James "Shack" Harris

Sport: Football

Induction Year: 1999

University: Grambling

Induction Year: 1999

By O.K. “Buddy” Davis
Ruston Daily Leader

He almost gave up. He came very close. Could anyone blame him? Here he was, the black collegiate “Player of the Year” in the final season of a glorious career at Grambling State University, and it appeared as if James Harris wouldn’t even get drafted by a National Football League team.

What was wrong? Go back and check that 1968 season with the Tigers and you’ll find that “Shack” was the chief cog in the G-Men’s march to a second consecutive Southwestern Athletic Conference championship.

Or reverse to the previous year in which he was named as the “Most Valuable Player” at the Orange Blossom Classic in Miami, where he had shredded a defensive unit for 389 yards passing and four touchdowns.

Or re-evaluate his four-year stay with the Eddie Robinson-directed Tigers. All he had done was set a new school passing yardage record with 4,705 yards.

It was more of the same aerial artistry that he had painted while at Monroe’s Carroll High, where he threw for more than 5,000 yards and collected 55 touchdowns.

So why wasn’t it until the final day, practically when the selection process was about to shut down, that James Harris was finally chosen by a professional team in 1969?

“Before the draft, I had some teams tell me they were going to pick me, but that it would be best to switch to another position,” he recalled. “A lot of them called, but asked if I could change positions, like maybe going to receiver or defensive back. But I was going to play at quarterback or not play at all.”

Call it stubborn pride or whatever you want, but “Shack” was on a mission and nothing was going to deter him.

Actually neither Harris or Robinson, Grambling’s legendary leader who produced some of the nation’s finest collegians, one season alone turning out 11 NFL draftees.

But arguably his most important project was Harris. More than anyone outside of pro pioneer Paul “Tank” Younger, it was “Shack” who could be a special gift from Grambling to the pros and for all black colleges.

“After the first day of the draft was over, and I hadn’t been picked, I went over to coach Rob’s house,” said Harris. “I was really down about not having been drafted because there were teams that had told me they might pick me.

“I told coach Robinson that if (NFL teams) didn’t think enough of me to pick me on the first day after what I had done, then what chance would I have? Why even bother with going?

“I was thinking very seriously about just staying at home, going into coaching or teaching.”

But the always persuasive, father-like approach of Robinson softened Harris’ intent to hang up his playing gear.

“After I found out that Buffalo had picked me in the eighth round, we talked again and he stressed to me over and over that I had the ability to play and succeed in the NFL,” said Harris. “He told me that if I didn’t go, then it would keep other black quarterbacks from trying to achieve in the future, too.”

“Shack” heeded coach Robinson’s advice and then proceeded to put his own name in the athletic history books. He went on to become the first black player to start at quarterback in a regular season NFL game and wound up playing 12 distinguished years.

Playing with the Bills, Los Angeles Rams and San Diego Chargers, Harris passed for 8,136 yards and 45 touchdowns, led the National Football Conference in passing in 1976, was named MVP in the Pro Bowl in `75 and was a team captain for both the Rams and Chargers.

Clearly, it was a brilliant career for Harris, who grew up in Monroe and went on to All-State acclaim at Carroll High..

“It’s an honor that I am deeply grateful and appreciative of and so especially thankful for because so many people have helped make this possible,” said Harris, now an assistant general manager with the Baltimore Ravens of the NFL. “Whatever I have achieved and been able to achieve, it’s because of the people back in Louisiana who helped support and develop me as a person and an athlete.”