It’s one of the most oft-used clichés in the NFL.
Amid adversity, teams discuss keeping outside noise out of the locker room, staying together and not letting what’s said in the media influence what happens on the field.
According to Najee Harris, the Pittsburgh Steelers did anything but.
Losers of their last four regular-season games (Eagles, Ravens, Chiefs, Bengals) entering the Wild Card round, the Steelers had gone since their Dec. 8 win over the Cleveland Browns without holding a lead. Once 10-4, things were crumbling apart at the seams even before Pittsburgh’s 28-14 loss to Baltimore on Saturday.
But the veteran running back and Alabama product saw it happening in slow motion. As he described to Taylor Rooks in the aftermath of Pittsburgh’s fifth-straight loss, it was like watching a car wreck unfold, with the players slowly succumbing to the weight of the criticism.
“I think the most interesting comments came from a visibly frustrated Najee Harris, who said that the guys have been saying things in the locker room that he didn’t necessarily want to say on camera,” said Rooks, “but he felt like throughout the losing streak, a lot of guys were letting what the media was saying infiltrate the locker room. And he wanted to see how they responded [Saturday].”
Najee Harris told @TaylorRooks after the game that the guys have been saying things in the locker room that he necessarily didn’t want to say on camera, but he felt that during their losing streak he felt what the media was saying about the Steelers infiltrate the locker room.… pic.twitter.com/3CcU8fTHjF
— Blitzburgh (@Blitz_Burgh) January 12, 2025
Harris’ postgame media availability closed with a question about how much thought he’s given to whether he wants to stay with the Steelers.
He hasn’t put much thought into it — at all.
Not the kind of thought that George Pickens put into his own cryptic response.
That said, Harris’ response clearly contrasted with how some of his teammates have been caught up in the media frenzy.
He’s controlling what he can control.
His unnamed teammates? Not so much.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.