Clark Harris to play in NFL Pro Bowl

This weekend is the annual NFL Pro Bowl, scheduled for Orlando, not Hawaii unfortunately. Perhaps the movie Blue Crush was just too much for fans to handle.

When the league announced Pro Bowl rosters in December, there were no long snappers listed. Then last week Harris tweeted that he would be representing the AFC. Our friends at Cincy Jungle did a nice job covering Harris’s longevity and consistency with the Bengals in the NFL. He has been as reliable a special teams player as any since 2009 not only for his snapping, but also his ability to make downfield tackles.

Prior to the NFL, Harris was viewed as a top prospect at the Tight End position when he arrived at Rutgers from Southern Regional in Manahawkin, NJ. Then at Rutgers he exploded as a Redshirt sophomore in 2004 when he was named 1st team All-Big East. He led all conference tight ends with 53 catches, 725 yards, and five touchdowns. Clark’s numbers dipped slightly over the next two seasons as the Scarlet Knights offense added more weapons, but he was still named First Team All-Big East both as a junior and senior.

After completing his time on the banks, Harris was selected in the 7th round by the Green Bay Packers in the 2007 NFL Draft. After being released by the Packers and Detroit Lions, Clark joined the Houston Texans practice squad. When the Texans long snapper was suspended in December 2008, they were able to fill the void in house by having Harris move over from Tight End to finish out the season. The following season, Cincinnati had seen enough (perhaps with some input from Brian Leonard) to add Harris as their full-time long-snapper and he has been a rock there ever since.

Good luck Sunday and congrats to Clark Harris and his family!