Anthony Harris Appreciation Thread

The way he handled himself while he waited might have told the team all it needed to know.

“You’d never hear him complain about not playing,” defensive backs coach Jerry Gray said. “I think that’s probably the hardest thing in the world to do, when you’re a football player, because you’ve got guys who you know [have] contracts [that are] going to be up. You want to make money, you want to play, so all these things are going in you. But for a guy to say, ‘You know what? I’m going to do my job, do it to the best of my ability, and whatever happens, happens,’ if you can get more of those guys on your team, you’ll probably win a lot of Super Bowls.


“Because that means, ‘All I’m going to do is work; I’m not worried about what happens after that.’ And we know that’s unrealistic. That’s the most unrealistic thing in the world in professional football, because everybody wants to play. Everybody wants the big contract. But his mind-set is totally different than that.”

Making most of his chance

After playing four games as a rookie and starting three in both 2016 and 2017, Harris got his first chance for substantive work last season as a safety, starting nine games with Andrew Sendejo missing most of the season because of injury.

Now 28, Harris simultaneously has a fixed role in the Vikings defense and a pivotal opportunity to grab lasting security. He’s in line to more than double his career earnings in 2019 after the Vikings placed a second-round tender on him as a restricted free agent this spring, giving him a $3.095 million salary this season. But as he enters a season as the Vikings’ starting safety for the first time, Harris is set to be an unrestricted free agent next spring, when a long-term deal could be waiting for him at the end of a strong year.

That he professes little outward concern with his financial future doesn’t surprise the Vikings at this point.

“I let people handle the off-field stuff,” Harris said. “For me, it’s about being prepared, focusing on, when I get back on the field, the things that I can do, what I can bring to the table. It feels good to get another year back in the purple, get that confidence from them. But I’m still looking to improve, still looking to grow.”

“You look at him, and you say, ‘Well, he’s not the most athletic, but he gets his job done’ — that means he works hard,” Gray said. “So he’s tough, he’s smart and he works hard. And now, is he a guy that talks a lot? No, he’s not — that’s another one of Zim’s things. So now, he has all the four characteristics that you want. So now, can you go in there and go play?”

Proven effectiveness

According to Pro Football Focus, Harris was among the league’s most effective safeties in 2018, allowing only seven catches for 52 yards when targeted in coverage while picking off three passes. Having forged a bond with Smith through their frequent banter about defensive tactics, Harris proved a worthy counterpart for the four-time Pro Bowler during their first season of full-time work together.

“For me, it’s not about who can be over there to let me do whatever I want. Communication is where it all starts,” Smith said. “A lot of times, getting the play call in to the corners, those things you don’t think about — the pre-snap things — are realities that safeties need to be on top of. Having a guy who understands the defense inside and out, like Anthony does, just makes it easier. We know he’s going to handle his side, I’m going to handle my side, in pre-snap communication. And then once the ball’s snapped, it’s expected the safeties in this system are able to be versatile: run, cover, blitz, tackle. He’s a guy that clearly can do all those things.”