When outside linebacker James Harrison exited the Pittsburgh Steelers facility for the last time over the weekend he probably felt more relieved than anything else. Face it, Harrison wasn’t happy about his role with the team this season and you could tell that long before he told the media a few weeks ago that he wouldn’t have re-signed with the Steelers this past offseason had he known he would barely play this season.
With Harrison’s Tuesday signing with the New England Patriots now roughly 24 hours old, a few of his former teammates are starting to give us a little better glimpse as to what kind of person Harrison may have been during the last several weeks.
Steelers outside linebacker Bud Dupree reportedly said Wednesday that he doesn’t want to see the media turn Harrison into “the victim” or make it sound like the Steelers “made him leave”, according to Chris Adamski of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
“He chose to leave. He chose to leave, and he did,” Dupree reportedly said.
Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey also said Wednesday that Harrison wanted out of Pittsburgh.
“It’s funny to read the stories. This is something he wanted to do. It’s not like they got together and said, ‘Were going to go cut James.’ No, that’s not what happened and he needs to come out and admit that,” Pouncey said.
If you have paid attention to a few social media remarks made by a few Steelers players since Harrison signed with the Patriots and combine them with what Dupree and Pouncey both said on Wednesday, then it’s not hard to speculate that Harrison wanted out of Pittsburgh. Specifically, if you saw the social media video that Harrison posted a few weeks ago in which he basically mocked the Steelers for listing on their injury report a few times you could tell there was friction between him and the organization.
After not playing in the Steelers Week 15 game against the Patriots despite being dressed for the game, that was probably the straw that ultimately broke Deebo’s muscular back.
