Ike Taylor says James Harrison, Santonio Holmes want to return to Steelers

PITTSBURGH — The two players who made the two most-important plays during the Steelers' last Super Bowl victory want to come back.

Cornerback Ike Taylor said Tuesday on his weekly TribLive Radio show that Santonio Holmes and James Harrison recently told him as much while they worked out in Orlando, Fla., with trainer Tom Shaw.

(This article was written by Mark Kaboly, a staff writer for Channel 11’s news exchange partners at TribLIVE.)

Taylor said his former teammates, who are free agents, would love to return to the Steelers.

“It's for sure the both of them want to come back. I've talked to both of them,” Taylor said.

Harrison, 36, played for the Cincinnati Bengals last season after spending his entire career with the Steelers.

Harrison, a former NFL Defensive Player of the Year, returned an interception 100 yards for a touchdown in Super Bowl XLIII against the Arizona Cardinals.

“(Harrison) still wants to play football, and of course his first option would be Pittsburgh,” Taylor said. “He came over to my house, and when he shook my hand, his hand felt like a brick. I told (him) he can't shake my hand like that anymore. He's probably in the best shape of his life. Right now he looks like the Hulk. He's been banged up, and he feels he has something to prove.”

Holmes, 30, played in only 12 games in 2013 for the New York Jets after suffering a foot injury a year earlier. Holmes, who caught the winning touchdown in Super Bowl XLIII, was released in March.

The Steelers traded Holmes to the Jets for a fifth-round draft pick in April 2010 after they learned he would be suspended four games during the upcoming season for violating the NFL's substance-abuse policy.

(Mark Kaboly is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. Reach him at mkaboly@tribweb.com or via Twitter @MarkKaboly_Trib.)

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