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For Harvin III, Some Things are Bigger than Football

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The Pittsburgh Steelers made a bit of a splash in the 2021 NFL Draft by selecting punter Pressley Harvin III with their final pick. Harvin III is the first punter the Steelers have drafted since 2007 with Daniel Sepulveda and fans were excited to see what he could do. For a punter to be drafted speaks volumes as to the level of production the team expects at the position. Harvin III definitely has what it takes to be that ‘field flipping’ punter all teams desire, but we really didn’t see a lot of that this year. This led to increasing anxiety throughout Steeler Nation which ultimately changed to compassion once we learned of his late father passing away on Christmas, then his grandmother passing shortly thereafter. However, as we learned this week, Harvin III’s off-field struggles didn’t end there. The punter spent some time with the media this week to talk about his rookie-year trials and tribulations:

“I think the biggest thing mentally that I found out about myself off the field was that it’s okay to not be okay sometimes,” he proclaimed. “These last couple of weeks have been tough. When I first found the news out about my father, that was actually Christmas morning, and I was supposed to be traveling to Kansas City. I decided to go home in that moment. In that car ride back, because flights were getting canceled left and right, I had to take a 10-hour drive back home. But on that drive back, I took a second to reflect on what my dad told me. And the biggest thing that he told me was whenever the time comes when he’s not going to be here anymore, I was to handle my business, take care of my family. And I think that’s the biggest thing that I learned during this season. My life was different now and I’m not home. I have this job of what is the NFL, but at the same time you still have to handle your business outside of it. And he really showed me that just by that easy, small statement that he made was just to handle your business, but it showed me that you have to almost live two lives, when you’re on the field or when you’re in the building, and outside of it. I was trying so hard to get both of those to come together. I finally realized when he said that to me that sometimes you don’t have to have it come together and sometimes you have to reflect back to your family and the ones that are closest to you to give you that motivation during the year.”






Family played a large role in Harvin III’s support system these past couple of months. Coincidentally, the Rooney family has done arguably the best in all of sports to create and cultivate a “family first” environment in the locker room. In the midst of any struggles, whether it be on or off the field, the Steelers organization takes whatever measures necessary to help one of their own. For Harvin III, this came in the way of the Steelers hosting his family, including his ailing father, in what would be his father’s final game in Week 15. The Steelers defeated the Tennessee Titans in spectacular fashion, but Harvin III was simply appreciative of the Steelers taking the extra step for his family:

“I’m just truly appreciative of the Steelers organization and the Rooney family,” he explained. “When I first got up here, I was told that the motto of the Rooney family was ‘family, faith and football.’ in that order. That was something that you hear all over the place throughout college we always say we’re together, we’re family. I really felt that whenever we got the bad news about my dad and my grandma. It was always family first. This organization is definitely family to me, and I know it’s the same to them as well. We kept our faith, and the football is our job. I was extremely blessed and appreciative of all of the efforts that this family and organization gave to me.”
harvin.jpg

Photo via Instagram.com/PHarvin27/




Although the Steelers supported Harvin III as a ‘little brother’ within the organization, he also had to be a big brother off the field. Just as the Rooney’s and Steelers supported Harvin III and his family, Harvin III had to replicate that within his own family. As the Harvin family was grieving with the loss of his father, Harvin III’s grandmother passed away. This added another layer onto an already-devastated family. Between grieving and providing support to family members, that is never easy and can take a mental toll on anyone, especially professionals within a demanding industry that is the NFL. Harvin III explained:

“I would talk to my parents, my little brother all the time during the year, but I never really sat down and just talked outside of football as much as I wanted to. It was always about how’s the season going, how’s practice going and stuff. I never really got the opportunity as much as I wanted to because I was just so focused on doing well on the field. I never really kind of focused on things outside of it, getting away from it a little bit. This stuff can make you insane sometimes, especially with how long the season is. I feel like that’s the mental part that was that was tougher during the season. As the season continued to go on was how can you get away from it a little bit to motivate yourself to get back?”






As Harvin III struggled off the field, his on-field performance also suffered. We saw a punter who did not look like the Ray Guy Award winner from college who was drafted to be the next best punter. Harvin III struggled to maintain a lengthy punt average and fans were happy to welcome Corliss Waitman back after his time with the Steelers earlier in training camp. Waitman had a better stint statistically with the Steelers during his three-game stretch until Harvin III returned in the final game of the regular season against the Baltimore Ravens. After earning a playoff spot, Harvin III also led the punting and holding duties in the Wild Card loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. Although the Steelers got knocked out of the playoffs, Harvin III was happy to return:

“I felt like I got back to myself,” Harvin III said. “Mentally it was tough and I knew it was tough going into a playoff game. But the biggest thing was knowing that my grandma and my dad are okay, they’re in a good place. That gave me a little bit of clarity to finally sit and relax a little bit before the game because it was a night game. I told myself why not go out there and prove to everyone that I am who I am for a reason, and I am where I am for a reason. Just keep God first. I prayed a lot that day before the game. I told myself go out there and have fun. And honestly, that was one of the most fun games in my life. Unfortunately, we lost and I really wish we’d won. But for me individually, I felt like I had more fun on the sidelines, just being around the guys and being in that environment.”



I will be honest in saying that there were multiple times throughout this season I was questioning Harvin III’s abilities and if in fact he was cut out for the NFL. I don’t think I am alone in that statement. But as fans, we don’t see the full picture; there is always another layer of the story we will never see and never know. Harvin III never publicly discussed his family up until the Titans game. NFL players are held to such a high standard in terms of production, personal conduct, and availability and it is easy for fans to forget they are real people with real issues. The Steelers say it best when stating the priority order is family, faith, and football. There are things that are bigger than football and good on the Steelers and Rooney for living up to that every day.



I hope we get to see the Harvin III that we saw in college in the 2022 season.

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Skott

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This adds context to everything for sure. He seems like he has his head on the right way and I bet we see a very focused, solid punter next year. Stay strong young man.
 

Drink IRON City

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We as fans someties forget the personal side of the player. Percey had big things to deal with and I'm sure it wore on him. I didn't want him to come back as I just wanted him to take rest of season off to regroup and work. Hind sight shows we fans know very little of the day to day stuff of the team. Coach Tomlin gets judged short sided at times for this reason. In this case I think the right reason was to come back looking at it from a hindsight view.


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