Michael Lee "M.L." Harris (born January 16, 1954 in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

) is a former professional

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 ...

player who played

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

and on special teams for six seasons for the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

. He also played four seasons in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

. He is currently a pastor and an author. Harris college football for

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

and was undrafted. He played two seasons in the CFL with the

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...

in 1976-77 followed by two seasons with the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...

in 1978-79 before signing with the NFL's Cincinnati Bengals. During his six NFL seasons, he totaled 99 receptions for 1,369 yards for a 13.8 yards-per reception average and 10 touchdowns. His most productive season by far was in 1984 when, starting all 16 games, he caught 48 passes for 759 yards (15.8 yards per catch) and two touchdowns. Harris played in

Super Bowl XVI Super Bowl XVI was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Cincinnati Bengals to decide the National Football League (NFL) champ ...

for the Bengals, where they lost 26-21 to the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

. Harris currently operates the M.L. Harris All Boys Academy that teaches life skills, academics, leadership and character as well as sports, in conjunction with the New Life Outreach Christian Center in Reynoldsburg, Ohio. He is the father of former Bowling Green State University standout, Josh Harris.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, M.L. 1954 births American football tight ends Canadian football slotbacks Cincinnati Bengals players Toronto Argonauts players Hamilton Tiger-Cats players Kansas State Wildcats football players Tampa Spartans football players Living people