James Harrison was one of the NFL’s fiercest defenders during his time with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was another in a long line of fearsome Steelers linebackers. Harrison also had great longevity, though, playing from 2002-2017. He was almost 40 when he retired. Few players have produced like he did that late in their careers. However, Harrison recently revealed that a serious injury during the 2010 season nearly cut his career short.
“My back was jacked up, so [Harrison’s trainer Ian Danney] was doing soft-tissue work to get my back straight,” Harrison said on his Deebo and Joe podcast. “I had two herniated discs. He was doing soft-tissue work so I could make it through the season. At the end of that season, we ended up losing the Super Bowl to Green Bay.
“I played 14 weeks where I was, Saturday, getting an epidural to play in the game on Sunday. Like, ‘Come and get me at the crib because I can’t get out of the bed.’ When I got done with that, my rehab I did with Ian because they locked us out. That was the best thing to ever happen to me. Everybody else that had that done, nobody played more than two years after that. I played an additional eight, nine.”
Owners and NFL players could not come to terms on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement in 2011, leading to a work stoppage from March to July. That also meant that players couldn’t see team doctors, which allowed Harrison to work with Danney, a respected trainer who runs Performance Enhancement Professionals.
Some fans might recall seeing Harrison playing Danney Ball during the offseason when he was in the NFL. That’s the exercise where participants play an altered version of volleyball with medicine balls, and it’s named after Ian Danney.
That goes to show how long he and Harrison have been working together. It’s easy to see why, too. Back injuries are no joke, especially herniated discs. Harrison was one of the most dominant players during the 2000s, but he slowed down in the 2010s. Perhaps that back injury was part of the problem.
Also, it might explain why Harrison initially retired after the 2013 season. While he wasn’t gone for long, returning for the 2014 season, it had to be tough keeping his body strong enough to play.
Still, Harrison beat the odds in a big way. He was a first-team All-Pro in 2010, despite battling such a serious injury. Just as well, he played for seven more years, posting 35.5 more sacks and even being the Steelers’ all-time leader in sacks at one point.
All that might not have happened had the 2011 lockout not occurred. Danney deserves some credit, too, helping Harrison combat the pain. Beating the odds was nothing new for Harrison, though. He had already established himself as one of the best undrafted free agents ever. The second half of his career just added to that legacy.
