The Bears bided their time in the 2004 draft and were able to select defensive tackle Tommie Harris with the 14th pick. Harris, who says he could have returned a fumble for a touchdown against the Niners if the Bears had needed the points, made the Pro Bowl last season and has followed that with a 2006 effort that includes five sacks in the first seven games. But Harris’ interests go far beyond knocking people down.
He traveled to Liberia last off-season with former NFL players Lee Roy and Dewey Selmon to build a school for an orphanage in the war-torn country. He also performed gospel music last Super Bowl week with Patti LaBelle, the Winans and others.
Who is the person most responsible for you being where you are?
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My “godmother,” my old [school] principal. She saw the good in me even while I was still being a bad kid. She saw the good and brought it out in me. And my mom believed in the good in me.
If you weren’t playing football, what would you be doing?
I’d probably just be getting out of college and getting ready to go into the military. I would want to be an officer. I lived in Killeen, Texas, home of Ft. Hood Army base. My father (Tommie Sr.) served 25 years in the military.
What is the best advice someone gave you?
What you do in your off time will affect you in your on time. My father told me that, and it’s true. The off time displays character. Because that’s when nobody’s watching you. If you have to be pushed to do this or that, it says something about your character.
The NFL can cause people to change. How have you changed?
Last year I faced so much adversity. I think “91” (his number) was changing “Tommie Harris” mentally. I got caught up in 91, but earlier this year I changed that. Some people say I’m hard on myself, but I have to be. I want to [turn around] all the negative things people said to me. Not to throw it in their faces but to show how you can turn it into positive energy. Teachers told me I’d be dead before I reached a certain age.