Former Steelers First-Round Pick Felt "Sheer Joy" When James Harrison Was Released

Recently, the fractured relationship between Pittsburgh Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin and former linebacker James Harrison was revealed, as the latter detailed his story of why everything went south quickly during his time in the Steel City. He spoke about the lack of honest and upfront communication that resulted in him losing respect to the point where he would just sleep through meetings. The whole situation was a mess, and the former AP Defensive Player of the Year was released shortly before the team's Christmas game in 2017, as that felt like a needed move to boost the morale on the team. 

During a recent episode of Kaboly + Mack, insider Mark Kaboly spoke about someone else's take on the whole Harrison saga, as he seemed to rub people the wrong way, and not just Tomlin.

"What I take from that is when [James Harrison] was cut... the sheer joy of Bud Dupree when he left, because apparently, he was doing everything in his power to not help Bud Dupree at the time," Kaboly said. "I don't think he did that with TJ [Watt], but definitely Dupree. I remember somebody asked, 'Are you going to miss James helping you out?' And Bud started laughing. 'Hey, he asked if Deebo is helping me.' There were some frayed relationships, more than just Tomlin there as well."

At that time, edge rusher Bud Dupree was a second-year player that was still trying to figure out his role on the team. Of course, a young player like him would be excited to have someone as mean and feared as Harrison mentoring and teaching him how to make life miserable for opposing offensive players. However, reportedly, he never got any of that help.

Who knows what other players felt that way about Harrison, about him not being helpful and having an overall bad relationship with him. Clearly, that was not the case with Joe Haden, as they now have a podcast together, even though they were only teammates for the 2017 season. Overall, it sounds like the team had mixed feelings on the two-time Super Bowl champion.

As Kaboly said, Harrison did help out TJ Watt. In fact, he claims that he was the one that convinced the coaching staff to have Watt play left outside linebacker due to a deadly move that he saw in practice. Indirectly, that decision also helped out Dupree, as his move to right outside linebacker was also stronger than the one on the other side. It's interesting that he was willing to help one young player, but seemingly not the other. 

While Dupree was in his second season, Watt was a rookie trying to prove that he was more than just JJ Watt's little brother. Based on reports, it sounded like Harrison and TJ Watt had a good relationship overall, although they also only spent one season together before the veteran was released.

Steelers' Time With Harrison Has Turned Into He-Said, She-Said Drama

Whether good or bad things are being said about Harrison, it seems like there are so many conflicting reports to where it's hard to find out how the locker room truly felt about him. Was he helpful to certain players while blatantly ignoring others? Did he truly convince Tomlin and his staff to make Watt a permanent fixture on the left side? There are a lot of oddities with what is being said.

At the end of the day, the drama surrounding Harrison made it make sense for the team to release him, whether or not he was a problem in the locker room. Even with how weak the defense was at the time, it didn't make sense to keep him around if issues kept coming up. It didn't matter in the end, as issues did keep happening, and that somewhat contributed to the Steelers going one-and-done that year, despite having a first-round bye in the playoffs.

What do you think about Dupree seemingly being happy about Harrison being cut? Let us know in the comments or on X at @Steelers_ChrisB.

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