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37-Year Old Harrison Finding Fountain of Youth

by Steeldad

James Harrison is not your typical 37-year old. For one, he’s a professional football player and two, he’s James Harrison and nothing has ever been typical about the former NFL Defensive Player of the Year.

With Jarvis Jones out due to injury, Harrison knew his snap totals would be up and instead of tiring as the game wore on he only got better. Harrison got the ‘better’ of Arizona’s Left Tackle Jared Veldheer all day forcing holding penalties, getting a sack and adding another tackle for loss in the Steelers’ 25-13 win over the Cardinals. Oh by the way, he also put a significant lick on John Brown causing a fumble.

If you follow the Steelers then you already know about the legendary workout regimen he follows. Less than 24 hours after the game, Harrison was already back at it in the Steelers’ facility.

What we knew with Deebo being back on this team for 2015 was that we’d get experience and a guy who would be stout against the run. What we didn’t know was how effective he’d be as a pass rusher. While he has just two sacks on the season, he’s done a consistent job of pressuring the quarterback and if he doesn’t get there, he draws attention for guys like Cam Heyward and the rest of the defense to break loose.

It was thought that Harrison would get about 25 snaps per game. As of yesterday, Harrison has played 200 snaps through the first six games. That works out to just over 33 snaps per game. It’s fair to ask if he can hold up to that amount of work considering he’s dealt with injuries in the last few seasons.

Without question what can help him is a healthy Jarvis Jones but he can’t just “be on the field.” Jones has to make his presence felt in the same way Harrison does and that’s no easy task.  For the moment at least Harrison is giving the Steelers everything they could have asked for and more.

Perhaps the Fountain of Youth resides somewhere within the Three Rivers of Pittsburgh after all.

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