Alabama's Najee Harris Says He Looks Up to 'Inspirational' Megan Rapinoe

If Alabama running back Najee Harris' touchdown celebration looks familiar, it's because he borrowed it from soccer star Megan Rapinoe.

On Tuesday, the senior shared some insight into why he admires the U.S. women's national team legend. While they are both from California and have a shared affinity for the late rapper Nipsey Hussle, that's only part of his reasoning for looking up to the "inspirational" Rapinoe.

"Really all the stuff she stands up for," Harris told reporters. "She's a feminist and ... how women in the world get treated unfairly and how they get paid different and different stuff than men. So she really stands up for all that. I like how she does that."

Rapinoe took a knee during the national anthem in 2016 and wrote a piece for the Players' Tribune in which she said it was her "responsibility ... to ensure that freedom is afforded to everyone in this country."

She spoke out about racial and social injustice in America leading up to the 2020 election. She wore a Black Lives Matter T-shirt to open the ESPYs as a co-host and appeared on Instagram Live with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to discuss the CARES Act after the stimulus bill was passed in March. She has also helped lead the fight for the women's national team to earn equal pay to the men's national team.

Harris, who placed fifth in voting for this year's Heisman Trophy, took part in a protest march by Alabama athletes following the shooting of Jacob Blake by police in Wisconsin in August.

The 22-year-old praised Rapinoe's work in equality and social justice campaigns while "not listening to all the naysayers out there."

"Not too many males will, like, say they look up to a woman nowadays," he said. "But I really look up to her, just for what she does outside of sports. And I guess I had to give her a shoutout."