Harrison named AP Defensive Player of Year

By Scott Brown, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/
Tuesday, January 6, 2009


Steelers outside linebacker James Harrison goes through reps at practice Monday on the South Side.
Chaz Palla/Tribune-Review

Steelers outside linebacker James Harrison joined elite company in the team's annals Monday when he was named The Associated Press Defensive Player of the Year.

Harrison, the most disruptive player on the best defense in the NFL, is the fifth Steelers player to win the award since its inception in 1971.

Three of the past winners — defensive tackle Joe Greene, linebacker Jack Lambert and cornerback Mel Blount — are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The other recipient, cornerback Rod Woodson, is almost certain to get voted into the Hall in February.

That Harrison has a place among Steelers immortals would have been unthinkable a couple of years ago.

The 6-foot, 242-pounder was cut three times by the Steelers before sticking with the team.

Since becoming the starter at right outside linebacker in 2007, he has made consecutive Pro Bowls and won the Steelers' MVP award two years in a row.
This season, he set a Steelers' record with 16 sacks and finished fourth in the NFL in that category. Harrison led the NFL with seven forced fumbles, led the Steelers with 34 quarterback pressures and finished third on the team with a career-high 100 tackles.

Harrison received 22 votes out of a possible 50. Dallas Cowboys linebacker DeMarcus Ware, who led the NFL with 20 sacks, garnered 13 votes. Baltimore Ravens safety Ed Reed, who had an NFL-best nine interceptions, received eight votes.

Steelers strong safety Troy Polamalu had two votes.

"It is a tremendous honor to get it," said Harrison, who made the NFL as an undrafted free agent out of Kent State. "I felt like I had a chance of getting it."

His teammates were not surprised he won the award, and defensive end Aaron Smith said Harrison's impact went well beyond the gaudy numbers he compiled.

"Sometimes (opposing teams) had to account two people for him," Smith said. "You get a lot of one-on-one blocks or even come free because they worry about him so much."

All of the extra attention Harrison commanded did not stop him from dominating opposing offenses.

In an 11-10 win over San Diego, which visits Heinz Field for an AFC divisional playoff game Sunday, Harrison almost single-handedly kept the Steelers in the contest.

He accounted for the Steelers' first two points with a sack in the Chargers' end zone. Harrison set up a Jeff Reed field goal before the first half ended with a 33-yard interception return.

"We have been in some tough situations during the year, and he has been the guy who has come up with the big play," defensive end Brett Keisel said. "You would think that teams would start to put three guys on him and things like that and they have tried, but it just hasn't worked."


Harrison affirms his value to Steelers

By John Harris, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/
Tuesday, January 6, 2009


This Nov. 30, 2008 file photo shows Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison (92) drawing a bead on New England Patriots running back Sammy Morris (34) as he takes the handoff from Matt Cassel (16) during first quarter action of their game in Foxborough. Harrison, the best player on the NFL's best defense, has won The Associated Press 2008 Defensive Player of the Year award, Monday Jan. 5, 2009.
(AP Photo/Stephan Savoia, File)

Time to pay up, Steelers. James Harrison has more than paid his dues.

The NFL's newest defensive player of the year is a wedge-buster on kickoffs who also doubles as a two-time Pro Bowl outside linebacker.

How many Pro Bowl players willingly sacrifice their bodies on special teams? How about this one, and only this one?

I don't know what's more impressive: Harrison's franchise-record 16 sacks, his NFL-high seven forced fumbles, or his 12 special-teams tackles, good for third on the team.

"To sit here and tell you I could have been defensive MVP and I could have been a Pro Bowler two times in a row, I'd be lying to you," Harrison said Monday.

Harrison, who's in the next-to-last year of his contract, deserves a new, break-the-bank deal — the sooner, the better.

He also deserves a pat on the back from anyone who's ever played sports only to be told they weren't big enough, fast enough, tall enough or simply not good enough.

"It definitely motivates you, knowing I didn't get drafted and a lot of other athletes I played with got drafted and now they're not really doing that well or they're not in the league any more," said Willie Parker, Harrison's teammate and a two-time Pro Bowl running back who also entered the league as an undrafted free agent. "It's a tough game. Whatever you have in the back of your mind that pushes you each and every day, you've got to use it to your advantage."

Harrison's story has been told so often that it has become Western Pennsylvania folklore.

Harrison was undrafted coming out of Kent State despite leading the Mid-American Conference with 15 sacks his senior year. Somehow, Harrison finished third in the MAC's defensive player of the year balloting.


This Aug. 28, 2008 file photo shows Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison during preseason NFL football action against the Carolina Panthers in Pittsburgh.
(AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

Twenty-seven linebackers were taken in the 2002 draft, the Steelers' Larry Foote among them. None, it turns out, was better than Harrison, who possesses intangibles that were overlooked by 32 NFL teams that ignored him in the draft.

Being cut four times — including three times by the Steelers — should have made Harrison start looking for another line of work.

To his credit, Harrison persevered. Instead of getting mad, or even, he continued plugging away, excelling on special teams and patiently waiting for his chance to become one of the more feared players in pro football.

"My goal was just to make the team," Harrison said. "I felt like I could come in and contribute to this team and then be a decent starter. I've grown into something that's a little better than that right now.

"I guess since one person's done it, somebody else can do it."

From the unfortunate Cleveland Browns fan who was drunk and stupid enough to venture onto the field, only to have Harrison body slam him like a rag doll, to any opponent who's had the misfortune of encountering Harrison in close quarters, this ice pack's for you.