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Sports
Sunday, July 20, 2003 9:26 A.M.
The promise
Former GSU standout James Harris made good on a personal vow made 40 years ago
Nick Deriso / Sports Editor
Posted on July 20, 2003
This was a homecoming in the best sense of the word - by turns sentimental and inspirational.
But in the end, James "Shack" Harris - one of the highest-ranking black executives in the NFL - had twin messages for local young people: Get an education and allow yourself to imagine a brighter future.
"There's not many things you can do in this world for free," said Harris, the Monroe native who serves as vice president of player personnel with the Jacksonville Jaguars. "But dreaming is free: So I decided to dream big."
Harris - a former Carroll High and Grambling State standout who went on to a 12-year NFL career - spoke at a fund-raiser for the Northeast Louisiana Delta African American Heritage Museum, held Saturday night at the West Monroe Convention Center.
The non-profit museum, established on Monroe's Plum Street in 1993, showcases cultural classes and events - as well as a permanent collection detailing important historical moments in local African-American history. Of special note is the presentation "Troubling the Water," which recounts the Civil Rights movement in northeastern Louisiana.
Harris said a key moment in that struggle also changed his life.
He was watching the Martin Luther King Jr. speech in August 1963 on television, looking for two local friends who had gone to Washington, D.C., to participate in the march, when he heard these immortal words: "I have a dream, that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."
He decided to do what was then unthinkable for a black athlete: "I decided that day that I would play quarterback," Harris said. "I realized what I was risking. But I decided that day."
Most African-Americans were converted to defensive back or receiver. None had ever been drafted or started at quarterback in the NFL.
But with encouragement from family, Carroll coach Dorth Blade and Grambling coach Eddie Robinson, he realized his own dreams: Harris did both.
He fell to the eighth round in the draft for not agreeing to switch positions, but was finally picked up by the Buffalo Bills in the 1969 NFL draft. Harris would go on to play for Los Angeles and San Diego, earning MVP honors at the Pro Bowl in 1975.
Harris then left the playing field for a second career in scouting, one that led eventually to the Baltimore Ravens - where, as director of pro personnel, he helped construct the 2001 Super Bowl champions.
Last January, he broke more ground: Harris was named vice president of player personnel for the Jaguars - where he is in charge of all personnel decisions.
Doug Williams, a fellow Grambling and NFL alum, says it's impossible to overestimate how important that position is. "Whatever Jacksonville does," he says, "is going to hinge on James Harris."
Not that Harris - ranked as the 36th most influential African-American in sports last spring by The Sporting News - isn't up to the task. He said he began preparing here in northeastern Louisiana.
Harris led Carroll to 39 consecutive wins in high school. "That was the greatest team I ever played on," Harris said Saturday. "If we were still playing, we'd still be undefeated."
Carroll teammate Delles Howell, later a member of the New Orleans Saints, gave the benediction - part of a large contingency of friends, family, classmates and fellow players.
Blade introduced Harris, and received warm thanks from his former signal-caller.
"When I left Carroll High School, I left with a blueprint for life, one that gave me an opportunity to succeed," Harris said. "I just didn't realize how good of a coach he was - and what he meant to me. He made me a man."
Harris then called the decision to play for the legendary Eddie Robinson in college "probably the greatest decision I ever made. Coach Robinson told me, in four years I would play quarterback in the NFL - and I believed him. And I believed in Martin Luther King's words."
In the meantime, Harris and the Tigers won or shared the SWAC title in each of his four years in school. He set what was then a state collegiate record with 4,705 career passing yards at Grambling.
That earned him induction into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in 1999, as well as the SWAC and the Grambling Athletic halls.
Sports
Sunday, July 20, 2003 9:26 A.M.
The promise
Former GSU standout James Harris made good on a personal vow made 40 years ago
Nick Deriso / Sports Editor
Posted on July 20, 2003
This was a homecoming in the best sense of the word - by turns sentimental and inspirational.
But in the end, James "Shack" Harris - one of the highest-ranking black executives in the NFL - had twin messages for local young people: Get an education and allow yourself to imagine a brighter future.
"There's not many things you can do in this world for free," said Harris, the Monroe native who serves as vice president of player personnel with the Jacksonville Jaguars. "But dreaming is free: So I decided to dream big."
Harris - a former Carroll High and Grambling State standout who went on to a 12-year NFL career - spoke at a fund-raiser for the Northeast Louisiana Delta African American Heritage Museum, held Saturday night at the West Monroe Convention Center.
The non-profit museum, established on Monroe's Plum Street in 1993, showcases cultural classes and events - as well as a permanent collection detailing important historical moments in local African-American history. Of special note is the presentation "Troubling the Water," which recounts the Civil Rights movement in northeastern Louisiana.
Harris said a key moment in that struggle also changed his life.
He was watching the Martin Luther King Jr. speech in August 1963 on television, looking for two local friends who had gone to Washington, D.C., to participate in the march, when he heard these immortal words: "I have a dream, that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."
He decided to do what was then unthinkable for a black athlete: "I decided that day that I would play quarterback," Harris said. "I realized what I was risking. But I decided that day."
Most African-Americans were converted to defensive back or receiver. None had ever been drafted or started at quarterback in the NFL.
But with encouragement from family, Carroll coach Dorth Blade and Grambling coach Eddie Robinson, he realized his own dreams: Harris did both.
He fell to the eighth round in the draft for not agreeing to switch positions, but was finally picked up by the Buffalo Bills in the 1969 NFL draft. Harris would go on to play for Los Angeles and San Diego, earning MVP honors at the Pro Bowl in 1975.
Harris then left the playing field for a second career in scouting, one that led eventually to the Baltimore Ravens - where, as director of pro personnel, he helped construct the 2001 Super Bowl champions.
Last January, he broke more ground: Harris was named vice president of player personnel for the Jaguars - where he is in charge of all personnel decisions.
Doug Williams, a fellow Grambling and NFL alum, says it's impossible to overestimate how important that position is. "Whatever Jacksonville does," he says, "is going to hinge on James Harris."
Not that Harris - ranked as the 36th most influential African-American in sports last spring by The Sporting News - isn't up to the task. He said he began preparing here in northeastern Louisiana.
Harris led Carroll to 39 consecutive wins in high school. "That was the greatest team I ever played on," Harris said Saturday. "If we were still playing, we'd still be undefeated."
Carroll teammate Delles Howell, later a member of the New Orleans Saints, gave the benediction - part of a large contingency of friends, family, classmates and fellow players.
Blade introduced Harris, and received warm thanks from his former signal-caller.
"When I left Carroll High School, I left with a blueprint for life, one that gave me an opportunity to succeed," Harris said. "I just didn't realize how good of a coach he was - and what he meant to me. He made me a man."
Harris then called the decision to play for the legendary Eddie Robinson in college "probably the greatest decision I ever made. Coach Robinson told me, in four years I would play quarterback in the NFL - and I believed him. And I believed in Martin Luther King's words."
In the meantime, Harris and the Tigers won or shared the SWAC title in each of his four years in school. He set what was then a state collegiate record with 4,705 career passing yards at Grambling.
That earned him induction into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in 1999, as well as the SWAC and the Grambling Athletic halls.