Foster: Steelers' Najee Harris Must Practice What He Preaches After Controversial Comments

The Pittsburgh Steelers' 2023 season ended in disappointment as they lost the Wild Card game to the Buffalo Bills. The loss was made even harder by the fact that third-string quarterback Mason Rudolph had led the team back to even being in the playoff hunt by winning their last three games of the season. Now that they aren't progressing any further in the playoffs, the questions have begun. Those include questions about who will be the quarterback in 2024, and what will the team do to improve in an overall sense. 

As players fielded questions from the media during some of their last interviews of the season, they have been asked about what they think the team needs and what changes need to happen this offseason. Running back Najee Harris was very outspoken about the fact that he thinks this team needs discipline. 

Harris said that he believes the team has a great deal of talent, but felt there are growth opportunities. One of those areas of improvement is discipline. He said that he was not referring to Head Coach Mike Tomlin, but instead to team rule changes. His comment was a bit confusing as he said that he wasn't saying the team isn't disciplined, but also said they have to be more committed and more disciplined than they are. 

This comment was met with some skepticism by current players such as long time veteran and captain Cameron Heyward. Heyward said that he doesn't know everything that goes on offensively since he is a defensive tackle, but he feels that instituting more rules for the team doesn't produce better results on the field. He said they all just need to play better football. 

Steelers' Najee Harris Needs To Practice What He Preaches

Heyward wasn't the only one who had thoughts regarding Harris' comments. Former Steelers offensive guard, Ramon Foster spoke up on the team needing more discipline too. 

Foster played for the Steelers for 11 years and now co-hosts a podcast that airs on DK Pittsburgh Sports with Pittsburgh sports reporter Dejan Kovacevic. On a recent episode of the show, which is called The Ramon Foster Show, a fan wrote in and asked his thoughts about what Harris said. 

"Fair, very fair. But being inside that locker room, as far as discipline, culture, hard work, I know that's there. That to me is a sentiment that needs to be spread out to your teammates. Maybe it's more of them than it is of you, Najee. But if you want that, grab them dudes, pull them with you in the offseason, and demand everybody comes into the weight room on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday, or Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday for three workouts during the offseason. Get everybody in town when it's April, May, June."

He went on to add that when it comes to concepts like team discipline, everyone wants to point "upstairs" at the front office or at the coaching staff. That isn't where this begins. This isn't discipline in the sense of players breaking rules, this is discipline in the sense of everyone putting in all the hard work to help the team succeed. 

"I know for a fact that message comes down. It's a matter of the culture inside the building and those players initiating and enforcing that type of stuff. Najee, get Jaylen [Warren] with you, get Broderick [Jones] with you, get Cam [Heyward] with you some more. Those are the things you have to do to make sure - hard work, attention to detail, discipline - that's a player-to-player thing. I know it for a fact."

When asked about the teams he was on, and how they got the players to come together, he admitted they had some more veteran guys on the offense. The current Steelers offense is very young, but according to Foster, someone still needs to step up and that person could be Harris. 

Foster said the players have to take ownership and that is what has been so frustrating to watch this year, no one taking full accountability. The problem with some of their more veteran players like Isaac Seumalo or Allen Robinson is that they are not vocal types. 

Harris also may view some of these things differently than some of the other players on his team because of where he came from. He was a part of the high-powered University of Alabama team that won two CFP National Championships under former Head Coach Nick Saban. It is not a secret that Saban expected his players to step up and lead the team and mentor the younger players. 

Of course, Harris also joked with Kovacevic that Tomlin sometimes tells him to, "Just be a running back," but it seems like for him to be able to do that well, he needs to be part of a team that is holding each other accountable. We have all seen what Harris can do when the team is working well. He just became the first Steelers running back to rush for 1,000 yards in his first three seasons in a row and the 18th player to do it in the entire NFL.