Bart Scott rips Najee Harris over 'ungrateful' comments about Pittsburgh Steelers tenure

Los Angeles Chargers running back Najee Harris opened up about his tenure with the Pittsburgh Steelers recently and went viral for doing so. In his comments, Harris said the team “didn’t have any identity” on offense.

Harris’ comments were the subject of a segment on Friday’s “Get Up.” There, ESPN‘s Bart Scott called the 27-year-old tailback “ungrateful.”

Bart Scott on Najee Harris' comments about his time with the Steelers: "You ungrateful dude. How fortunate is it for you to be in the playoffs every year of your career? That doesn't just happen. And when he leaves, sometimes you realize how good you had it." pic.twitter.com/beQ2c3ZE61

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 21, 2025

“You ungrateful, dude,” Scott said. “How fortunate is it for you to be in the playoffs every year of your career? That doesn’t just happen. And when he leaves, sometimes you realize how good you had it. Now, he’s going to a place where maybe they have their future quarterback. But it’s gonna be a similar philosophy in that the Chargers are trying to build their team by bringing over Mekhi Becton to a team that’s based on the run game and not really throw a lot. Similar and play great defense. That’s how [Jim] Harbaugh builds his team, similar to how Mike Tomlin builds his team.”

In an interview with KCAL‘s Chris Hayre, Harris discussed the transition from his rookie season with Ben Roethlisberger under center to the next two with Kenny Pickett and then this past season with Russell Wilson and Justin Fields. Harris said the offensive side of the ball lacked leadership following Roethlisberger’s retirement after the 2021 season.

Najee Harris speaks out about Pittsburgh Steelers offense

“It was just a team where we lost Ben, we lost the O-line, we just didn’t know anything on offense really, we didn’t have any identity,” Harris said. “We had a young guy coming in at QB. I was young. The team was young. I really didn’t have nobody to almost learn from on the offensive side. I think the veteran guy on that team was a two, three-year vet. And he’s still learning himself. And I’m coming in and I’m just trying to look for people to pick their brain and it was just defensive guys.

“So, I’d go to the defensive guys and talk to them, but there wouldn’t be too much they could tell me about offensive things. So, through my years, I’ve learned a lot that only I learned first-hand. And I feel like [in L.A.], like we’ve got a lot of veterans that I can learn even more stuff from, even at the quarterback position, and the O-line position. So, it was an interesting year there, I’ll just say that. Interesting year.”

Harris’ time in Pittsburgh is done. The Chargers signed Harris to a one-year, $5.25 million deal with $4 million in incentives. Harris leaves the Steelers with 1,097 attempts to his name for 4,312 yards (3.9 yards per carry) and 28 touchdowns. One of the more durable backs in the NFL, Harris hasn’t missed a game in his career. He’s the only tailback with 1,000 rushing yards in each of the last four seasons. Despite the numbers, Pittsburgh declined his fifth-year option last summer.

Harris and Los Angeles seem like a perfect match. Harbaugh wants to run the ball. The Chargers were league average on the ground in Harbaugh’s first season at the helm. Harris could help and best of all, he’s only fumbled five times in 1,277 NFL touches.