JAMES HARRISON BIOGRAPHY Taken fromhttps://sussle.org/t/James_Harrison_(American_football)

Early years
Born in Akron, Ohio, Harrison was the youngest of 14 children to James Sr. (a chemical truck driver) and Mildred. He played Little League baseball in Scranton, Pennsylvania for Sloan Little League's Green Team. He was selected to the All-Star team in 1991. He grew up in Akron, and his favorite NFL team was the Cleveland Browns, who played only 40 miles from his house. His mother did not want him to play at first. It took both Harrison and his best friend from childhood, David Walker, to convince her. When he started to play, he excelled at both linebacker and running back. He attended two high schools his freshman year, Archbishop Hoban High School then Coventry High School, where, in addition to football, also participated in track & field, competing in events ranging from the shot put to the high jump. He had PR of 15.63 meters (51 ft 3in) in the shot put, 38.86 meters in the discus throw (127 ft 5 in) and 1.85 meters (6 ft 1 in) in the high jump. He was also a state-qualifier in the 4 × 100 m relay. Harrison along with Jonathan Holloman where two of the first African-Americans to play football at Coventry. Harrison graduated in 1998. His high school football ability was great, but his lack of maturity at times was a struggle. Harrison did not pay attention to his grades or college entrance tests, and by his senior year he had become disruptive to his football team. Early in his senior year, Coventry staff had to suspend him for two games for challenging an assistant coach to a fight. After he returned from his suspension, in his next game, he began the game by carrying 3 times for nearly 100 yards and 2 touchdowns. After his second TD, he ran down the opposing team's sideline, and was ejected and later suspended for one game for making obscene gestures to the fans. Harrison was in court soon thereafter, after he shot a BB gun in the school locker room towards a defensive coach. He pleaded guilty to a minor charge and was able to return to school to finish his senior year. Due to his off-the-field issues, powerhouse football programs like Ohio State, Notre Dame, and Nebraska would rebuff their scholarship offers.

College career
Harrison attended Kent State University and walked on the Kent State Golden Flashes football team. After sitting out his freshman season in 1998 due to NCAA academic guidelines, Harrison became a starter for the last three games of the 1999 season and led the team with 106 total tackles and 13 tackles for a loss. He also had an interception and three fumble recoveries. During his last collegiate game against Miami University, Harrison finished with 12 tackles, 5 sacks, and a forced fumble. At the end of the fourth quarter, he sacked future teammate, Ben Roethlisberger on third and fourth down to seal a 24-20 victory. In 2001, he recorded 98 total tackles, 20 tackles for loss, and led the MAC conference with 15 sacks, while also being voted to first-team Mid-American Conference.
After graduating, he returned in 2010 to be inducted into Kent State's Varsity "K" Hall of Fame along with San Diego Chargers tight end, Antonio Gates. Harrison also made a donation of $100k to his alma matter, who in turn named the field house in his honor. In 2013, Kent State retired Harrison's jersey number 16.


Professional career


Pittsburgh Steelers
Harrison went undrafted in the 2002 NFL Draft, as teams feared he was too short (six feet) to play linebacker, and too light (240 pounds) to play on the defensive line. A few teams did send him training camp invites. The Steelers signed Harrison as an undrafted rookie in 2002, making him the first Kent State alumnus to play at linebacker for the team since Hall of Famer Jack Lambert. Harrison spent two years on and off the practice squad for the Steelers, being released three times, and also was briefly on the active roster towards the end of the 2002 season, playing only special teams. Teammate and fellow linebacker, James Farrior, later told NFL Network that Harrison was so green early on in his career that he would simply "give up" on plays on which he was struggling and even would ask the coaches not to play him when he was struggling. Farrior said, "He was a knucklehead that didn't know the plays. We'd be in practice, in training camp, and he might not know what he was doing so he'd just stop and throw his hands up and tell (the coaches) to get him out of there. We thought the guy was crazy." Harrison wore number 93 during this period before adopting his current number 92, which at the time was worn by fellow linebacker and Pro Bowler Jason Gildon.

Baltimore Ravens and Rhein Fire
He was signed by Baltimore in late 2003, then sent to the Rhein Fire of NFL Europe, but eventually was cut by the Ravens. Throughout the 2004 season, Harrison mostly played on special teams and on defense at linebacker, with occasional reps at defensive end. His first career start came against his hometown Cleveland Browns in Cleveland on November 14 after teammate Joey Porter and Browns running back William Green were ejected for fighting during the pregame warm-ups. Harrison had a good game statistically in the Steelers' 24–10 victory against their hated rival.
Harrison scored his first career touchdown on a fumble recovery in the final week of the season against the Buffalo Bills.

Second stint with Steelers

2005–2006
Harrison started in three games of the 2005 season when starting linebacker Clark Haggans was injured. His biggest highlight of the year was in a game against the San Diego Chargers, where he intercepted a Drew Brees pass for a 25-yard return. During the return, he made a huge leap over LaDainian Tomlinson, the Chargers star running back. Harrison gained some attention and popularity when he restrained a Cleveland Browns fan during a 41-0 Pittsburgh win on Christmas Eve. The intoxicated fan was on the field when Harrison grabbed the man and put him on the ground. Harrison restrained the fan until authorities took him away.
The Steelers went on to win Super Bowl XL that season. Although Harrison was not a major factor in the game, he did play and earn a Super Bowl ring with the team, recording a team-high three special teams tackles.

during a Monday Night Football game, an announcer gave Harrison the nickname, "Mr. Monday Night", because of his outstanding performance on November 5. He piled up 8.5 sacks, 7 forced fumbles, 3 recovered fumbles, and 98 tackles on the year. He was voted team MVP for the 2007 season.
On February 7, 2009, Harrison was parodied on Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update by cast member Kenan Thompson. Here Thompson depicts Harrison as being seemingly still out of breath and exhausted after his 100-yard interception return in the Super Bowl the week before. On March 9, 2013, Harrison was released by the Pittsburgh Steelers for salary cap reasons after they could not agree on a pay cut.

Retirement and third stint with Steelers Harrison announced his retirement on August 30, 2014 and officially retired as a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers on September 5, 2014. On September 23, 2014, rumors surfaced that Harrison was set to return to the NFL after Mike Tomlin noted in a press conference that there were significant injuries suffered by members of the Steelers defense. The Steelers posted a message on their Twitter page announcing that Harrison will return to the Steelers. Harrison officially signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers on September 23, 2014. He recorded 45 tackles and 5.5 sacks in 11 games.
On March 22, 2015 Harrison signed a two-year extension with Pittsburgh for $2.65 million and a $500k signing bonus.
On February 17, 2016, James Harrison announced that he is returning for a 14th season with the team.
On November 20, 2016, James Harrison surpassed Jason Gildon to become the Steelers' all-time sack leader with 77.5, during a 24-9 win over the Cleveland Browns. On January 8, 2017, he recorded ten combined tackles, sacked Matt Moore 1½ times, and forced a fumble in a 30-12 AFC Wildcard victory over the Miami Dolphins.
Personal
As well as being nicknamed "Silverback", Harrison's teammates also call him Deebo, after the character from the Friday movies.
He has two children, James Harrison III, born in 2007, and Henry, born in 2009.
Harrison elected not to visit the White House with the rest of the team after the Steelers won Super Bowl XLIII. Skipping the visit gained some media attention, as Harrison said that Barack Obama (who supported the Steelers in the game and considers his second favorite NFL team after his hometown team, Chicago Bears) would have invited the Arizona Cardinals had they won: "This is how I feel — if you want to see the Pittsburgh Steelers, invite us when we don't win the Super Bowl. As far as I'm concerned, he [Obama] would've invited Arizona if they had won." Harrison had also skipped the team's visit after winning Super Bowl XL when George W. Bush was president.

Arrest
Harrison was arrested in March 2008 and was charged with simple assault and criminal mischief stemming from a domestic altercation with his girlfriend, Beth Tibbott. On April 3, 2008, the district attorney dropped all charges because Harrison had completed anger management counseling and psychological counseling. The arrest gained some controversy after the team released wide receiver Cedrick Wilson in a similar, but unrelated, incident around the same time but did not release Harrison. The Steelers even issued a press release shortly after they released Wilson stating that Harrison's incident and Wilson's incident were examined "on a case-by-case basis" and Wilson's incident determined that his warranted release while Harrison had "taken responsibility for his actions." Steelers owner Dan Rooney, a lifelong devout Catholic, added that the incident was concerning their son's baptism, that Harrison's girlfriend reportedly did not want their son baptized, and that Harrison promptly called the Rooney family about the incident. The NFL, which had been cracking down on off-the-field conduct, took no action in either incident.

Dog Incident
On May 23, 2009, Harrison's son, James III, sustained an injury to his thigh when the family's pit bull became agitated and bit him. The boy's mother, Beth Tibbott, who had let the dog out of his cage, was also bitten when she tried to intervene. The dog also bit the player's massage therapist, who needed three stitches. Harrison's agent, William Parise, said the boy's injuries were "serious but certainly not life-threatening." Three days later, James III was released from the hospital. The pit bull was scheduled to be euthanized but through the team, Harrison was able to place the dog in a temporary home that specializes in training aggressive dogs to be gentle.

Men's Journal Article
On July 13, 2011, a controversial magazine article titled "James Harrison: Confessions of an NFL Hitman" was published by Paul Solotaroff in Men's Journal. In the article, Harrison was asked multiple questions about who he is and why he plays the game of football the way he does. The controversy comes into play when Harrison begins talking about the NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. Harrison called Goodell a "crook and a puppet", and then proceeded to say that "I hate him and will never respect him." Harrison also made comments towards his quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger, and other players in the National Football League such as Brian Cushing. Harrison released an apology for his statements on July 14, 2011.