Former Pittsburgh Steelers OLB James Harrison played an integral part on some of the team’s best defenses throughout the 2000s. Harrison won Defensive Player of the Year and helped lead the Steelers to a win in Super Bowl XLIII, and his former teammate thinks that during Harrison’s peak, he may have been the most dominant player of all-time. In a feature on Harrison by The Athletic’s Dan Pompei, former Steelers S Troy Polamalu said that Harrison is up there with Aaron Donald as the most dominant players in the “history of the game” at his peak.
“At his peak, I don’t think there was anybody more dominant in the history of the game,” Polamalu said. “I might have to put Aaron Donald up there, too. But James was taking on sometimes four guys and still almost making a tackle.”
From 2007, his first year as a full-time starter, through 2011, Harrison was a first-team All-Pro twice, a second-team All-Pro twice and made the Pro Bowl five times while winning Defensive Player of the Year in 2008 and finishing third in voting in 2010, a year where Polamalu took home the award. In that five-season period, Harrison also racked up 54 sacks, 437 total tackles, 68 tackles for a loss, 27 forced fumbles and four interceptions.
It’s one of the most dominant stretches of play by a defender in NFL history. His play during that period earned him a nod to the Steelers Hall of Honor. While he likely won’t ever make the Pro Football Hall of Fame despite being named a semi-finalist three times, his peak is certainly up there as one of the best sustained stretches of play ever.
There were times where Harrison was downright unstoppable, like a Week 10 Monday Night Football win against the Ravens when he had 10 tackles, 3.5 sacks, three forced fumbles and an interception.
Harrison’s level of dominance during his peak is hard to match. He was a leader on some of the best defenses of all-time and in Steelers history. Having players like Polamalu certainly helped, but Harrison was as good a pass rusher as anyone during his peak and one of the best overall players of his era.
Polamalu was able to witness it up close, which is why he believes Harrison to be one of the most dominant players in league history. While it’s tough to compare between eras and positions, James Harrison certainly has a case for his incredible five-year run that made him a household name in Pittsburgh.
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