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re: Najee Harris opens up on Alabama Struggles, Culture Shock and No Regrets - AL.com
Posted on 4/20/21 at 11:19 pm to tider04
Posted on 4/20/21 at 11:19 pm to tider04
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the way he frames it like is was sooooo hard for 4 years is pretty laughable. He was living and training in a multi-million dollar facility that’s nicer than NFL pads with the best trainers, coaches, nutritionists, and treated basically like a god on campus. Tough lot there, Najee...we really feel for ya bud! Glad you were able to pull through and survive!
Do you really think that because you have lived all over the world that that qualifies you to see life through someone like Najee's perspective, and to pass judgement on him because he was uncomfortable at times? That's an incredibly over-simplistic assessment of this.
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Posted on 4/20/21 at 11:25 pm to Funky Tide 8
I just think the way he framed his experience shows a real sense of immaturity and a very narrow worldview. Having lived all over the world, I now realize that all of us as Americans live in Disney World. Most of us have no idea how good we have it. And to act like living in the Taj Mahal of college football and being waited on hand and foot was somehow a tough burden is just so far outside the scope of actual reality that it’s laughable. I guess I was sort of a moron at 22, but I deserved to be called out for it too at times when I was plain wrong.
Posted on 4/20/21 at 11:31 pm to tider04
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I now realize that all of us as Americans live in Disney World.
Yeah, being homeless and impoverished in crime ridden nocal as a kid is a real fantasy. So true.
Losing two best friends to gang violence in a matter of weeks must be Space Mountain.
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And to act like living in the Taj Mahal of college football and being waited on hand and foot was somehow a tough burden is just so far outside the scope of actual reality that it’s laughable
Where did he reference anything about the facilities and luxuries of being an Alabama football player as being a burden?
This post was edited on 4/20/21 at 11:34 pm
Posted on 4/20/21 at 11:38 pm to Funky Tide 8
Was Najee homeless as a kid? I didn’t realize that. Even so, the poorest of poor here have enormous safety nets...government assistance, homeless shelters, food pantries, free medical clinics for the poor, soup kitchens, charities all over the place. Our poor here would be middle class most anyplace else and that is just a fact. Have you ever been to Africa? Asia? Middle East? Yes, we live in Disney World.
All the talk about it being so hard because people in AL dress different? Talk different? Eat different stuff? So tough you purposely missed flights back to your luxurious existence? You don’t see a disconnect there?
All the talk about it being so hard because people in AL dress different? Talk different? Eat different stuff? So tough you purposely missed flights back to your luxurious existence? You don’t see a disconnect there?
This post was edited on 4/20/21 at 11:44 pm
Posted on 4/20/21 at 11:47 pm to tider04
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government assistance, homeless shelters, food pantries, free medical clinics for the poor, soup kitchens,
Sounds just like Disney World for a child, huh?
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All the talk about it being so hard because people in AL dress different? Talk different? Eat different stuff? So tough you purposely missed flights back to your luxurious existence? You don’t see a disconnect there?
Do you honestly believe that formidable teenagers being uncomfortable, anxious, and overwhelmed in unfamiliar territory/new situations, and longing for what they are accustomed to, and the people that they love is equal to somehow being disconnected from reality?
Posted on 4/20/21 at 11:52 pm to Funky Tide 8
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Sounds just like Disney World for a child, huh?
To a starving kid in most the rest of the world with none of those safety nets? Hell yes...Disney Frickin’ World.
I can see him feeling that way year one as a teenager. 4 years in as a grown 22 year old man still talking about a luxurious existence (by any standard) in those terms absolutely shows a reality disconnect.
Posted on 4/21/21 at 12:07 am to Funky Tide 8
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What is your point here?
That moving from California to Alabama to be a football star who spends most of his time in state-of-the-art facilities is not nearly as tough as he makes it out to be.
I'm not saying it's a dealbreaker, but if I were an NFL GM I wouldn't like a lot of the things I have heard from him between championship game and the draft. His maturity seems to be lacking.
Posted on 4/21/21 at 7:23 am to Globetrotter747
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California to Alabama with all the resources in the world to help you succeed and millions of dollars right around the corner is not that damn difficult.
As Funky said, he's a human being, not a virtual character on the PS3. And he's just candidly discussing how he felt at the time, and millions of people can relate to going somewhere new and feeling completely lost and confused and lonely. I remember it vividly my first year of college baseball 7-8 hours from home with no connection to my high school life and even my first year of work.
This post was edited on 4/21/21 at 7:27 am
Posted on 4/21/21 at 7:26 am to Globetrotter747
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His maturity seems to be lacking.
I think his comfort level and maturity to discuss these things candidly with a track record of working through them shows exactly the opposite.
Add to that a ringing endorsement from Nick Saban on his work ethic and leadership and I think I'd feel pretty damn good about the cerebral kid I was drafting.
Posted on 4/21/21 at 7:31 am to Globetrotter747
The part where he said he usually turned down autographs and pics with fans...shows a lack of appreciation. We all saw him pout on the field at times. Great talent...I hope he does well in the NFL, but he's never going to hit my list of favorite Bama players...and I'm sure he's fine with that lol.
Sure, some fans are over zealous, but try going somewhere that doesn't care about football. You're not crapping in golden toilets in the football complex and you wouldn't have to worry about the mentally taxing effort to sign an autograph for some kid.
Sure, some fans are over zealous, but try going somewhere that doesn't care about football. You're not crapping in golden toilets in the football complex and you wouldn't have to worry about the mentally taxing effort to sign an autograph for some kid.
Posted on 4/21/21 at 8:27 am to SummerOfGeorge
Nobody is saying he’s a bad apple. Just that there seems to be some maturity issues and a disconnect between what he views as hard and what he actually experienced. Maybe he just articulated it poorly, which is possible.
I do think it’s telling that as a senior, All-American multiple-year starter, his own teammates didn’t vote him in as a captain and they chose 4 other dudes on offense instead to be their captains. Clearly, they didn’t view him as one of their leaders and some of the attitudes in his interview no doubt played a role in that. Again, nobody is saying he’s a bad apple, we all wish him well, but you can appreciate someone while also challenging some of their attitudes and thoughts. This whole jacked up idea in our culture that if you don’t agree everything about someone that it’s somehow unloving or intolerant is just dumb.
I do think it’s telling that as a senior, All-American multiple-year starter, his own teammates didn’t vote him in as a captain and they chose 4 other dudes on offense instead to be their captains. Clearly, they didn’t view him as one of their leaders and some of the attitudes in his interview no doubt played a role in that. Again, nobody is saying he’s a bad apple, we all wish him well, but you can appreciate someone while also challenging some of their attitudes and thoughts. This whole jacked up idea in our culture that if you don’t agree everything about someone that it’s somehow unloving or intolerant is just dumb.
Posted on 4/21/21 at 8:38 am to SummerOfGeorge
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I think his comfort level and maturity to discuss these things candidly with a track record of working through them shows exactly the opposite.
The circumstances he worked through in college were pretty easy, IMO, and I spent four years as a walk-on at Bama. Tons of kids go to school out of state, even out of the country. Tons of kids go off to boot camp and integrate into a unique culture and make it without the leverage of freakish talent and the promise of millionaire riches on the other side when they’re homesick or struggling.
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Add to that a ringing endorsement from Nick Saban on his work ethic and leadership and I think I'd feel pretty damn good about the cerebral kid I was drafting.
Do you expect Saban to bash a player publicly? I would bet diamonds to donuts that Saban’s honest is opinion is Harris should tone down the rhetoric.
Posted on 4/21/21 at 8:55 am to Globetrotter747
I totally agree. Its usually best to just keep it to yourself if you dont have something good to say about another person. Especially when you are a high profile person. Nothing to be gained especially just before the draft. Some of the things he said would throw up red flags. I think the Ala program does a very good job of teaching its players how to handle an interview. The coaches also know which players to trot out in front of the media. I heard Smitty last weekend being asked about the young receivers and was asked which ones he thought could take his place. He pretty much said they were all really good and would all do great. He has been coached up.
Posted on 4/21/21 at 9:06 am to Chad4Bama
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The part where he said he usually turned down autographs and pics with fans...shows a lack of appreciation.
Or it shows that he is someone who is uncomfortable with a lot of attention and fame, which he was. Has nothing to do with "appreciation."
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We all saw him pout on the field at times.
College players do this kind of stuff all the time when they are dying to see the field and make an impact. Did you have a perfect, well-rounded attitude towards everything when you were 18? He's not the first great Bama player to do that, and he won't be the last.
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but he's never going to hit my list of favorite Bama players
What a disappointment.
Posted on 4/21/21 at 9:10 am to tider04
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Nobody is saying he’s a bad apple. Just that there seems to be some maturity issues and a disconnect between what he views as hard and what he actually experienced. Maybe he just articulated it poorly, which is possible.
I think that you guys are just interpreting this poorly.
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I do think it’s telling that as a senior, All-American multiple-year starter, his own teammates didn’t vote him in as a captain and they chose 4 other dudes on offense instead to be their captains. Clearly, they didn’t view him as one of their leaders and some of the attitudes in his interview no doubt played a role in that
How do you know that he even wanted to be a captain? he very well could have turned it down.
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This whole jacked up idea in our culture that if you don’t agree everything about someone that it’s somehow unloving or intolerant is just dumb.
No one is saying that you are unloving, or intolerant, rather that you guys don't really have a great perspective on this.
Y'all are acting as if he said something really scathing, or threw people under the bus. He didn't say anything out of line, or controversial, yet y'all are acting as if he said frick Bama, and frick Saban, and that he wished he never came to Bama.
I think that a lot of y'all are sensitive to the article because of this:
quote:
He spoke frankly about the frustration he felt when fans tried to pass judgment without having a full understanding of a play call or assignment.
A dislike of “fake” people is a theme in conversations with Harris. And the way fans turned on the team in the rare intersection with adversity bothered Harris to the point he sometimes avoided interactions outside the stadium after games.
Some of you are the people he is talking about. You can say "that's just Alabama football, that's just the way it is" but that doesn't make it any less pathetic.
This post was edited on 4/21/21 at 9:17 am
Posted on 4/21/21 at 9:16 am to Funky Tide 8
Personally I appreciate the candor from a fellow alumnus of the University of Alabama. Everyone's college experience is different, and Najee was just giving some insight into his own. Interpreting anything he said as bitter or antagonistic is just putting your own insecurities on display.
And to all the idiots claiming he must not be a good teammate since he wasn't voted as a permanent captain: Najee fricking drove himself to Tuscaloosa from Dallas to go to a pro day he didn't even participate in just to support his teammates. But yes, tell me more about how he is just a selfish a-hole from California.
And to all the idiots claiming he must not be a good teammate since he wasn't voted as a permanent captain: Najee fricking drove himself to Tuscaloosa from Dallas to go to a pro day he didn't even participate in just to support his teammates. But yes, tell me more about how he is just a selfish a-hole from California.
This post was edited on 4/21/21 at 9:20 am
Posted on 4/21/21 at 9:31 am to Funky Tide 8
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I think that you guys are just interpreting this poorly.
And some of you guys get hyper-sensitive and overly-defensive anytime one of our coaches or players receives critique, whether it's justified or not.
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How do you know that he even wanted to be a captain? he very well could have turned it down.
Yes, yes I'm sure they begged him to be a captain and he just said "no thanks!" You're just being ridiculous now in your defense of Najee. He turned it down
quote:Wait, so fans who criticize players or teams when they don't perform well are "fake people"? What does that make players who criticize fans for not acting the way they want them to? Nobody sent Najee death threats, nobody egged his apartment, he was largely adored and people wanted his autograph and stuff like that, which he somehow turned into a negative. Funky, I like you man...but you're just barking up the wrong tree on this one. He said some stupid sh!t in that interview, and I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't cost him a few spots in the draft.
Some of you are the people he is talking about. You can say "that's just Alabama football, that's just the way it is" but that doesn't make it any less pathetic.
Posted on 4/21/21 at 9:34 am to SummerOfGeorge
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I think his comfort level and maturity to discuss these things candidly with a track record of working through them shows exactly the opposite.
Add to that a ringing endorsement from Nick Saban on his work ethic and leadership and I think I'd feel pretty damn good about the cerebral kid I was drafting.
Najee had a bad childhood which impacted him tremendously and obviously is still working through a lot of issues. I think he would be the first to admit that he has issues and anger problems. I think he has really benefitted from being under Saban and in the Bama program which has helped him move forward. Money won't be an issue for him and lets hope he has the life coping skills to deal with it going forward. Pro teams have resources for players but it not the nuturing environment that Saban fosters.
Posted on 4/21/21 at 9:42 am to Robot Santa
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Personally I appreciate the candor from a fellow alumnus of the University of Alabama. Everyone's college experience is different, and Najee was just giving some insight into his own. Interpreting anything he said as bitter or antagonistic is just putting your own insecurities on display.
And to all the idiots claiming he must not be a good teammate since he wasn't voted as a permanent captain: Najee fricking drove himself to Tuscaloosa from Dallas to go to a pro day he didn't even participate in just to support his teammates. But yes, tell me more about how he is just a selfish a-hole from California.
Yea, I think he's just being honest about it. I don't remember him talking about any of this while on the team or while going through the difficult times. I think it's interesting to hear from a guy who probably has a very different idea and background and worldview talk about his time here, and encouraging to me about how even a guy like that loves Saban to death and feels like he grew leaps and bounds here.
To each his own.
This post was edited on 4/21/21 at 9:45 am
Posted on 4/21/21 at 9:42 am to 14&Counting
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Najee had a bad childhood which impacted him tremendously and obviously is still working through a lot of issues. I think he would be the first to admit that he has issues and anger problems. I think he has really benefitted from being under Saban and in the Bama program which has helped him move forward. Money won't be an issue for him and lets hope he has the life coping skills to deal with it going forward. Pro teams have resources for players but it not the nuturing environment that Saban fosters.
100% agree
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