Dec 30, 2017 5 min read

Well, that didn’t end well, though it wasn’t all that surprising.

James Harrison told me three weeks ago that if he had known what his role was actually going to be this season, then he wouldn’t have re-signed with the Steelers.

Harrison doesn’t typically kid. And he wasn’t kidding on that day.

“If you look at everything except my age, and look at all the other numbers from last year, I think I’m around there with some of the best,” Harrison told me on that Friday, two days before the Steelers hosted the Baltimore Ravens. “But the only number they can seem to look at is the age.”

Harrison believed that. His performance in 2016, when he had five sacks in the regular season and 2 1/2 more in the postseason, suggested he might be right.

But things can change quickly for players once they get past 30. And at 39, Harrison is well past that.

We saw plenty of videos of Harrison lifting massive amounts of weights and pushing around objects that would break a normal person.

However, as I was told in training camp by a Steelers official, what we weren’t seeing was Harrison running in those offseason workout videos.

And therein was the problem with Harrison. The Steelers wanted to adjust their defense to have their outside linebackers drop into pass coverage more often. Harrison didn’t fit with that plan.

Rookie linebacker T.J. Watt, who has dropped into pass coverage more than any outside linebacker in the NFL this season, does fit that scheme.

So Harrison became nothing more than a situational pass rusher – one who doesn’t play special teams.

That left him without much of a role for the 2017 Steelers. On most game days, it left him with no role.

Harrison knew that was the case.

“We’re doing well,” Harrison admitted to me before the game against the Ravens. “They want to go younger. It’s obvious. The guys are playing well. There’s no need to change them.”

No, there is not. The Steelers are 12-3. They’ve locked up one of the top two seeds in the AFC playoffs and a first-round bye with one regular-season game remaining, today at home against against Cleveland.

And while Harrison understood what was happening, he didn’t like it, nor did he have to. But if he wanted to be a part of this team, he did have to accept that role.

Harrison chose not to. He knew, at his advanced age, this could be his last NFL season, though he told me that he still wants to play next year.

He asked for his release on at least three occasions, if he is to be believed. His agent, Bill Parise, told me Tuesday, after Harrison had signed with New England, that the linebacker hadn’t asked for his release when it occurred last Saturday.

He didn’t have to.

Harrison began skipping practices by calling in sick and, if linebacker Bud Dupree is to be believed, falling asleep in meetings. He also reportedly left games early when he was inactive.

When wide receiver Martavis Bryant acted like that earlier in the season, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin disciplined him by making him inactive for a game at Detroit.

But Harrison is the team’s all-time sacks leader. He’s been part of two Super Bowl teams. The Steelers tried to show him respect. Tomlin didn’t announce that Harrison’s continued time on the inactive list was punishment for his actions. He chose to keep his punishments for Harrison an in-house matter.

However, when the Steelers needed a roster spot to create room for Marcus Gilbert on the active roster, Harrison was the obvious choice to go. He didn’t want to be in Pittsburgh any longer and the Steelers had no use for him. They had given him one last final chance in that game against Baltimore. He responded with no tackles, no sacks and no impact in 11 plays.

The Steelers knew there was a chance Harrison would sign with New England. They didn’t care. He wanted to be elsewhere and they granted him his wish.

They also don’t think he has enough left to be of service to their opponents, even the Patriots.

That he chose to sign with New England was seen as a slap in the face by his former teammates. That’s why they were so vocal about last week.

They felt betrayed.

In reality, however, he had betrayed them this season with his actions.

Could the Steelers have handled the situation better? Sure.

They could have chosen not to re-sign Harrison last offseason. Or they could have cut him at the end of training camp when it became apparent Watt was the real deal instead of the second coming of Jarvis Jones.

But the Steelers assumed Harrison would go about his business in a professional manner. He, however, has always been a lone wolf. It’s what caused them to release Harrison at the end of his first training camp with Pittsburgh all the way back in 2002 and, in the end, it’s what caused his release this time.

That doesn’t make it any less of a shame that it ended this way.