a certain type of way about what Harris did, and he’s speaking on it. For now, Franklin has the ground to stand on since he played a big part in shutting down Harris on Sunday.
We’ll see if Harris responds this week when speaking with the media.
