Browns fan tackled by James Harrison in 2005 credits ex-Steelers star for changing his life

A tackle by James Harrison during a Pittsburgh Steelers game 20 years ago didn’t just end a fan’s dash onto the field — it helped start him on a path to sobriety.

On Dec. 24, 2005, Harrison body-slammed a Browns fan during Pittsburgh’s 41-0 win in Cleveland. That fan — Nathan Mallett, then 24  — had run onto the field late in the game, disrupting play and drawing the wrath of Harrison, then a special-teams demon and backup linebacker.

Twenty years after that event, Harrison and Mallett reminisced about the incident, which received national attention at the time, during a recent dinner in the Pittsburgh area. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporter Noah Miles chronicled the reunion.

“I’m pretty pumped we were able to do this,” Mallett told Harrison. “I just want to say thank you, because I think you slammed some sense into me.”

Mallett admitted he had been drinking heavily before the game, which fell on his birthday. He said thanks, in part, to Harrison’s tackle, he has now been sober for 16 years.

“After I slammed you, you kind of didn’t know what the hell was going on,” Harrison said. “You looked around and looked up at me. You were like, ‘Oh yeah, I got your [butt] now.' ”

After the tackle, Harrison held Mallett until the arrival of police, who handcuffed Mallett and hauled him to jail. 

"I didn't want to hurt him. I just wanted to keep him down until the proper authorities came," Harrison told reporters in 2005.

Mallett later was sentenced to spend Super Bowl weekend in jail. 

"There's nothing I can say except I hate losing to the Steelers," he said at the time. 

Harrison put together a Hall of Fame-caliber career, which included a 100-yard pick-six in in a 27-23 win over the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII.

But his most memorable tackle, perhaps a life saver, didn’t count among the 583 solo tackles he notched during a 15-year NFL career.

Mallett, a self-employed painter, is married with one child. 

“[You're] blessed,” Harrison told Mallett at the dinner.

In Week 17 on Sunday, the Browns (3-12) host the Steelers (9-6), who could clinch the AFC North with a loss or tie by the Ravens against Green Bay on Saturday night.