When Alabama running back Najee Harris decided to return for his senior year, he had no idea that a worldwide pandemic would soon create mass chaos, and put the 2020 fall football season in limbo. No one would have blamed him had he decided to forgo his senior year and enter into the NFL Draft.
But he didn’t.
He made the choice to return, and even now, it’s a choice he doesn’t regret.
Harris spoke in a video conference, and this is what he had to say:
“When I make a decision, I stand firm on it. I don’t have no regrets on it. I want to come back with my team and just grind it out through another year. We didn’t know what was gonna happen now but now I feel like we have a really good team. No matter what, I’m so happy that I came back. I don’t regret nothing.”
Harris also shared how much this season means to him, especially being a senior.
“Us athletes want to play to create value for ourselves. We’re kind of iffy about the season, [but] age and time still moves on. We can’t take that back. We probably could run back the season but we can’t take back age and time.
For a running back, age plays such a factor in the next step, I guess if you want to go to the NFL and whatnot. They look at age so much nowadays. … I came back [for a senior season] and I’m already 22. Then if I come back another season and I’ll be 23, they can probably use that as something against me. It probably won’t but it’s just another thing to say about it.”
There’s no doubt that Harris will have a big impact on Alabama’s offense, and has a chance to be in the Hesiman race as well as a first round pick in the upcoming NFL Draft.
In his first season at Alabama, Harris recorded 370 yards off of 61 carries for 3 touchdowns.
In his sophomore season, Najee had 117 carries for 783 yards and 4 touchdowns.
And, finally, last season Harris’ role became more dominate on offense, especially after Tua Tagovailoa endured a season-ending injury. Harris finished the season with 1,224 yards rushing off of 209 carries. He also had a career-best 13 touchdowns.
In his career, he has over 2,300 rushing yards and 20 TDs, as well as over 350 receiving yards with another 7 TDs.
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