Pittsburgh Steelers running back, Najee Harris is entering his third season in the NFL. The team is hoping Harris can have a breakout year in 2023 after adding some offensive line pieces in first-round draft pick, Broderick Jones and offensive guard, Issac Seumalo during free agency. Harris seems to be enjoying the offseason by enjoying one of his favorite offseason pass times, Boxing. DAZN Boxing caught up with Harris recently before the Canelo-Ryder boxing match to talk a little about boxing and what his goals are for the upcoming NFL season.
CREDIT | GETTY IMAGES Joe Sargent
Pittsburgh Steelers running back Najee Harris
In his interview with DAZN Boxing, when asked about which NFL player would make the best boxer, and why, Harris responded with this:
"Me. Yeah me for sure... Because I'm like that first of all and I box, in the offseason, I'm interested in the sport I like the sport a lot. You know, I like the competitiveness I always like training so you know, I think I am going to start doing those celebrity boxing matches when I am done with football."
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Pittsburgh Steelers running back Najee Harris and tight end Pat Freiermuth
Steelers Running Backs Have A History Of Boxing
Fans may remember former Steelers running back, Le'Veon Bell also got into the celebrity boxing world after his time in the NFL. Bell is 1-1 in his boxing career and even knocked out former 2012 MVP Adrian Peterson in a celebrity boxing match. Harris has been documented using boxing in the offseason as a workout and has been a noted fan of the sport as well. DAZN Boxing also asked Harris what his upcoming goals for the season were.
"You know, we have uh, we got a lot of new weapons this year. We did really good in the draft shout out to everyone in the Steelers organization for that. We picked up a lot of guys in the offseason. We always plan on doing better then we did last year, that being winning wise and team wise how we control ourself as a team and standard wise and how we better ourself so speaking as a captain we want to get back to the playoffs and we want to get back to winning football in the Steelers organization"
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Steelers running back Najee Harris Boxing in the offseason
The Steelers Will Be Looking To Harris During The 2023 Season
Harris is coming off back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons in Pittsburgh. The former first-rounder did have a slight setback in 2022 with a Lisfranc injury and had to play with a plate in his shoe for games during the season. Sophomore quarterback, Kenny Pickett seems to have his spot locked up as the starting quarterback for the 2023 season and the offense will get more time to gel in the offseason.
Pickett was taking snaps with the third-team offense in camp in 2022 and Harris was not able to practice much due to injury so the offense didn't get synced up until halfway through the season. The Steelers did end the season 7-2, with one of the losses coming when Pickett was unable to play because he suffered a concussion early in the game. With the upgrade at offensive line and a quarterback still learning what it takes to be in the NFL, the Steelers may look to a now-healthy Harris to carry the rock until the new weapons find their place on the team.
What do you think about Harris this year? Do you think he will have a breakout performance? Let us know in the comments below or on Twitter.
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