Jan. 21, 2026, 3:07 p.m. ET
Najee Harris just dropped a bombshell on why he chose to leave the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2025 — and it apparently had everything to do with head coach Mike Tomlin.
On a recent episode of the Get Got Pod with Marshawn Lynch and Mike Robinson, Harris opened up about leaving Pittsburgh, claiming Tomlin told him it was time to leave the Steelers behind.
“[Tomlin] said, ‘Najee, I always talk to you, not as if you are a player, but as if you are my son’… He was like, ‘If you was my son, I would tell you not to come back here.’ I was like, ‘Alright, bet,’” Harris told Lynch and Robinson.
Yikes. It’s almost as if Tomlin was preparing for a departure of his own — oh, right.
Selected by the Steelers with the 24th overall pick in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft, Harris produced four straight 1,000-yard rushing seasons to begin his career, a consistent contributor who was poised for a big Year 5 with the Los Angeles Chargers before an Achilles tear in Week 3 derailed his season.
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