NFL Training Camp News: Najee Harris is Developing The Skills of a Bat
If you’re not tapped into largely meaningless NFL offseason news that doesn’t pertain to you or you don’t own him in a fantasy league, then you may not have seen the news about Najee Harris. Allow me to fill you in.
After spending his first four years in Pittsburgh, Harris signed with the Los Angeles Chargers for one-year, $9.5 million this offseason. The Chargers also drafted a running back - Omarion Hampton - in the first round, so Harris is likely to assume somewhat of a “placeholder” role until the rookie is ready to take over as the heir apparent RB1.
However, his tenure with the Chargers is off to a bit of a rocky start.
Before he ever even got to put on a uniform, Najee Harris blasted himself in the face with fireworks.
I know, I can’t believe it either. Handheld explosives are dangerous.
Before we go any further, I firmly believe there should be a “fireworks clause” in NFL contracts after Jason Pierre-Paul. We all remember what happened to him.
Here’s an obscenely high-resolution photo of JPP and what’s left of his hand after he mangled it with a Roman candle.
Image via Sports Illustrated
Hell, if the Bengals are trying to go full “Minority Report” and slip language into contracts that would void them in the event that players get into trouble, then I don’t think a fireworks clause is unreasonable.
While we’re on the topic, we can all agree that nothing great ever comes from fireworks in general, right? Especially being in charge of setting off the fireworks, that’s where you get got. Best case, you’re doing all the work for other people to enjoy it for a few measly seconds, and worst case is you blow your hand or face to smithereens. Sure, I’ll watch fireworks from a safe distance, but if I’m the one tasked with holding the match then all bets are off. I’m too damn smart to take that unnecessary of a risk for little-to-no return.
In the end it all worked out for Jason Pierre-Paul and he actually ended up playing about six additional years with his hand wrapped up like a prehistoric club. He even added a second Super Bowl ring after the injury - not bad! As it turns out, you don’t particularly need the use of all your digits if you’re a defensive end, and he managed just fine without.
Conversely, I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say that eyesight is at least marginally more important for success on a football field.
Obviously, this is where the concern for Najee Harris lies. It’d be ideal if he could see good to avoid the 300-pound assailants trying to get him on the ground. What was referred to as a “superficial” injury on the front end has Najee wearing a weighted vest walking laps around the field during practice wearing an eye patch* instead of fully participating.
* - Unconfirmed that he’s actually wearing an eye patch, just go with it.
Image via IMDB
This all occurred on the 4th of July, so at least we know Harris sustained the injury giving his all for America, but it sounds like it was a shit-show with multiple people getting injured and/or burned. All in all, he’s pretty fortunate that it wasn’t worse.
Thankfully, he’s adding echolocation to his skillset, according to Jim Harbaugh.
This could actually turn out to be huge.
I’ve always heard about blind people having a heightened sense of hearing - I chalk this up to one sense retiring and another one picking up the slack a bit. This appears to be exactly what’s taking place with Najee Harris.
Of course, Jim Harbaugh is a psycho, so this should be taken with a grain of salt, but if Harris does indeed regain full strength in the vision department AND his audio gets turned up then we might be talking about an all-time season thanks to these newfound superhuman abilities.
Let’s take Batman for example: It took him getting bundled by Bane in a sewer and tossed into a well for him to reach his peak potential. Sometimes you have to withstand a small setback (i.e. a firework detonating directly on your eyeball) to trigger a massive comeback.
Why not Najee? Could this be Najee’s “Bruce Wayne” glow-up?
Image via GQ
