Harrison Foster Phillips (born January 25, 1996), nicknamed "Horrible Harry", is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

for the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

of 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). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

Early years

Phillips attended

Millard West High School Millard West High School is a public high school located in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. It first opened its doors on August 17, 1995. Currently, Millard West High School is the third largest school within the Millard Public Schools district. ...

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

, where he played

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

. As a senior, he was the Nebraska

Gatorade Football Player of the Year The Gatorade Player of the Year awards are given annually to up and coming high school student-athletes in the United States. They are given for boys' baseball, boys' and girls' basketball, boys' and girls' cross country, boys' football, boys' a ...

. He committed to

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

to play college football. In his high school career he had over 175 tackles, 35 sacks, and 75 TFL.

College career

Phillips played at Stanford from 2014 to 2017. He played in only one game as a sophomore in 2015 after tearing his ACL, and redshirted. In 2017, he led all FBS linemen with 103 tackles and earned All-Pac-12 First-team and Pac-12 All-Academic First-team honors. He was also invited to play in the

2018 Senior Bowl The 2018 Senior Bowl was an all-star college football exhibition game featuring players from the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season, and prospects for the 2018 draft of the professional National Football League (NFL). The game was the last ...

. Having graduated with a double major in Sociology and Science, Technology and Society, and a minor in Education in December 2017, Phillips decided to forgo his last year of eligibility and enter the

2018 NFL Draft The 2018 NFL Draft was the 83rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2018 NFL season. The draft was held on April 26–28 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas; it was the first draft ...

Professional career

Buffalo Bills

On November 20, 2017, it was announced that Phillips had accepted his invitation to play in the

Senior Bowl The Senior Bowl is a post-season college football all-star game played annually in late January or early February in Mobile, Alabama, which showcases the best NFL Draft prospects of those players who have completed their college eligibility. Pr ...

. On January 4, 2018, Phillips officially announced his decision to forgo his remaining year of eligibility and enter the

. He was eligible to return as a fifth-year senior after missing the majority of his sophomore season due to an ankle injury he sustained in the season-opener. Phillips practiced well throughout preparations for the game and impressed scouts and analysts. On January 27, 2018, Phillips played in the 2018 Reese's Senior Bowl and was part of Denver Broncos' head coach Vance Joseph's North team that lost 45–16 to the South. He attended the

NFL Scouting Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Footb ...

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

and performed all of the combine drills. Phillips finished first among any player in the bench press with 42 repetitions. On March 27, 2018, Phillips participated at Stanford's pro day, but opted to stand on his combine numbers and only performed positional drills. At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Phillips was projected to be a second round pick by NFL draft experts and scouts. He was ranked as the fourth best defensive tackle by

Scouts Inc. Scouts Inc. is a partner of ESPN Inc. that specializes in scouting and evaluating current and future players and teams in professional, college and high school sports. The content is provided on the ESPN television networks, ESPN Radio and ESPN in ...

, was ranked the fifth best defensive tackle by DraftScout.com and NFL analyst Mike Mayock, and was ranked the sixth best defensive tackle by

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

. The

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

selected Phillips in the third round (96th overall) of the

. Phillips was the tenth defensive tackle drafted in 2018. The Bills previously acquired the pick used to select Phillips along with

Jordan Matthews Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Riv ...

in a trade with the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

. On May 30, 2018, the Buffalo Bills signed Phillips to a four-year, $3.34 million

contract A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tran ...

that includes a

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

of $775,040. Phillips played a reserve role as a 1-tech tackle during his rookie season, alternating snaps with Star Lotulelei, Kyle Williams, and

Jordan Phillips Jordan Phillips (born September 21, 1992) is an American football defensive tackle who is a free agent. He played college football at Oklahoma. Early years Phillips attended Circle High School in Towanda, Kansas, where he played high school ...

. In his second year, Phillips recorded his first career sack against the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

, taking down

Eli Manning Elisha Nelson Manning (born January 3, 1981) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons with the New York Giants. A member of the Manning football dynasty, he is the youngest son o ...

during a 28–14 Bills win. In Week 3, Phillips suffered a torn ACL and was ruled out for the season. He was placed on injured reserve on September 24, 2019.

Minnesota Vikings

On March 16, 2022, Phillips signed a three-year, $19.5 million contract with the

References

External links

Stanford Cardinal bioMinnesota Vikings bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Harrison 1996 births Living people Sportspeople from Omaha, Nebraska Players of American football from Nebraska American football defensive tackles Stanford Cardinal football players Buffalo Bills players Minnesota Vikings players Ed Block Courage Award recipients