Former Ravens LB Slams Najee Harris for Harsh Comments on Steelers: ‘You Ungrateful Dude’
Former Baltimore Ravens linebacker Bart Scott did not hold back on Najee Harris. He thought the former Pittsburgh Steelers running back was out of line for criticizing the team on his way out.
“You ungrateful dude,” Scott said on ESPN’s Get Up. “I mean, listen, how fortunate is it for you to be in the playoffs every year of your career? That doesn’t just happen — and when he leaves, sometimes you realize how good you had it. Now he’s going to a place that maybe has a future quarterback, but it’s going to be a similar philosophy.”
Najee Harris, who signed with the Los Angeles Chargers in free agency, gave an ambiguous answer when asked about his tenure with the Steelers during a one-on-one interview with CBS Los Angeles.
“My time in Pittsburgh, it was a lot of learning things, a lot of learning experiences,” Harris said. “Playing for Mike T, playing in that division, there were a lot of ways I didn’t even realize what the NFL was really about until I came to Pittsburgh.
“I don’t want to go into detail with it, but I feel there was a lot of stuff in my game where I could’ve elevated more and I could’ve did more. I feel like I just didn’t get it done. I feel like I was obviously missing something. … It was interesting years there, I’ll just say that. Interesting years.”
Harris also said he didn’t really learn much from the offensive side in Pittsburgh.
‘I think the veteran guy on that team was like a two, three-year vet. He’s still learning himself. I’m coming in and I’m just trying to look for people to pick their brain, and it was just defensive guys,” Harris explained. “I’d go to the defensive guys and talk to them, but there wouldn’t be too much they could tell me about an offensive thing. Through my years, I learned a lot that I only learned firsthand.
“We just didn’t know anything on offense, really. We didn’t have any identity. We had a young guy coming in at quarterback. I really didn’t have nobody to almost learn from, on the offensive side.”
Former NFL offensive lineman Damien Woody believes Harris’ critical comments were an indirect shot at Mike Tomlin.
“I think it’s fair. I think it’s an indirect shot at Mike Tomlin, to be honest with you,” Woody said on ESPN’s First Take. “When you don’t have a QB, you don’t have an identity offensively. So, for a young guy coming in, you’re thinking, ‘Okay, who can I go to as a resource to see how this thing is done.’. As a running back, you want to be able to look on your side of the ball… Who do I look to? They didn’t have anybody. I think indirectly, he was talking about Mike Tomlin.”
Harris and the Chargers play the Steelers at SoFi Stadium in 2025.