Najee Harris: Jim Mora revealed who killed Tupac on recruiting visit

Pittsburgh Steelers running back Najee Harris had an interesting official visit to UCLA to say the least.

Harris, who instead went on to commit to Alabama, is a native of Antioch, California. Despite his commitment to Alabama, he would later go on to make official visits to a few in-state Pac-12 schools, UCLA included. At the time of his visit, in late 2016, Jim Mora was the UCLA head coach — and Mora shared a weird story with the nation’s No. 1 recruit while he visited the Bruins’ campus.

According to a tweet from Rob Cassidy, Harris said that Mora told him on his official visit that he knew who killed Tupac — despite the 1996 event remaining unsolved to this day.

Najee Harris once told me that Jim Mora told him he knew who killed Tupac during a recruiting visit and I’ve never stopped thinking about that.

— Rob Cassidy (@Cassidy_Rob) January 17, 2022

Harris was the nation’s No. 1 running back, No. 1 overall recruit and No. 1 recruit in California for the 2017 recruiting class. He was a five-star recruit via the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. Harris played four successful years at Alabama but did not take over as the sole starter until his junior season.

Harris had a quiet freshman year at Alabama, rushing for 370 yards and three touchdowns on 61 carries, while appearing in 10 games. He did have a bit of a breakout performance in the 2018 national title game, late that season, when he took six rushes for 64 yards against the Georgia Bulldogs en route to an Alabama win. He took a step forward as a sophomore in 2018, playing in 15 games and rushing for 783 yards and four touchdowns — but then, as a junior and senior, he took over as the sole starter and solidified his spot as a first-round pick.

Harris rushed 209 times for 1224 yards and 13 touchdowns as a junior, coupled with 27 receptions for 304 yards and seven touchdowns. He only outdid himself as a senior, rushing for 1,466 yards and 26 touchdowns, while also collecting 425 rushing yards and four touchdowns.

Harris left Alabama as the Crimson Tide’s all-time leader for total touchdowns in a career with 57, while also holding the record for rushing scores with 46, surpassing the mark of 42 set by Derrick Henry and Mark Ingram. He eventually declared for the 2021 NFL Draft and was selected in the first round by the Pittsburgh Steelers, with the 24th-overall pick.

In his rookie season with the Steelers, Harris rushed for 1,200 yards, fourth-best among all NFL rushers, and seven touchdowns. He was also a contributor as a pass-catcher, reeling in 74 catches for 467 yards and three touchdowns.