Chris Harris lived a life in limbo for more than three months, the time between his graduation from college and the end of the NFL lockout.
Undrafted out of the University of Kansas, Harris believed he could make an NFL roster and contribute, but because of the league’s labor strife, Harris made sure to put his backup plan in motion.
Harris moved home to Tulsa, Okla., and started an internship at a local sports law firm and began preparing for the LSAT, the law school entrance exam.
But within hours of the end of the lockout in late July, Harris had a job with the Broncos and was on a plane for Denver. He was the only undrafted rookie to make the 53-man roster, and in recent weeks, he has earned significant playing time as the team’s nickel corner. He made his first career interception last week against Oakland.
Q: I always thought undrafted players were hurt the most by the lockout. What were those months like for you?
A: I didn’t have a clue where I was going. I was just at home, doing an internship at a sports law firm. I already had gotten my degree in May, so I was just working, because that was what I was interested in. I was training and getting ready for football, but in case that didn’t work out, I was already linked up with somebody.
Q: What sort of assignments did you have at the internship?
A: Easy tasks — paperwork, answering phones, doing errands, just a regular job. I was there 9 to 5, and it was a big learning experience for me, learning how to save money, things like that, because that’s what we were doing. The NFL players were paying the lawyer to do all their marketing, run their camps and stuff like that.
Q: What was it like right when the lockout ended? Did you have a lot of calls and choices to make about what team to join?
A: The next day I got called. I had to be ready to go. They asked me if I was hungry, and the next day they flew me out. We felt like Denver was the best situation for me. It definitely worked out.
Q: For you, what was the key to making the active roster as an undrafted player?
A: It felt like I was stuck third on the depth chart all of camp, so it was like, “How do I move up?” It was really confusing because you don’t know how things are going to go until the day they picked the team. I didn’t know how the coaches thought of me. I just knew I was trying to make plays.
Q: Tell me about your family growing up. Who raised you?
A: I was born into a single-parent household. My mom (Lisa Harris), she was always taking care of us, always making sure things were good for me and my little sister. She works at the post office, and she also refs basketball games — that’s her hobby. Delivering mail, you’ve got to be up all day. She works a lot of hours, so I had to be the man of the house, make sure my sister was straight, pretty much do all the business till my mom got home.
Q: You played on some really good Kansas teams (the Jayhawks beat Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl in January 2008) and some that weren’t so good. How did you manage the ups and downs?
A: I learned to always keep fighting, always be a great teammate and try to lead by example. When it did get hard, I just tried to work the same way I did when we were winning.
Q: Did KU’s down years make it harder to get noticed by the NFL?
A: My freshman year, we end up winning the Orange Bowl and everyone gets drafted. My next year, we did well again and everyone gets drafted. Then my junior and senior year, nobody really got drafted because we started losing. A lot of people thought I was slow because I moved to safety midway through the year, but I did that to help the team. That definitely hurt me a lot right there.
About Chris Harris
Position: Cornerback
Height: 5-foot-10
Weight: 190 pounds
Experience: Rookie
College: University of Kansas
College stats: Four-year starter, played cornerback, nickel back and safety.
2011 stats: Eight games, two starts; 30 total tackles (22 solo); one interception, three pass breakups; six special-teams tackles (tied for most on team).
