Najee Harris‘ diverse skill set has been on full display during his rookie season with the Steelers. The former Alabama standout has already had 100-yard rushing and receiving performances. And after scoring touchdowns in each of Pittsburgh’s last four games, Harris was tabbed as the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Month for October. 

Harris’ versatility, along with the fact that he is a big, physical running back at 6-foot-1 and 232 pounds, has evoked memories of Bo Jackson, an all-world talent who remains the only athlete to make all-star teams in two professional sports. But when asked about Harris as it relates to Jackson, Amy Trask, the Raiders‘ former CEO and longtime member of the team’s front office, was not quite ready to begin those comparisons. 

“Very, very exciting,” Trask told a group of reporters this week when asked about Harris’ NFL start. “I’m very excited to see him develop and to watch him emerge. I’m not ready to declare him the next Bo just yet. Bo set that bar extraordinarily high. Doesn’t mean Najee might not get there. I’m just slowing the roll on that a little bit.” 

Trask, who currently serves as an analyst for CBS Sports and CBS Sports Network, was a member of the Raiders’ front office throughout Jackson’s time with the franchise. While his baseball career disallowed him from ever playing a full season with the Raiders, Jackson still made a significant impact on the gridiron. He posted the NFL’s longest run in three of his four years in Los Angeles. Blessed with near peerless speed that complemented his 6-foot-1, 227-pound frame, Jackson used his unique skill set to average a whopping 5.4 yards per carry. 

But Jackson’s NFL career ended all too soon. In the divisional round of the 1990 playoffs, Jackson had broken off a long run down the far sideline before he was tackled from behind. Jackson initially tried to get up before falling back down to the ground. He was helped off my two teammates and watched the remainder of the game from the sidelines. 

“It was really a fluky, freaky, injury,” Trask recalls. “When Bo went down, the defender had hit leg by the lower leg, and his hip turned.”

Jackson’s injury was not initially considered to be serious, a couple who watched the game from the stands had a different opinion. 

“My brother- and sister-in-law were at the game in the stands, and I note that because they are both doctors” Trask said. “After the game, everybody with the team, the discussions we were having among ourselves what that he was going to be find next week. … And my sister-in law, who I saw right after we finished those discussions, said to me, ‘You need to watch out. I think this is going to be avascular necrosis.’ I had never heard the words avascular necrosis before.

“I remember that night, talking to our team doctors, trainers and Al (Davis) and saying, ‘We need to keep our eyes out for something called avascular necrosis.’ The doctors and the trainers were looking at me like I was nuts, and Al said, ‘No, no. Let’s listen to her. What is this?’ Well, sadly, my sister-in-law diagnosed it from the stands, and it was a football career-ending injury.”

Led by Marcus Allen, the Raiders were able to overcome Jackson’s loss that day against the Bengals. But Los Angeles could not mask Jackson’s absence the following week against the Bills. On their way to their first of four consecutive Super Bowls, Buffalo dominated the game 51-3. 

“It was the difference,” Trask said of Jackson’s absence. “You can never control for a variable, but could you imagine that difference in the game the next week if Bo is good to go? It’s just a different game.” 

While Jackson’s career is in the history books, Harris hopes to have many more chapters in his NFL story. And if the Steelers are going to win a second consecutive AFC North division crown, Trask believes that Harris will have to continue to work toward improving a running game that has been one of the league’s worst since Le’Veon Bell left Pittsburgh in 2018. 

“It all works together. The better your running game, the more the defense has to respect that,” Trask said. “And the more breathing room that gives your passing game, and of course, vice versa.”