After leading the NFL in touches during a strong rookie season, Pittsburgh Steelers running back Najee Harris is ready for another heavy workload – even a historic one - if it leads to another trip to the playoffs.
"I can get 500," Harris said in an interview on The Rich Eisen Show. "If I get 500 carries, as long as we're winning, it doesn't really matter."
Harris accumulated 381 touches during the 2021 regular season, the most by a rookie since Hall of Famer LaDainian Tomlinson's 398 in 2001. The Pro Bowler said he's prepared to increase that total if again called upon to be the focal point of an offense that will be breaking in a new starting quarterback following the offseason retirement of franchise icon Ben Roethlisberger.
"The more carries you get, the better you are," Harris said. "You get more of a feel for the game, you get an understanding of how the defense is playing. Obviously, you wear them down."
Harris' quick transition to the NFL game indeed played a big part in the Steelers reaching the postseason for the sixth time in eight years. Pittsburgh went 6-0-1 when the former Alabama star had 20 or more rushing attempts in a game and was 3-7 when he was under that mark.
The 2021 first-round pick accounted for 29.8 per cent of the Steelers' yards from scrimmage. Only Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor (35.4 per cent) and Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp (29.9 per cent) had a higher share of their team's scrimmage yards last season.
Harris takes great pride in being able to contribute on all three downs in an era where skill players are becoming more specialised, and disputed any notion his heavy usage made him less effective.
"I didn't have an issue with it, it was the media that had an issue with it," he told Eisen. "I told them every game, I was like, 'Man, if this is the way to winning, I can carry the load'. I train to carry loads. It's not something I hadn't done before. I did it in college, high school."
A further increase in responsibility would put Harris in some very select company, as only five players in NFL history have recorded 450 or more touches in a season. Tampa Bay's James Wilder holds the league record of 492, set for the Buccaneers in 1984, while the last to eclipse that threshold was Larry Johnson for the Kansas City Chiefs in 2006.
"This is our identity right here," Harris said of the Steelers' run-based approach. "So, let's keep this going on."
Eagles lock up wide receiver Smith through 2028
The Philadelphia Eagles locked up wide receiver DeVonta Smith through the 2028 season on Monday.
Philadelphia exercised its fifth-year option on Smith for the 2025 season and agreed to terms on a three-year contract extension that runs through 2028.
Smith’s extension is reportedly worth $75million, including $51million in guaranteed money.
Philadelphia selected Smith with the 10th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft after he won the Heisman Trophy with Alabama in 2020.
Smith was the first wide receiver to win the Heisman since Desmond Howard in 1991 and first non-quarterback or running back to capture the honour since cornerback Charles Woodson in 1997.
Smith has caught 240 passes for 3,178 yards and 19 touchdowns in 50 regular-season games while adding 27 receptions for 405 yards and a TD catch in five postseason contests.
OJ Simpson: Cherished star whose fall from grace was seen live by millions on TV
From cherished American superstar to villain whose murder trial captivated a global audience, OJ Simpson’s fall from grace was startling.
Simpson, nicknamed ‘The Juice’, has died at the age of 76 after losing his battle with prostate cancer, leaving behind four children.
Before the low-speed car chase by police and ‘Trial of the Century’ that began the unravelling of his reputation, Simpson was a darling of American sport who had also carved out a successful acting career.
He was raised in a low income neighbourhood in San Francisco and joined a local gang but his athleticism offered a route out and he found his purpose in gridiron.
A prolific running back, he starred for USC and in 1968 won the Heisman Trophy awarded to the outstanding player in college football. Inevitably, he was first overall draught pick the following year.
Progress in his first couple of seasons at the Buffalo Bills was slow but his impact grew and he went on to become one of the most successful operators in his position, winning the NFL’s most valuable player in 1973 and being inducted into the hall of fame in 1985.
He became the game’s highest paid player and lucrative commercial deals also followed as companies looked to leverage his charisma and popularity, while his acting career included parts in blockbusters ‘Towering Inferno’ and ‘The Naked Gun’.
For all his film presence he was little known outside the United States but that changed for all the wrong reasons when he was arrested in 1994 for the murder of his former wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ronald Goldman.
Brown and Goldman had been found stabbed to death in LA and once police had filed charges, Simpson refused to turn himself in and was pursued in an extraordinary car chase that was at low speed because he had a gun pointed to his head.
The event was televised live to millions and projected his notoriety worldwide, with the broadcasting of his subsequent murder trial only intensifying interest in this fallen star.
He was acquitted the following year but a civil lawsuit found him liable for the deaths, resulting in an order to pay £26.7million pounds to the victims of the families. Only a fraction of that amount was actually paid.
Arrests followed for a variety of offences in the early 2000s and his lowest point eventually came in 2007 when he was charged with armed robbery and kidnapping.
He served nine of a 33-year jail sentence and upon his release he continued to live in Las Vegas, looking increasingly frail when in public but active on social media. Simpson always maintained his innocence of the murders.
OJ Simpson dies aged 76
OJ Simpson has died of cancer at the age of 76.
Simpson was a running back for the Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers from 1969 to 1979, before being acquitted of murder in a trial in the mid-1990s.
News of Simpson’s death was announced by his children on his X account.
“On April 10th, our father, Orenthal James Simpson, succumbed to his battle with cancer,” read a statement.
“He was surrounded by his children and grandchildren. During this time of transition, his family asks that you please respect their wishes for privacy and grace. -The Simpson Family”
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