Michael Cory Harris (born December 5, 1988) 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 ...

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

who is currently retired. 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 ...

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

. He was signed by the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

on April 30, 2012. He has also been a member of 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 ...

Early years

Harris lettered four years in

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

Duarte High School Duarte High School is a public high school located in Duarte, California and is part of Duarte Unified School District. Duarte High School currently has 950 students enrolled. Their mascot is the falcon. It was recognized as a California Distingu ...

Duarte, California Duarte () is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 21,727. It is bounded to the north by the San Gabriel Mountains, to the north and west by the cities of Bradbury and Monrovia ...

for coach Wardell Crutchfield as an offensive and defensive tackle. He was a second-team All-Montview League selection as a junior after totalling 57 tackles, three sacks and one fumble recovery on defense and 20 pancake blocks on offense. As a senior, he was credited with 86

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position), a position in American football and Canadian football ** Dump tackle, a forceful move in rugby of picking up ...

, eight sacks, two

fumble A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful ...

recoveries and 34 pancake blocks, helping lead his team to a 10-3 record and to the third round of the

CIF Cif is a French brand of household cleaning products owned by the Anglo-Dutch company Unilever, known as Jif in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Middle East and the Nordic countries. Cif was launched in France in 1965 and was marketed in competit ...

playoffs. He was chosen MVP Lineman of the Year in the Montview League. He was also named first-team All-State (Small Schools) by Cal-Hi Sports and was selected to the

-Southern Section Mid-Valley team. Harris was also member of the ″1000 pound

Weightlifting Weightlifting generally refers to activities in which people lift Weight training#Equipment, weights, often in the form of dumbbells or barbells. People lift various kinds of weights for a variety of different reasons. These may include various t ...

Club″ at his school and lettered four years in

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

(

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

) and three years in

track & field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

(

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

). Rated as the No. 27

offensive guard Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

nationally and the No. 5 offensive guard in the state of

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Scout.com Scout Media is an integrated sports publishing company that produces Internet content covering hundreds of professional and college teams across America. The company was founded in 2001 and was acquired by Fox Sports in 2005. In 2013, Fox Sports ...

. He was regarded as a three-star prospect by both Scout.com and

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

College career

In 2008, he was hampered by a sprained ankle early in the season but he made outstanding progress down the stretch and was the Offensive winner of

's Captain Don Brown Memorial Award for Most Improved Player. In 2009, he started all 13 games at right tackle, one of three linemen to accomplish that feat . He played virtually every snap of each game and was on the field for at least 56 snaps in each contest and was Offensive co-winner of UCLA's Captain Don Brown Memorial Award for Most Improved Player. In 2011, Harris started in all 14 games at tackle and played virtually every offensive snap on the season. Harris has developed steadily during his career and was a starter in parts of all four seasons. He finished his career with 42 career starts along the Bruin offensive line.

Professional career

San Diego Chargers

Harris had his first-career start on ESPN’s

Monday Night Football ''ESPN Monday Night Football'' (abbreviated as ''MNF'' and also known as ''ESPN Monday Night Football on ABC'' for simulcasts) is an American live television broadcast of weekly National Football League (NFL) games currently airing on ESPN, AB ...

against the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

when injuries kept incumbent starter

Jared Gaither Jared Dwight Gaither (born March 18, 1986) is a former American football offensive tackle who played in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the fifth round of the 2007 Supplemental Draft. He played colle ...

off the field during training camp. Harris had an inconsistent rookie season but he ended up playing in 15 games with nine starts. On October 9, 2013, Harris was placed on IR. He had started 3 games in 2013. Harris was released on August 30, 2014.

Minnesota Vikings

Harris signed with the

on August 31, 2014. On March 9, 2016, Harris re-signed a one-year contract with the

. On August 30, 2016, Harris was placed on the reserve/NFI list. On February 10, 2017, Harris was released by the Vikings.

Personal life

His biggest thrill in sports was catching a screen pass for a touchdown in his junior season at Duarte and lists former NFL star

Jonathan Ogden Jonathan Phillip Ogden (born July 31, 1974) is an American former professional football player who was an offensive tackle and spent his entire career with the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football ...

as the player he admires the most. He lives in Minnesota with his wife, Melissa Dettinger Harris and their 3 dogs.

References

External links

*
San Diego Chargers bioUCLA Bruins bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Michael 1988 births Living people American football offensive tackles UCLA Bruins football players San Diego Chargers players Minnesota Vikings players Players of American football from Oakland, California