jnells
Cheesehead
Hard knocks
Harris' rise to stardom wasn't guaranteed
By LORI NICKEL
[email protected]
Posted: Nov. 24, 2007
Green Bay - Troy Vincent can tell by Al Harris' stride. The way he's holding his head. How his jaw is set. Where his gaze is fixed. Vincent knows exactly what Harris is thinking after each and every play.
Vincent picks up the phone and dials Harris. "Call me back right away," he says.
That's what happens when you know someone so well, know where they came from, how they got here. Know what they want more than anything else.
"When I first met Al, I was drawn totally away from him," said Vincent, an NFL defensive back for 15 years and now the president of the NFL Players Association.
"He was brought in to Philadelphia by Coach (Ray) Rhodes and Emmitt Thomas; (Harris was) a South Florida guy and a little on the wild side. At the time he was just totally opposite of myself, Bobby Taylor, Allen Rossum, Brian Dawkins.
"He was talented. But Al was that caterpillar. You know, caterpillars are ugly. But when they become butterflies, people say, 'Ooh that's a pretty butterfly.' They don't know that that was once a caterpillar."
It has taken 10 long years for Harris to get to this peak of his career. At 32, he is a valued starting corner for a 10-1 Green Bay Packers team challenging Dallas for supremacy in the NFC.
He has earned respect the hard way: a year on the practice squad, five years in Philadelphia as a some-time starter, hours in the weight room to get stronger. All to get to where he is today, all so he still has that bug in his ear, Vincent, pushing him to keep going.
"Hey, I know you're hurt, but you've got to do this, do that, do this, do that," Vincent will tell Harris. Or: "You're a little too low in your stance."
Tampa Bay took Harris with a sixth-round pick in the 1997 draft, and he spent his rookie season on the practice squad before Philadelphia picked him up for depth behind Vincent. There, Harris tested himself in a slightly diminished role behind starters Vincent, Taylor and Dawkins in man-to-man defense.
"I was considered a hired gun in my time," said Vincent, the former University of Wisconsin star. "Ask Al where he learned how to press. They brought me to Philly for one reason, to take away the dangerous threat outside of the QB. But Al was an intricate part of our third-down defense. You could always count on him."
Learns from teammates
Harris took to the mentoring, whether it was on the field or in the workout room.
Tall but thin, Harris was especially drawn to the regimen of Dawkins. The guy took such great care of his body, Harris thought. "He made sure he was always strong and tight to prevent injuries," said Harris. So in his third year in Philly, Harris started going in with Dawkins for another workout after practice. And he continued to grow as a player with the Eagles.
But eventually, it became apparent that Harris wasn't going to usurp the corners in front of him. So after five years in Philly and six years as a pro, Harris decided to steer his career in another direction. He asked Eagles coach Andy Reid for a trade, a request that was granted. The Packers gave a second-round draft pick to the Eagles and got Harris and a fourth-round pick.
"I was thrilled to death," said Harris. "I went to Andy every day. I've got the utmost respect for him. He just got to a point where he said, 'I'm going to do what's best for the organization first, and I'll do what's best in placing you with the right place, where you literally have a good chance of starting.' "
In 2003 Harris immediately became the Packers' starting right cornerback, where he's been ever since. When Harris scorched Seattle in the playoffs that year when, in overtime, he intercepted Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck and returned it for a touchdown, you could say, Al Harris really arrived. As soon as he returned to the locker room, Harris called Vincent and Taylor to see if they saw it (they did). He had finally made it on his own.
"I wouldn't trade my whole route for the world, because it was just a learning process under those guys," Harris said. "I'm going to use Ahmad Carroll as an example, a guy who got drafted first round, which I didn't. Thrown right in to the fire. Might have been ready for it. Might not have been ready."
Last year, Harris was joined in the backfield by Charles Woodson and the two are regarded as one of the top cornerback tandems in the NFL. Vincent lists them as an elite twosome with Dre' Bly and Champ Bailey in Denver and Terence Newman and Anthony Henry of Dallas, with an honorable mention to Samari Rolle and Chris McAlister of Baltimore.
Workout regimen pays off
Now that he's arrived, Harris won't let injuries sideline him. He hurt his back in early August and said this injury has been the worst of his career. That includes a knee injury a couple years ago and the broken ribs he played with for half a season in Philly.
When Harris hurt his elbow this season in the Philadelphia game and was forced out, he returned to action with it wrapped and without the doctor's permission. Then he was in excruciating back pain after the first Minnesota game but refused to miss game time.
Harris has played in 165 straight games, not having missed a game since 1998. He'll turn 33 on Dec. 7 and hopes to have a 15- or 16-year career. "And there are only so many Sundays," he said.
Harris' strict workout routine and nutrition discipline may have contributed to that streak. On a normal Thursday, for example, the team may be done with everything by 2:30 p.m., but Harris will come back at 5:30 and work out again, either upper or lower body or core, then his flexibility, then steam and watch more tape until 9 p.m. It's not required by the coaches. He kept assistant athletic trainer Bryan Engel at Lambeau late at night and was grateful, so he bought him a new coffee maker.
The doctors theorized Harris' injured back, which could have sidelined him, healed faster because he was in such great shape. Harris picked this up from Dawkins and his days in Philadelphia.
"I eat well, I watch what I put in my body. Actually, I've got to get my body fat up," said Harris, who thinks he has about 5% body fat. "It's not really healthy to have it under 10. I need to get it up a little but because you'll see at times, it'll get 20 degrees outside and I cramp up, because there's no fat; it's all muscles."
These days, Harris rarely sits on the bench with his defensive teammates during games. He's always walking and pacing, perhaps a combination of restless leg syndrome and keeping that back loose.
He's the guy in your face
For a while, Harris said he could get away with his aggressive bump-and-run style of play because so many other receivers underestimated him. Not anymore.
"But sometimes I will still get a guy and push him and he'll fall on the ground and he'll look back up like, 'Hey, damn, how did that happen?," Harris said.
Now Harris is usually assigned to the opponent's top receiver. He's been called, by some of his opponents, the toughest corner in the game. Most recently, it was Detroit's Roy Williams on AM-1130 in Detroit.
"I think he is the best in the league," Williams told the radio station. "If anyone can play press man, up in your face like a Deion Sanders type that can shut the whole field down, it's Al Harris."
On Thursday, Harris will face his greatest one-on-one challenge yet: Dallas receiver Terrell Owens. On smaller guys, Harris can push on their shoulders to jam them, but on a big player like Owens will have to get more into his chest and use both hands. It could be a real battle.
"I'm probably going to be stronger than most of the receivers in the NFL," said Harris. "There's a couple guys that are strong, like T.O. The guy from San Diego is strong. Arizona, Anquan Boldin, he's strong. But once I touch 'em, I can pretty much guide them to where I want to go."
That's fine, says Vincent. Just great. But he's going to keep pushing his friend. Because he knows what Harris has done to get here. And he knows what Harris wants that he doesn't yet have.
"I called him after the Chiefs game because I saw some things again," said Vincent. "I'm going to be critical because I want him to perfect his skill. He has the ability, but you have to be critical. "We all have weaknesses. Some of us don't like to talk about them. But it's a matter of, are we willing to work on them? Obviously winning the Super Bowl is No. 1. But I know there are some personal things he wants to accomplish. Been there. Multiple times. I understand what it takes from a mind-set and physically to get there."
Link: http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=689399
