Contra Costa Herald

News Of By and For The People of Contra Costa County, California

Frazier bill to eliminate Los Medanos Healthcare District passes Assembly on 70-0 vote

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Source: Office of Assemblymember Jim Frazier

Would transfer tax revenue to county, eliminate Antioch mayor’s executive director job

On Monday, May 10, 2021, Assemblymember Jim Frazier’s (D-Fairfield) bill, AB 903, to dissolve the Los Medanos Community Healthcare District, unanimously passed the Assembly floor on a 70-0 vote. The district serves Pittsburg and Bay Point.

AB 903 will require Contra Costa County to be the successor of all rights and responsibilities of the district. AB 903 will also require the county to complete a property tax transfer process to ensure the transfer of the district’s health-related ad valorem property tax revenues to the county in order to operate the Los Medanos Area Health Plan Grant Program.

The Los Medanos Hospital closed in 1994 but the district, covering Pittsburg and Bay Point, has continued to exist, collecting property taxes and using the funds to pay for staff and provide grants to local organizations, direct service programs including a community garden and district sponsored programs including REading ADvantage for early literacy. The district’s 2020-21 Fiscal Year budget projected $1.13 million in tax revenue and $1.3 million in expenses.

“This bill effectively creates hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding for badly needed healthcare services in the region. A lot of this funding comes from the savings on LMCHD’s extremely high administrative expenses, which topped 60% in some years,” said Frazier.

The Contra Costa Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) has approved of the dissolution of the existing healthcare district, and Contra Costa County already serves the communities within district boundaries.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed critical shortfalls in healthcare and health services funding across the state. Communities of color have been especially impacted by the emergency,” said Frazier. “Now more than ever, we have seen the life-changing impacts of devoting every possible dollar to serving those we represent. AB 903 effectively creates hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding for badly needed healthcare services in the region.”

“Comparable programs in the county average at about 15% admin cost, and rather than lose over half the funding to wasteful administrative expenses, AB 903 dedicates those dollars to the community,” Frazier added.

Part of the administrative expenses includes Antioch Mayor Lamar Thorpe’s executive director position which included an annual salary of $96,000 when he was hired in 2019, plus merit-based salary increases, according to the minutes of the Dec. 16, 2019 LMCHD Board meeting. He is also provided one hour of paid personal leave time for every 30 hours worked. When reached, previously about having his position eliminated if the bill is signed into law, Thorpe said he could find another job.

Previously, LMCHD Board President Patt Young challenged Frazier and his legislation, claiming he doesn’t represent but a portion of the healthcare district and that he is “taking political orders from your top political advisor in an effort to turn our district into a political slush fund for one of your top allies on the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors.” (See related article)

However, Assemblymember Tim Grayson, whose district includes most of the healthcare district, is the Principal couthor of the bill.

The bill requires passage by the State Senate and signing by the governor before it becomes law.

Allen Payton contributed to this report.

CHP investigating shooting of two people on Hwy 4 in Pittsburg Thursday night

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A shooting occurred on westbound SR-4, west of Railroad Avenue at around 10:00 PM Thursday night, May 6, 2021. A driver and his passenger were shot at in what appears to be an attempted road rage incident. The driver and passenger sustained non-life-threatening injuries as a result of this shooting and were transported to a local hospital for treatment. The unknown suspect fled the scene in an unknown vehicle subsequent to the shooting.

Detectives assigned to CHP – Golden Gate Division Special Investigations Unit (SIU) are actively investigating this shooting. Our detectives are requesting assistance from the public in gathering the details surrounding this incident. If you or anyone you know have any information that might be helpful, please call the CHP Investigative Tipline at 707.917.4491.

Struggle at LMC: Black professor questions her Black studies class being taught by non-Black professor

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Addresses other matter of Black students being told which colleges they should and shouldn’t apply to

Important issues of concern for the Black community

Iris Archuleta interacts with a student in her class at LMC.

By Iris Archuleta, J.D.

Following are the extended remarks of a statement I made during the Los Medanos College Academic Senate meeting on March 22, 2021. (Publisher’s note: This was received for publication in the publisher’s personal email, that day and was not seen until, today. However, the issue is ongoing and still timely).

First, I want to thank Willie Mims and NAACP President Victoria Adams for attending LMC Academic and Curriculum Committee meetings and making powerful statements about this madness.

At a time when the fight for equity and social justice should be embraced, and even as the new Contra Costa Community College District (CCCCD) Chancellor, Dr. Bryan Reece, is promoting and instituting serious strategies for equity and inclusion and is a strong advocate for anti-racist policies and behaviors throughout the district, a disturbing attack is underway by a non-Black faculty member and her so-called “Ethnic Studies Council” to take over a highly successful class I have been teaching since 2015, and have a non-Black professor, herself, teach it this fall.

I am an Adjunct Professor in Social Science at Los Medanos College. Since 2014, I have taught several courses, including American Government, Social Justice, and Issues Facing African Americans. In fact, in 2015, because of my background and experience, I was asked to teach, Issues Facing African Americans (SOCSC 045), when the professor teaching it unexpectedly did not show up for class on the first day.

I developed the curriculum and study materials and have been teaching the course every semester since then. In my classes, I have a no-cost textbook policy to save students money, and instead, my students are able to access the study materials that I have developed through research and that I provide through PowerPoints and links to free material. In addition, my students are taught to do their own research and provide presentations to the entire class to enhance student learning.

My students are empowered, and as a Black professor, I infuse in them a sense and level of pride and teach them about the resilience and power of Black people in this society. I have stayed in contact with many students over the years and helped them attain goals they never believed they could. I get a message almost every day from former students who thank me for awakening their thirst for knowledge and for the truths they learned about the struggles and successes of Black people in America.

I also make it a point to bring in guest speakers with expertise and experiences in a range of struggles and concerns facing African Americans. For example, my husband, Keith Archuleta, who is Black and Chicano, is a community leader in his own right, with several degrees, including African and African American studies with honors from Stanford University, is a guest lecturer on several subjects during each semester.

Not only that, but my husband and I have encouraged Black students to apply for their colleges of choice and not to shy away even from schools such as Stanford. In our class, Keith is able to share with them that as a student at Stanford, not only was he “accepted,” but he started the Black Media Institute and the Black Community Services Center. He and thousands of other Black students over the years have made Stanford a better place.

We are attempting to counteract what many Black students are being told, by this professor and others who are attacking me, that Stanford is a “white” school where they would not be accepted, so don’t even try to apply.

I recently sent out a link to faculty celebrating the graduation of over 60 Black Harvard Law School students this year, and I did not even get a comment from this professor to indicate anything had changed about her low expectations of Black students going to some of the best universities in the country.

I have received excellent performance reviews in all the courses I teach, and have earned preference, a designation meaning first choice when scheduling classes among adjuncts.

I work continually to improve my teaching methods and bring in new research, data, and issues to keep the course fresh, relevant, contextual, and interdisciplinary.

So, last year, when the new full-time professor in Social Justice, who is not a Black professor, asked to meet with me to discuss updating the curriculum for the Issues Facing African Americans course, I was happy to meet with her. We worked together to do a few updates, with the bulk of the curriculum that I created over time remaining intact.

She said she wanted to change the name of the course to Introduction to Black Studies. I saw no problem with that. However, she failed to mention at the time that not only did she plan to change the name, but that she was planning to take over teaching the course and discontinue my teaching of the course.

So, until fairly recently, I believed that in the fall semester I would be teaching the same course I am teaching this semester, Issues Facing African Americans, just updated and retitled Introduction to Black Studies, with the curriculum that I created.

However, just a few weeks ago, that professor approached me and asked if I would teach an additional class, Race and Ethnicity (SOCSC 150). Since I and other Black faculty and others had written the curriculum for Race and Ethnicity, that made sense. So, then I thought if I accepted the Race and Ethnicity class, that in the fall I would be teaching that course and Introduction to Black Studies.

However, later she informed me that she would be teaching Intro to Black Studies because the course now requires someone with a degree in Ethnic Studies to teach it. She feels she is more qualified because of her full-time status and her Doctorate in Chicana Studies. She is not, nor does she claim to be African American or Black.

It is ironic that in the name of Ethnic Studies, a class taught by a Black woman would be eliminated and the same course, now under a different title, would be set up to be taught by someone who is not Black.

When I think of racism it reminds me of our history of dealing with people who feel they are superior to others and have the inherent right to take from those they designate as inferior, which in this case happens to be me.

This is not acceptable. It is not acceptable to me; it is not acceptable to Black students; and in fact, it is not acceptable to any students of all backgrounds who have taken this course or plan to take it in the future. It should not be acceptable to the college.

Furthermore, her claim that only someone with a degree in Ethnic Studies is qualified to teach Intro to Black Studies makes no sense and in fact makes a mockery of the CCCCD Anti-Racism Pledge, which says, in part:

“Resolved, that the Academic Senates of the CCCCD encourage all CCCCD employees to commit to professional development, hiring practices, and/or curricular changes that work to dismantle structural racism.”

By excluding a Black professor from teaching a course she has been qualified to teach for over five years and allowing a non-Black professor to take over a course called Intro to Black Studies, would actually be strengthening structural racism.

Black in the context of Black Studies is a socio-political term defined as: “the collective struggle/experience of people of African descent to gain power and influence in the processes and institutions of government as a way of securing and protecting a diverse array of issues as American citizens.” Black Studies is typically associated with politics and law in the fight against racism.

Just as my background, training, and life experiences have more than qualified me to teach Issues Facing African Americans, my Political Science degree with honors and my Juris Doctorate (Law) degree with honors more than qualify me to teach Intro to Black Studies.

It has been courageous Black leaders such as Charles Houston, Thurgood Marshall, and other world-changing Black lawyers, such as Bryan Stevenson – the attorney responsible for getting more than 100 wrongly convicted African American and other prisoners off death row – that continue to inspire my life’s work and drove me to earn a degree in Political Science and an advanced degree in Law in the first place.

To rub salt into the wound, as this affront has been allowed to continue, this professor and her committee have doubled down on personal attacks and insults toward me and others at the college who support my position; and are now adding more false justifications for taking the course from me.

One of the things that they are promoting is what they refer to as “engagement in the African American community” as a prerequisite along with an Ethnic Studies degree for teaching Intro to Black Studies, implying that this is another requirement that would bar me from teaching this course.

Not many others at LMC have had anywhere near my experience in Black community engagement. First of all, my very life is rooted in the Black community and the solid relationships I have built in Eastern Contra Costa County and the Bay Area. I’ve really been blessed to grow up in San Francisco where I lived in a home that welcomed SNCC organizers and Black Panthers.

My husband and I are the founders of Emerald HPC International, LLC, a consulting company active, locally and globally, in community and economic development consulting, specializing in the design and implementation of systems change strategies and outcomes-based collaborative efforts through our trademarked, High Performing Communities Framework (HPC).

We invested our own funds and organized the Youth Intervention Network that served Antioch youth and families, with a 92% reduction in police calls for service, an 83% reduction in truancy, and an improvement in student GPA by an average of two grade points. Ninety-six percent of the students participating in YIN graduated from high school. Of these, 99% went on to postsecondary education. YIN was featured as one of three global best practices and a model urban anti-violence and peace building initiative at the 2012 opening celebration of the United Nations Peace University at The Hague and recognized by Attorney General Eric Holder during the Barack Obama administration with the U.S. Justice Department’s National Best Community Involvement Award.

We have also worked with Hispanic leaders on important projects such as Brentwood’s One Day at a Time (ODAT) and sponsored youth, including LMC students, to attend the international Corrymeela Peace and Reconciliation Center in Northern Ireland, to study racial and ethnic struggles worldwide.

We are currently working with Dr. Clay Carson, the Director of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Research & Education Institute, who has been entrusted with the original writings, letters and speeches of Martin and Coretta King, to continue the study of the unfinished work of the Civil Rights Movement and the on-going racist backlash to the anti-racist movement and the successes of the Black struggle for freedom.

We brought Rev. Jesse Jackson to Antioch for a talk with officials and citizens about social and economic justice. We have worked with Keith’s fellow Stanford BSU leader, Steve Phillips to launch PowerPac and Vote Hope that supported Barack Obama’s 2008 Presidential campaign, and we brought California and Bay Area Black clergy to Antioch to organize their support for that campaign and Black voter registration.

We don’t have space enough here to talk about most of our work locally and the myriad of local leaders, artists, and activists who are engaged in making life better not only for Black residents and young people, but all people here in Eastern Contra Costa County, especially those most impacted by racism and inequity. Students in my classes have access to these and other local, national, and international Black community leaders, who have been and still are on the frontline of the struggles facing Black people.

Before I close, let me show you how absurd this situation is by giving you the following scenario:

What if I, a Black woman, had majored in Ethnic Studies, and was recently hired at a community college as the new full-time professor to head up the Ethnic Studies department, that has no other full-time professors. I find out that a Chicana has been teaching a course in that department called Issues Facing Mexican Americans for five years as a part-time adjunct professor.

What if I, with all of my power as a full-time professor who is the nominal head of the department, then decided to change the name of the course to Intro to Latinx Studies, and because I have an Ethnic Studies degree, I am now automatically more qualified than a professor who is Chicana and has both a J.D. and a Political Science degree? What if I made this unilateral decision with no accountability either to that college or that community?

Still, I need to make sure you know this:

Even if I do not teach this class, it is important that someone else be hired who has the appropriate qualifications to teach Intro to Black Studies. It is my hope that LMC will recognize other brilliant brothers and sisters, especially the younger ones, with doctorates in African American studies and who are Black. If I am not to teach this class, I want LMC to respectfully hold off on posting this course until someone qualified is hired.

Finally, I appreciate all those who are willing to speak up, speak out, and distribute this information. I also appreciate all those who are making sure this information gets out to the community, including Laurie Huffman, my colleague and ally, who has also spoken out against this issue.

Please feel free to voice your concerns to:

  • Nikki Moultrie, LMC Dean of Career Education & Social Sciences: NMoultrie@losmedanos.edu
  • James Noel, Chair of LMC Academic Senate: JNoel@losmedanos.edu

Academic Senate meeting dates: https://www.losmedanos.edu/intra-out/as/

  • Name, Chair Curriculum Committee: mlynn@losmedanos.edu

Curriculum Committee meeting dates: https://www.losmedanos.edu/intra-out/cur/meetings.aspx

Thank you all for your support and your time and attention.

Iris Archuleta is Vice President of Community Engagement for Emerald HPC International, LLC and Adjunct Professor in Social Science at LMC.

Eddie Lira joins BAC Community Bank executive team

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Eddie LIra

Stockton, Calif – Eddie Lira has been appointed to the executive team of locally-owned BAC Community Bank as Executive Vice President, Chief Business Development Officer.  Eddie is a commercial banking professional with over 15 years of experience in leadership, portfolio management, and business development.

Most recently, Eddie worked for a large national bank, overseeing a team of business professionals across the Central Valley. This team was focused on providing business lending, cash management, and deposit solutions for customers under their care.  Eddie’s past responsibilities include serving as Vice President, Commercial Banking Officer for six years at BAC Community Bank.

“We welcome Eddie back to BAC, and we are excited to see him in this new role,” said BAC’s Chief Executive Officer Dana Bockstahler. “His business banking expertise and years of delivering exceptional service and solutions will be of great value to our customers.”

As a member of the bank’s executive team, Eddie will be working directly with Dana Bockstahler, Chief Executive Officer; Janet Jenkins, Chief Credit Officer; Paul Haley, Chief Lending Officer; and Jackie Verkuyl, Chief Administrative Officer.

Committed and invested in the local community, Eddie volunteers for local non-profit organizations and currently serves as a board member of the San Joaquin County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Eddie can be reached at (209) 473-6827 or eddie.lira@bankbac.com.

About BAC Community Bank

BAC Community Bank, first headquartered in Brentwood, California, now operates 11 branch offices throughout San Joaquin, Stanislaus, and eastern Contra Costa counties, and is identified as “one of the strongest financial institutions in the nation” by BauerFinancial, Inc.

The bank is now centrally headquartered in Stockton, California and is continuously recognized for banking excellence through local awards and banking industry accolades.

BAC Community Bank is a member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and is an Equal Housing Lender. More information available online at www.bankbac.com.

 

2021 California IMCA Speed Week Night #5 at Antioch Speedway Wednesday

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Get your tickets, now!

By Allen Payton

Under new ownership, the Antioch Speedway is back and open for spectators with races each week. This week, on Wednesday, May 5th, owners Chad and Tina Chadwick will be hosting the IMCA Speed Week Night #5.

Located at the Contra Costa Event Park (fairgrounds at 1201 W. 10th Street in Antioch, the speedway will feature races including IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Modifieds and Hobby Stocks.

Spectator Gate Opens at 4:00 p.m.

*Tickets will be sold at the Ticket Booth and on MyRacePass.com

https://market.myracepass.com/store/tickets/?i=1246122…

Adult Ticket: $20.00

Child Ticket (Under 12): $15.00

Senior Ticket (60 and over): $15.00

Children 5 and under: Free

Military: $15.00

(Please remember that any time we are out of our Seats, we must be wearing masks and follow the social distancing guidelines.)

The Mother’s Day race will be held this Saturday, May 8 and will feature Mini Vans, Wingless Sprint Cars, IMCA Stock Cars and Dwarf Cars.

View the entire season’s race schedule and watch past races on AntiochSpeedwayTV.

Antioch Speedway – Where Action is the Attraction!

 

Coroner’s jury rules in 2020 deaths of Pittsburg, Antioch men while county jail inmates

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By Jimmy Lee, Director of Public Affairs, Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff

Contra Costa County Sheriff-Coroner David Livingston announces that a coroner’s jury on Friday, April 30, 2021 reached a finding in the September 24, 2020 death of 32-year-old Levele Lee Williams of Pittsburg. The finding of the jury is that the death is at the hands of another person, other than by accident. Williams was injured after being assaulted by inmates at the Martinez Detention Facility. He was taken to a local hospital. Williams apparently suffered from complications during surgery and was later pronounced deceased while at the hospital. (See related article)

The coroner’s jury, which heard two inquests on Friday, also reached a finding in the October 17, 2020 death of 42-year-old Gregory Lane Lynds of Antioch. The finding of the jury is that the death is a suicide. Lynds had been arrested for elder abuse. (See related article)

The coroner’s jury reached the verdicts in both inquests after hearing the testimony of witnesses called by the hearing officers, Laura Pagey and Matthew Guichard.

A coroner’s inquest, which Sheriff-Coroner David Livingston convenes in fatal incidents involving peace officers, is a public hearing during which a jury rules on the manner of a person’s death. Jury members can choose from the following four options when making their finding: accident, suicide, natural causes and ast the hands of another person, other than by accident.

 

 

Driver shot in neck on Hwy 4 crashes car in Pittsburg Thursday night

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Doesn’t appear random

By CHP – Contra Costa

This evening at approximately 8:34pm, Contra Costa CHP was advised of a possible freeway shooting incident that occurred in the area of HWY-4 eastbound on the Railroad Avenue off-ramp. The victim (adult male in his twenties) was driving a blue 2018 Honda Accord and was the sole occupant. The victim related he did not have information regarding the suspect(s) or suspect vehicle. He was transported to John Muir Hospital for a gunshot wound but is expected to survive. This does NOT appear to be a random shooting.

According to a CBSN Bay Area report, the driver was shot in the neck and crashed his car.

This is an ongoing investigation and all the information we have at this time. Anyone with information pertaining to this incident, call Contra Costa CHP at (925)646-4980.

Allen Payton contributed to this report.

 

Pittsburgh Steelers draft Antioch’s Najee Harris at No. 24 overall

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Najee Harris wearing his new Pittsburgh Steelers hat, with family and friends at Rob Ben’s restaurant in Emeryville, CA, following the announcement of being drafted. Video screenshot

Joins “quite an elite fraternity”; local friends and fans celebrate

“I’m so proud of this guy. And he gets to stay in black and gold” – Antioch High School Principal Louie Rocha

“Najee Harris is…the kind of person the Steeler fans will embrace.” – Super Bowl champion Gordon Gravelle, Pittsburgh Steelers Tackle 1972-76 and 2018 Antioch Citizen of the Year

“It would be great to see another Harris in the backfield” – Super Bowl champion Franco Harris, Pittsburgh Steelers Fullback 1972-83

By Luke Jonson & Allen Payton

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announces Najee Harris draft pick. Video screenshot.

Antioch High School alum Najee Harris was selected No. 24 overall by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the NFL Draft on Thursday.

He was the first running back picked in this year’s draft.

Many draft experts predicted Harris to go to the Steelers. They had the least running yards in the NFL last season and their leading rusher, James Conner, left the team and signed with the Arizona Cardinals.

“I understand that they did finish last in rushing last year, but I feel through practice and hard work that can be changed,” Harris said during a press conference hosted by the Steelers on Zoom following the announcement by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. “I don’t feel pressure at all to be honest with you. I’ve been put in a lot of situations with that type of stuff put on me, especially in college. I mean the NFL is different, of course, but I feel it’s nothing that I can’t do in time for sure.”

Harris won two National Championships with the University of Alabama. He rushed for 1,466 yards and scored 30 touchdowns (an SEC record) in 13 games last season. He also broke Alabama’s records for career rushing yards (3,843) and touchdowns (57). Additionally, Harris only had one fumble out of 718 career touches.

Harris was asked how he felt about playing with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger — who many fans expect to be a future hall of famer.

“Oh man, that’s dope!” Harris immediately responded.

Harris is the 11th person to make it to the NFL from Antioch High. He’s also the first Antioch High alum to be drafted since 1999. The last time an Antioch High alum was selected in the first round was 1969.

Harris’ Mom Thanks His Mentors, Najee Flies to Pittsburgh Friday Morning

Marcus Malu (left) waits and celebrates with Najee Harris (top center) at Rob Ben’s. Screenshot of video by Mori Suesue.

Earlier in the day Harris hosted a draft party for kids at a homeless shelter in Richmond. It was the same homeless shelter where he lived for a period of time in middle school.

It was shortly after that period of time when Harris and family moved to Antioch.

“From Antioch, God sent all those angels,” said Harris’ mom Tianna Hicks. “A whole lot of people were put in my life to give me stability.”

Hicks emphasized that Marcus Malu and Mori Suesue, Harris’ personal trainers, were the most influential “angels” on her and her family’s life.

He spent the evening waiting and then celebrating with his mom, family and friends, including his high school head football coach John Lucido, at Rob Ben’s Restaurant in Emeryville, CA, owned by Marshawn Lynch who has become Harris’ mentor.

On Thursday, just seconds after the Steelers were on the clock for their draft pick, Harris received a phone call.

“I was like, ‘Oh…! They’re about to call his name!’” Hicks said.

She said it was the best day of her life.

Hicks added that Harris is reporting for duty right away and would be on a flight to Pittsburgh early Friday morning.

Antioch High School Principal Louie Rocha (grey Alabama shirt) with former Athletic Director Steve Sanchez, and other fans celebrate Najee Harris’ draft pick by the Steelers at Tailgaters in Antioch, Thursday night, April 29, 2021. Photo by Allen Payton

Local Friends and Fans Celebrate

Antioch High Principal Louie Rocha was joined by Steve Sanchez, the school’s athletic director when Harris played there, and other fans to watch the NFL Draft at local sports bar Tailgaters. They were excited with the anticipation and the outcome.

“Knowing Najee, he will make the best of all his opportunities. He will stay in character,” said Sanchez who was notified just a few minutes before the announcement that Najee had received the call from the Steelers.

“Excited,” he added.

“I’m so proud of him,” Lucido wrote on his Facebook page Thursday night.

“Congratulations to the hardest working man in the world,” Antioch High assistant head coach Brett Dudley wrote, also on Lucido’s Facebook page Thursday night. “The @steelers got the best player and best person in the Draft.”

“On behalf of Antioch High School and our community, I’m so proud of the guy,” Rocha said. “And he gets to stay in black and gold.”

Coincidentally, Harris will be wearing the same colors in the NFL as he did in high school, black and gold. Ironically, however, he’s playing in Pittsburgh, which is the name of his rival in high school, Antioch’s neighboring city — except without an “H.”

Super Bowl Champion Gordon Gravelle Lauds Najee

Harris joins a very small group of just two Antioch residents to play for Pittsburgh. The last one was two-time Super Bowl champion Gordon Gravelle, part of the team when Terry Bradshaw was quarterback. The community’s 2018 Citizen of the Year for Lifetime Achievement and 30-year resident shared his comments about the newest member of the Steelers fraternity.

“First of all, Najee Harris is a great, young man and he has all the tools, personality especially, to do well,” Gravelle stated. “He’s respectful, he loves his mother, he takes care of his family. When he goes back to Pittsburgh that’s the kind of person the Steeler fans will embrace.”

“Franco Harris and I were drafted the same year in 1972. He was drafted in the first round I was drafted in the second,” Gravelle shared. “Franco made a comment the other day about Najee and said ‘it would be great to see another Harris in the backfield.’”

“We see each other once or twice a year and are good friends. So, to have him say something like that is really special. He knows what kind of guy Najee is. Besides that, he’s a great football player,” said Gravelle.

“I met Najee once, when Eddie Beaudin was having one of his crab feeds,” he shared. “He was very polite, very outgoing. I made a comment to him and asked, ‘is your head on straight?’ He said ‘yes sir, it is.’ He knew what I meant. That told me the kid will do well.”

“Fifty percent of the athletes who come into the NFL weren’t as good, physically as the guys that got cut in training camp,” Gravelle explained. “It takes so much more. I call it grit. It’s a combination of perseverance and passion. If you lose them, you have to leave the league. It’s hard work. It’s being you mentally. That’s why I asked Najee if he had his head on straight.”

Gravelle then offered some statistics about the game and the very few players who get to play.

“There’s over 1.2 million high school kids playing football. That goes down to about 70,000 playing college ball and that reduces to about 1,500 players in the NFL,” he shared. “There’s only 286 picks in the draft. The average player’s lifespan for playing football is 4.2 years. Only about 25,000 people have ever played professional football and that’s over 100 years. So, it’s quite an elite fraternity. And Antioch has had some good football players to come out of here, too.”

“I’ve never watched the draft before. The reason is these sports columnists all think they know what they’re talking about and they don’t know jack. So, I don’t usually care about the draft. It’s a showtime,” Gravelle said with a laugh. “But I watched, tonight up until Najee was chosen. That’s the first time I’ve watched in 20 or 30 years.”

“What I see in Najee is what I saw in Franco, and that’s a very talented athlete who worked very hard at his craft. That’s what made Franco great and what will make Najee great, too,” Gravelle added.

Najee Harris in Progressive Insurance TV commercial and exclusive interview. Video screenshot.

Apparently already receiving endorsement contracts, Harris appeared in a Progressive Insurance TV commercial, with other players in the NFL draft, immediately following his announcement. See the complete, almost 14-minute exclusive interview entitled Up All Night, in which Harris shows his custom pajamas which are part of his Young Naj clothing line, and new “hurdling man” logo, here.

Najee Harris wears his custom pajamas as part of his new Young Naj clothing line, showing his hurdling man logo. Video screenshots.

The 2021-22 league schedule will be announced May 12.

Luke Johnson is an Antioch High School graduate and has been covering Najee’s football career since then.

Publisher’s Note: Congratulations, good luck and Godspeed in your career, Najee.

Antioch’s Najee Harris expected to be drafted into NFL Thursday

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Najee Harris hurdles a player during Alabama’s 63-48 victory over Ole Miss on Oct. 10, 2020. Photo: University of Alabama Football

National Champion Alabama Running Back

Najee Harris. Photo: UAF

By Luke Johnson 

Antioch High graduate, Alabama standout and 2021 national champion, Najee Harris is expected to be drafted into the NFL on Thursday. He will be the school’s first player in the NFL Draft in decades.

The last time an Antioch High alum was selected in the NFL Draft was 1999 when the Dallas Cowboys picked tight end Mike Lucky. In fact, five players from Antioch High made it to the NFL in the 1990s: Lucky, Jeremy Newberry, Mark Butterfield, Frank Beede and Evan Pilgrim.

So how does a high school football program go from putting five players in the NFL in one decade to zero players for more than two decades?

We’ll get to that. But first, let’s talk more about Harris, who won the Doak Walker Trophy for being the best running back in college football last season.

He set new records at Alabama, arguably the most prestigious program in college football, for career rushing yards and touchdowns. He also shattered almost every record imaginable at Antioch High — records many experts say will never come close to being touched. For example, the previous career touchdown record at Antioch High was 32 by Brian Boccio. Harris surpassed that mark in a single season (twice!) and finished with 99 career touchdowns. His 100th was actually called back by a holding penalty.

“The kids look up to him because he’s this mythical creature to them,” said Brett Dudley, Antioch High’s assistant head coach. “He’s almost like a comic book character or an action-movie star. He’s just this larger than life character that obviously everyone knows about.”

Antioch pro wrestling legend Ferris Anthony said he knew Harris was going to be a star when he “first saw him walk on campus.”

Anthony was the freshman football head coach at the time and remembers watching campus security escort Harris to practice on a golf cart. Anthony quickly responded, “You’re taking him to the wrong team! He’s gonna hurt somebody playing over here!”

Harris was 6-foot-2 and a chiseled 185 pounds with wide shoulders and a big frame. Within just a few weeks of joining Antioch High’s football program, Harris was pulled up to varsity as a freshman.

He had a breakout performance that season against a Freedom High team led by senior running back Joe Mixon, who now plays for the Cincinnati Bengals. Not only did Harris rush for more yards than Mixon, but he scored his first varsity touchdown and also had three solo tackles on Mixon — including a forced fumble.

Almost eight years later, Harris now awaits to be the first Antioch High alum drafted in the NFL since the new millennium.

Why has it been so long? There are two key factors.

One factor, other high schools opened in the area in the mid-90s.

When Deer Valley High School began operating on the other side of town in 1996, it essentially cut Antioch High’s football team in half. Since then, Deer Valley alumni Taiwan Jones, Sterling Moore, De’Ondre Wesley and Nsimba Webster have made it to the NFL.

Freedom High School also opened in 1996 — which took away many student athletes from Antioch High who lived near the Antioch-Oakley border. The aforementioned Mixon played for Antioch Youth Football, lists his hometown as Antioch, but played at Freedom High.

Another factor, De La Salle High School established its dominance as a national powerhouse in the 90s — which compelled many star athletes from Antioch to commute to Concord for high school. This list includes three-time All-Pro Maurice Jones-Drew, Super Bowl Champ TJ Ward and many others.

Nine players from Antioch have made it to the NFL since 1999, but none of them attended the city’s oldest high school.

Antioch High head coach John Lucido said many high school teams tried recruiting Harris, but he stayed loyal to Antioch High because he believed in the school and the city when not many people did.

In his freshman year, Antioch High went 1-9. However, by his junior year, Antioch High went undefeated and won a league championship for the first time in 31 years.

“He’s very loyal. He knows he could make a difference and that’s what he wanted to do within the community and his school and his teammates,” Lucido said. “He wanted his teammates to get more exposure and go to Division-I schools and that’s what he did.”

Most NFL Draft experts project Harris to be picked in the late first round this Thursday. He is often slated to be selected No. 24 by the Pittsburgh Steelers in mock drafts, but predicted to go as high as No. 16 by the Arizona Cardinals.

Marcus Malu, Harris’ long-time personal trainer, said he thinks Harris fits best with the Cardinals, because his skillset compliments their quarterback Kyler Murray’s playing style. Lucido said he’s intrigued by the Buffalo Bills potentially selecting Harris, because he thinks Harris could be the missing piece to take the team to the Super Bowl within the next few years.

The 6-foot-2, 232 lb. running back has a 6.46 draft Prospect Grade, the 16th highest ranking and is one of 58 players to participate in the draft, according to the NFL.

The only Antioch High alum to be an NFL first-round draft pick was Ron Pritchard in 1969, who was an All-American linebacker at Arizona State and inducted in the College Football Hall of Fame. The last alum to be drafted in the second round was Newberry in 1998.

Malu said this is a moment he and Harris have been getting ready and “grinding” for almost nine years.

“I told him you have to be the best in high school. Then you have to be the best in college to have a chance to play in the NFL,” Malu said. “His football IQ is off the charts. His work ethic is off the charts.”

Harris is having a draft party — with limited guests — at Marshawn Lynch’s restaurant Rob Ben’s in Emeryville on Thursday.

Just a few months ago, Harris signed with Lynch’s Beast Mode Marketing and is currently working on a deal with Nike.

He debuted his “Young Naj clothing line” earlier this week with costume-made pajamas on “Up All Night” by Progressive insurance. They featured a logo inspired by Michael Jordan’s “jumpman” which resembled a hurdling football player, because those are the type of plays by Harris that dazzle the fans the most.

The NFL Draft will be broadcast on NFL Network, ABC, ESPN and ESPN Deportes on Thursday, April 29 at 5:00 PM Pacific Time (PT), Friday, April 30 at 4:00 PM PT and Saturday, May 1 at 9:00 AM PT.