Najee Harris

Early life

Harris is from the San Francisco Bay Area. One of five children of a single mother, he grew up in several troubled neighborhoods, including time in a homeless shelter when he was in middle school before the family moved to Antioch. One of his brothers is Bay Area rapper Lil Yee, who survived a shooting in 2025.

Harris played high school football at Antioch High School in Antioch, California. As a sophomore in 2014, Harris rushed for 2,263 yards with 23 touchdowns. As a junior he had 2,744 rushing yards and 36 touchdowns. As a senior, he had 2,776 rushing yards and 34 touchdowns.

Recruiting

Harris was considered the #1 recruit in the class of 2017, by Scout and Rivals. 247Sports rated him as the No. 2 overall recruit behind Jaelan Phillips while ESPN ranked him the No. 11 overall recruit. Harris received offers from multiple top football programs including the Alabama Crimson Tide, Michigan Wolverines, Ohio State Buckeyes, USC Trojans, and Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

He verbally committed to Alabama in April 2015, but Harris was still undecided between Michigan and Alabama up until the day before spring classes began in January 2017. Alabama quarterback commit Tua Tagovailoa persuaded Harris to join him on his flight to Alabama after the two were roommates for the 2017 U.S. Army All-American Bowl, leading to Harris’ official commitment to the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Harris was one of the most hyped running back recruits since Bryce Brown in 2009 and Leonard Fournette in 2014. Multiple recruiting experts compared him to Adrian Peterson.

College career

Harris played for the University of Alabama from 2017 to 2020 under head coach Nick Saban.

2017 season

As a freshman, Harris played in all 14 games but had limited carries as players like Damien Harris, Bo Scarbrough, and Josh Jacobs handled the main workload. Harris finished the season with 370 yards on 61 carries averaging 6.1 yards per carry. He scored three rushing touchdowns on the season. In the national championship against Georgia, Harris had six carries for 64 rushing yards in the 26–23 victory.

2018 season

In his sophomore season, Harris was third running back behind Damien Harris and Josh Jacobs. Harris started the season with a rushing touchdown in four of the first five games but did not find the endzone the rest of the season. Harris had his best game against Arkansas State, carrying the ball 13 times and gaining a career-high 135 yards. Harris played in 15 games, recording 783 yards on 117 carries and scoring four rushing touchdowns.

2019 season

With Damien Harris and Josh Jacobs off to the NFL, Harris became the starting running back for Alabama Crimson Tide. He and Brian Robinson Jr. largely dominated the backfield production for the Crimson Tide.

On September 14, Harris had two receiving touchdowns in the 47–23 victory over South Carolina. On October 19, against Tennessee in the Third Saturday in October, he had 21 carries for 105 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns in the 35–13 victory. On November 9, against LSU, he had 19 carries for 146 rushing yards, one rushing touchdown, and one receiving touchdown in the 46–41 loss. In the following game at Mississippi State, Harris had four total touchdowns in the 38–7 victory.

In the Iron Bowl against Auburn, Harris had 27 carries for 146 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown in the 48–45 loss. Alabama finished with a 10–2 record and qualified for the Citrus Bowl. In the Citrus Bowl, Harris had 24 carries for 136 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns in the 35–16 victory over Michigan.

In the 2019 season, Harris had 209 carries for 1,224 rushing yards and 13 rushing touchdowns while catching 27 passes for 304 receiving yards and seven receiving touchdowns. Despite speculation that he would declare for the 2020 NFL draft, Harris announced that he would return to Alabama for his senior year.

2020 season

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, Alabama's season was cut to an all-conference, ten-game season beginning on September 26. In 2020, Harris was the starting running back for the Alabama Crimson Tide. He and Robinson continued to have a large majority of the backfield carries. In the regular season opener against the Missouri Tigers, Harris had 17 attempts for 98 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns in the 38–19 victory.

His best game of the season was against Ole Miss, where he attempted 23 rushes for 206 rushing yards with five rushing touchdowns in the 63–48 victory. Against the Georgia Bulldogs he ran for 31 attempts with 152 rushing yards, one rushing touchdown and 4.9 yards on average in the 41–24 victory. In the following game against Tennessee, he had 157 scrimmage yards and three rushing touchdowns in the 48–17 victory. On December 5, against LSU, he had 21 carries for 145 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns in the 55–17 victory.

In the SEC Championship, he had 245 scrimmage yards (178 rushing, 67 receiving) and five total touchdowns in the 52–46 victory. He finished fifth in Heisman Trophy voting. Alabama went 11–0 and qualified for the College Football Playoff as the #1 seed.

In the Semifinals, the Rose Bowl against Notre Dame, Harris had 15 carries for 125 rushing yards in the 31–14 victory. In the national championship, Harris had 158 scrimmage yards and three total touchdowns in the 52–24 victory over Ohio State to earn his second national championship. He led the NCAA that season in rushing touchdowns (26) and total touchdowns (30).

Harris finished his career as the all-time leader in rushing yards (3,843), total scrimmage yards (4,624) and touchdowns (57) for the Crimson Tide. He was a unanimous All-American and won the Doak Walker Award.

Personal life

Harris graduated from the University of Alabama with a degree in Consumer Sciences in 2020. During his last college football season, Harris began celebrating touchdowns by striking the iconic World Cup pose of Megan Rapinoe. He mentioned finding Rapinoe's views on feminism and standing for her beliefs as "motivating" and "inspirational".

In January 2019, Harris signed with Beast Mode Marketing, the marketing agency of former NFL running back Marshawn Lynch.

On the day of the 2021 NFL draft, Harris declined the invitation to the event in Cleveland, Ohio, opting instead to host a party for the kids served at Greater Richmond Interfaith Program, the homeless shelter where he spent his childhood. He later gathered with family and friends to watch the draft at a restaurant owned by Marshawn Lynch, in Emeryville, California.

In 2021, Harris founded the nonprofit organization Da' Bigger Picture Foundation along with assistance from California governor Gavin Newsom, which provides assistance to families impacted by homelessness and hunger.

Harris was injured during a 4th of July celebration around 12:18 AM, July 5, 2025. Multiple other people were injured. Harris suffered an unspecified, superficial eye injury.