After his team secured a win in Week 4, Indianapolis Colts linebacker Zaire Franklin took to social media to take a shot at Pittsburgh Steelers running back Najee Harris.
The dig stemmed from Harris flipping off the Colts crowd right before taking the field on Sunday. Franklin didn't take kindly to the gesture and called Harris "soft" after he tallied just 19 yards on 13 carries.
Adding to the insult, Franklin said that fellow running back Cordarrelle Patterson runs harder than Harris. Patterson did have a better game on the ground, but luckily for the Colts, he was forced to exit early due to injury.
Franklin has since doubled-down on his shot at Harris on a recent episode of his podcast.
“I wouldn’t say I have personal feelings toward that guy, but what I will say is … you flipping off my city coming in and then you gonna go put out that type of performance — I’mma speak on that,” Franklin said.
Kid is soft. 84 run harder https://t.co/lwsytZkzxS
— Zaire Franklin (@ZiggySmalls_) September 29, 2024
Harris has since responded to Franklin, and he definitely took the high road.
“He’s a great player. (We were) going back and forth, at it all game,” Harris said, per Tim Benz of TribLive.com. “Competition, man. I take my hat off in victory. I take my hat off in defeat. When I saw the comment, I was just laughing, like, ‘Hey man, congratulations. You won. You can talk whatever you want.’ It is what it is.”
That's some impressive restraint from Harris. A lot of guys would have fired back at Franklin, but the Steelers running back clearly isn't bothered by the dig, probably because he knows it isn't legit.
Harris showed he's anything but soft on his 32-yard reception that saw him truck a Colts defender. That was the latest instance of the Alabama product running hard, so he doesn't need to justify himself to Franklin or anyone.
With the Week 4 game well behind them, the Steelers will look to get back on track on Sunday night in Week 5 when they host the Dallas Cowboys.
