Dennis Wayne Harrah (born March 9, 1953) is a former

offensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

who played 13 seasons in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) for the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...

. He played college football for the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...

. He played for and graduated from Stonewall Jackson High School in Charleston, West Virginia - now Stonewall Jackson Middle School.

University of Miami

Harrah was a 1974

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

selection by NEA and TSN, ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' magazine as a tackle. He was a Second-team

pick by

UPI United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th c ...

and AP. Was a 6-5 259 senior who could run a 4.8 40-yard dash and bench press 500 pounds. He is a member of the

Sports Hall of Fame.

Los Angeles Rams

Harrah was selected eleventh overall by the Los Angeles Rams in the

1975 NFL Draft The 1975 National Football League draft was held January 28–29, 1975, at the New York Hilton at Rockefeller Center in New York City, New York. With the first overall pick of the draft, the Atlanta Falcons selected quarterback Steve Bartko ...

. He helped the Rams win the

NFC West The National Football Conference - Western Division or NFC West is one of the four Division (sport), divisions of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). It currently has four members: the Arizona Cardinal ...

six times (1975–79 and 1985) and the 1979

NFC Championship Game The NFC Championship Game is the annual championship game of the National Football Conference (NFC) and one of the two semi-final playoff games of the National Football League (NFL), the largest professional American football league in the world. ...

. During his tenure with the team, the Rams led the NFC in Points Scored in 1976, Total Yards Gained in 1980, and Yards Rushing in 1976 and 1980. He served as team captain for six years and played in the

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

six times. As a rookie in 1975, Harrah backed up starter

Joe Scibelli Joseph Albert Scibelli (April 19, 1939 – December 11, 1991) was an American football tackle and guard who played fifteen seasons in the National Football League with the Los Angeles Rams. He joined the Rams at the age of 21 in 1961 and did n ...

and played on special teams. In 1976, he took over at right guard and held that position for 12 seasons. He was nicknamed "Herk" by his teammates, short for

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...

. Harrah was one of the players who appeared in the 1986 Rams promotional video, ''Let's Ram It'', introducing himself with the rapped line "I'm a

mountain man A mountain man is an explorer who lives in the wilderness. Mountain men were most common in the North American Rocky Mountains from about 1810 through to the 1880s (with a peak population in the early 1840s). They were instrumental in opening up ...

from West VA."

References

1953 births Living people American football offensive guards Los Angeles Rams players National Conference Pro Bowl players Miami Hurricanes football players {{offensive-lineman-1950s-stub