PITTSBURGH — A decade ago, Najee Harris didn't know where or when his next meal would be provided. When he was 12, his mother and four siblings became homeless. They bounced around from shelter to shelter in the Bay Area. They lived with other members of their extended family. They even lived in a car.
Harris was surrounded by drugs, gangs and family strife every day, and those closest to him said he could have gone either way. There are many talented athletes that never make it out of northern California, but Harris did with the help of others in the Bay Area community.
"It takes a village to raise a child," Harris said Friday night in his first news conference as a member of the Steelers. "I believe in that."
One of the places that provided a home for the Harris family was GRIP — the Greater Richmond Interfaith Program in Richmond, Calif. On Thursday, the day Harris fulfilled his childhood dream of being selected in the NFL draft, he went back to GRIP and threw a party for the children who are staying there now.
While many of the top draft prospects attended the draft in Cleveland, the Steelers' No. 1 pick wanted to be close to friends and family and give back to the community that helped him and his family get back on their feet.
"It helped shape me in a lot of ways," said Harris, a 6-foot-1, 232-pound running back from Alabama. "I've been through a lot of stuff in my life that was difficult that I had to overcome — a lot of obstacles. I guess it helped me in a way with football because, in football, you're going to go through a lot of adversity.
"I went through a lot of adversity when I was a kid, but just being able to overcome it shows you how much strength that you have to overcome things, and it shows you that if you can get through those things in life, there's nothing you can't get through."
Returning to GRIP was coming full circle for Harris and his mother, Tianna Hicks. They visited the shelter thee weeks ago and went inside Room 11, which became their makeshift home back in 2010. Tears flowed for Hicks and workers at GRIP as they realized how far Najee had come in that time.
"It was the most emotional experience I've had here at the shelter," said Kathleen Sullivan, GRIP's executive director since 2018. "It was an amazing experience."
A short time later, plans were made by Harris and Sullivan for a draft party for the families that are currently staying at GRIP. Harris supplied pizza, wings, salad, cupcakes and soda, gift bags and T-shirts for 250 people. He also spent an hour at the shelter and talked to the kids, many of whom are facing similar hardships in their lives.
His message, Sullivan relayed, was "to hang in there, stay engaged with school and listen to your parents. You can do whatever you want to do. This is just a pit stop."
"I wanted to make sure that I could give back to the community and show them if y'all still need anything, I'm never too big or too whatever to help you guys out," Harris said. "I'm always going to be the helping hand. I wanted to let them know, even though I'm getting drafted, if you guys need anything, I'm literally right here."
Harris majored in consumer science and social work at Alabama. A post-football career helping the less fortunate is already in the works.
Harris yearns to tell his story now, but it hasn't always been that way. When he was younger, he was uncomfortable letting people know about the hardships he faced. It wasn't until the past year or two that he embraced his past and realized he could help others by talking about his rough upbringing.
"He was kind of standoffish in high school and early in his college career," said Marcus Malu, Harris' personal trainer for the past nine years. "But the minute he figured out he had a good story to tell, he became more comfortable. When you go through some of the things he went through, there was a feeling of embarrassment. I think he was ashamed. But now he figured out he has a story to tell all of America. He feels he can be out in the open about it."
After staying at GRIP, Harris' family moved to Antioch, Calif., where he first met Malu. Malu described Harris, then 14 years old, as "rough around the edges" but eager to learn what it would take to become a great football player.
"He had a different way of going about it," Malu said. "After his first or second session with me, I could tell he was really paying attention to the detail. He was doing it so much that we couldn't move on to anything else until he perfected what we were working on."
Harris developed into the No. 1 high school recruit in the country by the time his junior year rolled around. He rushed for nearly 8,000 yards during his high school career and was voted the Bay Area high school offensive player of the decade by the San Jose Mercury News.
"I remember calling Mori Suesue after his freshman season," Malu said. "Mori coached [Bengals runnings back] Joe Mixon in high school. I remember telling him, 'We've got the next kid.'"
Harris chose Alabama over Michigan and blossomed with the Crimson Tide the past two seasons after sitting behind Josh Jacobs, another Alabama running back who was a first-round pick of the Raiders in 2019.
The Steelers were drawn to Harris for a number of reasons, but his strong character ranked among the most important factors when they were evaluating the prospects they were considering in the first round.
Harris checked a lot of the boxes the Steelers like to have in their first-round picks. He played for a Power 5 school and competed in the SEC, which is widely considered the most competitive conference in college football. And while the Steelers usually like to draft underclassmen in the first round, Harris' decision to return to the Crimson Tide for his senior season was viewed by team brass as a positive. But in the end, in this year of draft uncertainty, the Steelers were drawn to Harris' makeup.
In a normal year, the Steelers would spend quality time with prospects they want to get to know better. They take them out to dinner after their pro days, get to know them during in-person interviews at the combine and/or at the Steelers' practice facility during top-30 visits.
None of those things took place this year due to the pandemic, but general manager Kevin Colbert and head coach Mike Tomlin were able to discover traits in Harris that drew them to him, including a selfless act for his teammates earlier this spring.
Harris had a minor ankle injury and could not participate in Alabama's first pro day. His flight from Dallas to Tuscaloosa the night before was canceled, but he drove nine hours through the middle of the night to cheer on his teammates that were working out before NFL general managers, coaches and scouts.
"That really struck a chord with coach and me," Colbert said. "Again, we couldn't interact with him, but to watch him interact with his teammates while they were going through their pro days was truly special."
Harris' new home is Pittsburgh. He arrived in town late Friday afternoon and was driven from the airport to the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. On the way through the Fort Pitt Tunnel, he was instructed by a member of the Steelers organization to look to his left upon exiting.
Harris called the sight of Heinz Field and PNC Park "dope." It's a new chapter in his life, but he's never going to forget where it all started for him.
"I stayed everywhere in the bay area from San Francisco to Oakland to El Sobrante, Richmond, Antioch, everywhere," Harris said. "It was a whole community and all the neighborhoods that I lived in that helped shape me to who I am today. My parents, of course, too. My mom, to be specific. My mom really helped me out and shaped me to who I am today. Antioch, of course, helped me out a lot, and the coaches there helped me get back up on my feet when I was in certain situations at home that wasn't always good. For the most part, it was the whole of northern California community and family that helped me become who I am today."
