Alabama offensive lineman, Najee Harris, knows that he would possibly have damaged his NFL career by returning to school for his final season.
Age, he says, plays a vital role when groups write late, and there’s a difference between a 22-year-old recruit and a 23-year-old recruit, no matter how small.
Even with his game about to be canceled after Big Ten and Pac-12 boosted their seasons in the spring, Harris told reporters that he had not hesitated once to return to Tuscaloosa.
“When I make a decision, I’ll go with it,” Harris said. “I have no regrets about it. I need to get back to my team and finish it for another year. We didn’t know what was going to happen now, but now I feel like we have a very smart team. Anyway, I’m so glad I came back here. I don’t regret anything.”
It’s partly because of that decision, Harris says he feels guilty about speaking on behalf of his teammates and the sport.
On Friday, the Southeast Conference is advancing with plans to play a general season. This is wonderful news for Harris, but it’s just one component of what this year would make a successful year in school football.
The other component, the component that needed to talk, is to make sure players stay healthy amid the coronavirus pandemic. That’s why he joined the motion #WeWantToPlay in early August:
“I’m a pretty closed guy, but it’s very much like the uncertainty that circulates. Now I mustn’t keep quiet. I have to speak for others who can’t talk.
“We athletes have to play to create a price for ourselves. We have a little doubt about the season, [however] the age and time are still passing. We’re back to that. season, however, we can’t regain age and time.”
Harris now advocates for the NCAA’s universal rules of fitness and protection, a guarantee of eligibility for players retiring from the season, and, most importantly, creating a school football player settlement.
Meanwhile, Harris is preparing as well as he can for next season and doesn’t look back past decisions or plans to skip the 2020 campaign.
The runner, who ran for 1,224 yards and thirteen touchdowns last year, said missing due to the COVID-19 pandemic “never crossed my mind.”
If the SEC tries to play a season in the spring than in the fall, as the Big Ten explores, Harris says he’s going to care.