Where does James Harrison rank among all-time greats?
On Monday, James Harrison announced his retirement. In the following days, there has been a deluge of thank yous and tributes, including highlights of Harrison’s greatest plays.
As the Pittsburgh Steelers all-time sacks leader, the linebacker’s name is not one that will be soon forgotten. However, following how he parted ways with the team last December, there has been a split among fans as to whether Harrison should be allowed to retire as a Steeler.
Those harsh feelings aside, the comments brought up an interesting discussion: where does Harrison rank among the game’s greats?
Even better: where does Harrison rank among the Steelers all-time greats?
To address the first question, we have to analyze other Steelers greats. Hines Ward had 1,000 receptions in his career and Heath Miller holds every significant record, and is high on the charts of other receiving accolades, within franchise history. Both Hines and Heath are all-time Steelers greats, and that’s where I think Harrison falls as well. Ward may be hard-pressed to get his name called for Canton, and while Heath was (and still is) a fan favorite, even the most biased of Steelers fans won’t rush to call him a Hall of Famer.
Such is the crux of Harrison’s career, which stalled from the start as the undrafted linebacker clawed his way back to NFL rosters season after season, before bursting onto the scene in Mike Tomlin’s first season as head coach back in 2007.
Prior to 2007, Harrison languished. From 2007 through 2011, no one was more feared, as “Deebo” made five consecutive Pro Bowl teams, was named a first-team All-Pro twice and became the league’s Defensive Player of the Year in 2008 following his single-season career high 16 sacks.
That last Pro Bowl year in 2011 started to see the star linebacker decline. A back injury sidelined him for five games that season and three more in 2012. His numbers also dipped from double-digit sacks in three consecutive seasons to nine in 2011 and then six in 2012. A cash-strapped Steelers team sought a pay cut with their player, and Harrison opted instead to test free agency, where he would be on the market for an extended period of time before the then 35-year-old linebacker would sign a one-year deal with the Cincinnati Bengals.
Following that season, Harrison signed a one-day contract with Pittsburgh to retire as a Steeler. However, an injury to Jarvis Jones would see the improbable return of number 92, who unretired and would go on to play nearly four more years in the Steel City, before his aforementioned split at the end of 2017.
With a new lease on life, Harrison showed flashes of his former greatness but was often used in a rotational scheme, as the team preserved him from a full-time role due to his age and wanting to progress younger players. Therefore, Harrison’s numbers never rose back to where they were during his previous foray with the team, but his legend continued. Plays such as forcing a timely fumble against Dolphins QB Matt Moore in the playoffs or drawing a holding call which cost the Chiefs a two-point conversion will forever live in infamy along with Harrison’s Super Bowl pick-six against the Arizona Cardinals.
Harrison hung on long enough to break Jason Gildon‘s franchise sacks mark, which definitely earns him a right to be called one of the all-time Steelers greats, but as mentioned earlier in this article (and discussed in greater detail on a recent SCU podcast) that doesn’t necessarily qualify him for the Hall.
Stats aren’t everything, but comparing him among the all-time sacks leaders is crucial of how he may be perceived for an eventual gold jacket in the future. Harrison retires 52nd on the all-time sacks list. The man whose team record he broke and coincidentally wore the same number, Jason Gildon, is listed as 65th. The player he eventually replaced as a starter and ended up coaching him later on in his career, Joey Porter, retired with 13.5 more sacks.
Each of those former Steelers they did what Harrison accomplished in less time. Porter played in five fewer career games, while Gildon played in 26 less. It gets more complicated when you add that both had more starts (opportunity for sacks) than Harrison, who struggled to see playing time as a practice squad and special teams player early in his career.
However, Porter and Gildon are not spoken of as having Hall of Fame-like credentials. Perhaps it’s not having a Super Bowl moment like Harrison’s, which creates a larger legend. Despite this, Harrison may still have an uphill battle when compared with others who aren’t enshrined.
Redskins great Dexter Manley is a player who comes to mind as someone who had a string of several seasons comparable to Harrison’s but does not have his bust in the Hall. Like Harrison, Manley was a feared pass rusher who is also his franchise’s all-time sacks leader. He also has two Super Bowl rings like the Steelers all-time sacks leader.
Yet, it’s Manley’s off-field issues (including a prison sentence for cocaine) which may be a large reason why he’s not in Canton. Harrison’s run-ins with domestic violence and public comments about current NFL commissioner Roger Goodell could spell trouble when it comes time to make a decision on his enshrinement.
If Harrison waits in line like Hines Ward is for an opportunity to make it in, some upcoming retirements could make the wait longer. The most recent inductees at linebacker (which the positions of outside, inside, and middle are grouped together for the Hall) include names such as Derrick Brooks, Junior Seau, Kevin Greene, and Ray Lewis. In the 90’s alone, only four linebackers total were enshrined (including Jack Lambert).
That begs the question of where sack artists (of which Harrison is most famously known for), including non-linebackers, may bump Deebo. DeMarcus Ware retired with 138.5 sacks, which is good for eighth all-time. Jared Allen follows with 136 and John Abraham with 133.5, while Terrell Suggs and Dwight Freeney, both soon to call it quits, are each tied 17th all-time behind Hall of Famer Derrick Thomas.
Is Harrison’s legend large enough to see him get the nod?
Let’s consider his place in Steelers history as a benchmark as well. It’s not fair to place Harrison in the same category as, say, “Mean” Joe Greene (a defensive end back when the team deployed a four-man front). It’s also difficult to ignore Jack Ham, and outside linebacker of the Steel Curtain schemes, as being the same player as Harrison too. Ham, a member of 1988 Hall of Fame class, may have to be considered the greatest outside linebacker in team history.
But by current standards, there are others who can make a case for being Harrison’s equal or better.
Two of those players, Joey Porter and Jason Gildon, were mentioned earlier in this article. Two more, Kevin Greene and Greg Lloyd also have a strong claim to being in the top five of the greatest outside linebackers in team history. Greene, although a Hall of Famer, only played three of his fifteen NFL seasons in a Steelers uniform, but was also a First-Team All-Pro in one of those seasons and accumulated 33.5 sacks over that span of time.
Lloyd racked up 53.5 sacks in ten seasons with Pittsburgh, but only had a single double-digit sack season.
Where does one place Hall of Famer Andy Russell, who played before sacks became an official statistic? How shall we think of 80’s greats such as Mike Merriweather (three Pro Bowls in six seasons) or Keith Willis (59 sacks in nine seasons, 4th all-time behind Harrison, Gildon, and Porter) in the grand scheme of all-time greats?
And let’s not forget about Harrison’s sack-mate LaMarr Woodley, who took down quarterbacks 57 times in seven years with the Steelers: good enough for fifth-most in team history.
Make no doubt about it: Harrison is, in fact, one of the all-time greatest Steelers. That much is a given with his franchise sacks record. However, if Porter, Gildon, and Lloyd aren’t Hall of Fame material, that may make the case for Harrison harder to make. Adding Ham and Russell to the conversation also makes for some compelling arguments where James could also be left off of some top five all-time team lists, quite possibly for the sole reason of how he left the organization… twice.
This may seem like an awful lot of rambling and flip-flopping on my part, but all of these angles, and then some, are what Canton’s decision makers will analyze when considering Harrison’s place in history. For now, all we can agree on is that his place in NFL history is that of an all-time Pittsburgh Steelers great, who may eventually have a chance of being enshrined in the Hall of Fame.
