Former Green Bay Packers cornerback Al Harris, who spent seven seasons with the Packers from 2003-09, has retired after 14 NFL seasons.
Harris announced the decision over the St. Louis Rams’ Twitter page on Wednesday. Another knee injury factored heavily into his decision.
Harris tore his right ACL while making a tackle back in Week 10 and has surgery scheduled on the knee for Jan. 13. The Rams placed him on season-ending injured reserve on Nov. 14.
“That’s just God’s way of telling me it’s time to turn the page. I had an awesome time,” Harris said through Twitter. “I thank God for Spags [Rams coach Steve Spagnuolo] giving me the opportunity to come out and I hope I left a positive impression on everybody.”
Harris said that he’d like to stay involved in football through coaching in the future.
In his seven years with the Packers, Harris made 102 regular season starts and intercepted 14 passes.
The Packers acquired him during the offseason in 2002 by trading the Philadelphia Eagles a second-round selection for Harris and a fourth-round pick. Harris went on to start the next 80 games for the Packers at cornerback, pushing himself into the elite status at the position with his patented bump-and-run style.
The most memorable moment in Harris’ Packers career came during the 2003 NFC Wildcard game against the Seattle Seahawks, as he intercepted an over-confident Matt Hasselbeck in overtime (“We want the ball and we’re going to score, Hasselbeck said after winning the overtime coin toss) and returned it for a game-winning touchdown.
Harris would then go onto to make the Pro Bowl in 2007 and 2008, and was an All-Pro pick in ’07.
During the 2009 season, Harris had a catastrophic injury to his left knee on a non-contact play against the San Francisco 49ers. He suffered damage to his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), lateral cruciate ligament (LCL), fibular cruciate ligament (FCL), iliotibial band and lateral hamstring. Harris had surgery eight days later and missed the rest of the ’09 season.
GM Ted Thompson put him on the PUP (physically unable to perform) list to start the 2010 season, but Harris would never play another down for the Green Bay Packers. He was released on Nov. 8, 2010.
Harris ended up playing with the Miami Dolphins and Rams over parts of the next two seasons, including five starts for the Rams this season.
Harris was given a championship ring for the Packers’ win in Super Bowl XLV.
HARRIS’ CAREER STATS
| Year | Team | G | GS | Tack | Sk | PDef | INT | TDs | FF |
| 1997 | TB | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1998 | PHI | 16 | 7 | 43 | 0 | 6 | 0 | – | 0 |
| 1999 | PHI | 16 | 6 | 38 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| 2000 | PHI | 16 | 4 | 27 | 0 | 7 | 0 | – | 0 |
| 2001 | PHI | 16 | 2 | 22 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2002 | PHI | 16 | 2 | 24 | 0 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2003 | GB | 16 | 16 | 48 | 0 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| 2004 | GB | 16 | 16 | 62 | 0 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2005 | GB | 16 | 16 | 62 | 3 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| 2006 | GB | 16 | 16 | 41 | 0 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 2007 | GB | 16 | 16 | 37 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2008 | GB | 12 | 12 | 25 | 0 | 9 | 0 | – | 0 |
| 2009 | GB | 10 | 10 | 34 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2010 | MIA | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 |
| 2011 | STL | 9 | 5 | 12 | 0 | 7 | 0 | – | 0 |
| TOTALS | 194 | 128 | 425 | 4 | 128 | 21 | 3 | 2 |
Zach Kruse is a 23-year-old sports journalist with a passion for the Green Bay Packers. He currently lives in Wisconsin and is working on his journalism degree, while also covering prep sports for The Dunn Co. News.
You can read more of Zach's Packers articles on AllGreenBayPackers.com.
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Thanks for the memories Harris, enjoy your retirement. Best wishes.
Al, you’re one of the best! The Packer Hall of Fame is in the near future for Al.
After his most recent injury I had expected this. I was also hoping he would sign a one day contract and retire as a Packer. Good luck Al Harris, you will always be a Packer in our hearts, and hopefully in the Packer Hall of Fame as well.
They’ll do the one day contract just before training camp this coming summer.
Al certainly deserves it and a quick elevation to the Packer Hall of Fame.
Thank’s Al for all the memories.
Al showed the key to his success time & time again: He focused and worked hard. Thanks Al for giving us something to cheer about. May God bless you in the years to come.
Al was one of my favorite Packers during the time he was on the squad. He had a true Passion for football and wanted to be on the field more then anybody. The guy played how many weeks after rupturing his spleen?
I really miss his in your face style of bump and run, we could use a few Al Harris types on this current D.
True warrior. Got schooled by Plaxico and Eli but overall played a great corner. He also displayed class with full-page goodbye. Glad you were a Packer and nothing but the best in your next career.
I will say this.
But Tim Hasselbeck’s little prediction; I think it destroyed him on the inside after he blew the playoff game by tossing it to Al.
I’m pretty sure that was matt Hasselbeck, not Tim, starting for Seattle that day 🙂
I was suprised to see that he was the 20th rated corner this season on profootballfocus while Tramon was 23rd. Old man could still get it done