Charles Harris (born March 6, 1995) 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

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

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 ...

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

and was drafted by the

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

in the first round of the

2017 NFL Draft The 2017 NFL Draft was the 82nd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. It was held in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art on April 27–29, returning to Philadelphia f ...

Early years

Harris attended

Lincoln College Preparatory Academy Lincoln College Preparatory Academy (LCPA) (also known as Lincoln Prep Academy or The Castle on the Hill) is a three-year middle school and four-year college preparatory magnet school in the Kansas City, Missouri School District. The high school ...

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

. As a junior, he had 40 tackles and six sacks and as a senior had 60 tackles and 12 sacks. He also had 15 receptions for 285 and five

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether Rush (gridiron football), running, Forward pass, passing, returning a Kickoff (gridiron football), kickoff or Punt (gridiron football), punt, or recovering a Turno ...

. He committed to the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

to play college football. Harris also played basketball in high school and took boxing classes.

College career

After redshirting his first year at Missouri in 2013, Harris appeared in all 14 games as a redshirt freshman in 2014, recording 19 tackles and two sacks. Harris took over as a starter in 2015 and had 56 tackles and seven sacks.

Professional career

Harris was invited to the NFL Combine and completed all the drills except for the short shuttle and three cone drill. He participated at Missouri's Pro Day and chose to perform positional drills and the short shuttle, three cone drill, vertical jump, and broad jump. Going into the draft, he was projected to be a first or second round pick by NFL draft experts and analysts. He was ranked the seventh best

edge rusher Edge rusher (alternately edge defender or simply edge) is a term designating a position in gridiron football. Some consider edge rusher to be its own position entirely. Discussion Players considered to be edge rushers are usually 4–3 defens ...

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 third best linebacker by

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

, and was ranked the fifth best defensive end by NFL analyst

Bucky Brooks William Eldridge "Bucky" Brooks Jr. (born January 22, 1971) is a sportswriter and former professional American football player. He played for five National Football League (NFL) teams in a five-year career, primarily as a kick returner. Brooks i ...

, Mike Mayock, and NFLDraftScout.com.

Miami Dolphins

The

selected Harris in the first round (22nd overall) of the

Atlanta Falcons

On May 1, 2020, the Dolphins traded Harris to the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

for a 2021 seventh-round draft pick. The next day, the Falcons declined the fifth-year option on Harris' contract, making him a free agent in 2021. In Week 8 against the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

on ''Thursday Night Football'', Harris was ejected from the game after hitting quarterback

Teddy Bridgewater Theodore Edmond Bridgewater Jr. (born November 10, 1992) is an American football quarterback for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). Born and raised in Miami, Florida, he graduated from Miami Northwestern high school. Br ...

's head while he was sliding.

Detroit Lions

On March 19, 2021, Harris signed with the

. On March 18, 2022, Harris signed a two-year, $13 million contract extension with the Lions. He was placed on injured reserve on November 28.

References

External links

*
Missouri Tigers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Charles 1995 births Living people Players of American football from Kansas City, Missouri American football defensive ends Missouri Tigers football players Miami Dolphins players Atlanta Falcons players Detroit Lions players