Najee Harris reveals adversity he faced growing up in Oakland

Najee Harris had a long road to get to be the running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers. His life growing up in Oakland, California was anything but stable. From home to home, though, he was able to grow and learn in order to become the star at Alabama he was and the first round pick he became.

Harris talked about the hardships he grew up with in an appearance on ‘The Pivot’ podcast. He says he had to live in several cities, even in shelters, before finally settling down in high school.

“I moved out and around and couldn’t really find a stable home. Raised in San Francisco, then we were in Oakland, then stayed in Richmond…El Sobrante, Pinole, Hercules, Vallejo. Everywhere in the Bay Area,” said Harris. “Then I finally kind of settled down in Antioch, California. I spent like four years there. That’s where I went to high school at and kind of made my name at.”

All the struggles helped him become who he is, though. He believes that environment bred the person and player he became. Even with all the things that worked against him in that time of his life, Najee Harris expressed gratitude for those times because even he realized he was more fortunate than others.

“It was tough times…People think I kind of act different but it was because it was the environment I was raised around. You kind of gotta adjust to what it is there. Some stuff never left me,” said Harris. “I’m a product of my environment…There was always some good times in those tough times. I’m not fortunate enough like others to have certain things but I made the best of what I had. I was always out playing sports.”

Najee Harris committed to the Crimson Tide in 2015 and produced 4,624 yards from scrimmage and 57 total touchdowns over four seasons in Tuscaloosa. Pittsburgh drafted him 24th overall in 2021 and he went on to record 1,667 yards from scrimmage and 10 total touchdowns in his Pro Bowl rookie season. It wasn’t his stops in college or the pros that helped him grow, though. He gives all the credit to the adversity he faced from the second he was born.

“I would not be who I am (without it). People haven’t really found out who they are unless they’re challenged somewhere in life. I guess I was blessed enough to get challenged right when I came out the womb…Got my first breath of air and it was struggle, struggle, struggle for 20 years.”