Najee Harriswanted to give back to celebrate a momentous moment in his life.
Whileappearing virtuallyon Friday’s episode ofThe Ellen DeGeneres Show, the 23-year-old Pittsburgh Steelers rookie opened up about his decision toskip the NFL Draft eventearlier this year in favor of throwing a party at a homeless shelter in Richmond, California, where he used to live.
“I’m born and raised from the Bay Area, northern California, so there’s a homeless shelter there that I used to stay in,” the athlete said. “I felt it was the whole community of the Bay Area that helped me get to where I am today. So I decided to not go [to the draft] and to have [the party] in the Bay Area.”
“I wanted to do something for the kids to [let them know] I was once in your position, and I always want to be a motivation, like a big brother to kids like that,” Harris added. “I understand I can’t be everybody’s big brother, but I can play some part in that.”
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Back in 2010, Harris, his four siblings and their mother lived in a small room at the Greater Richmond Interfaith Program, according toKPIX.
“His mother was instrumental in getting him and all those children through what would normally be the most horrific experience of their lives,” Kathleen Sullivan, executive director at the Greater Richmond Interfaith Program, told the news station of the family and Harris, who was just 12 years old at the time.
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Speaking withKRONlast month of the philanthropic event, Harris said, “Doing this really makes me and my family feel better.”
“It’s a subject, especially in the Bay Area, that needs to get shed light on,” he added. “The more that we are together, the more we can make everything happen, especially in good ways.”
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“I’ve been in their shoes, man, so I understand how embarrassing in a way it can be to be in that position, cause I once was,” Harris said. “And I was really embarrassed sometimes.”
Recalling a specific moment from his past when he used to get dropped off at the corner of the street after football practice, Harris said it was so others wouldn’t know about his living situation.
“For the kids that’s in that position, that’s struggling and going through these obstacles, I want to tell them that there’s always light at the end of the tunnel,” he continued. “It may not seem like things is going well, things [are] going your way, but a good saying that always helped me out was, ‘Faith is seeing light with your heart when all your eyes see is darkness.'”
“So even though you might not see that light at the end of the tunnel, there is better things out there in the future,” the running back added. “You just gotta keep pushing.”
source: people.com
