Joshua Derrell Harris (born January 22, 1991) is a former American football

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. The ...

. He played college football at Wake Forest and signed 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 ...

with the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Stee ...

in 2014.

High school career

A 2009 graduate of

Duncanville High School Duncanville High School is a secondary school located in Duncanville, Texas, United States, in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The school is a part of Duncanville Independent School District. The school includes grades 9 through 12. The high scho ...

, Harris was a two-sport star in football and track. In 2007, Harris played on defense, recording 80 tackles. As a junior, he rushed for 900 yards and 6 touchdowns on 60 carries. During his junior year, he suffered a torn ACL in April 2008 and had surgery the following month. After extensive rehabilitation, he wouldn't return to play his senior season until October 24. He would accumulate 126 yards on 9 carries and one touchdown his first game back after injury. In

track and 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 eve ...

, Harris helped his high school return to the state playoffs for their first time since 2004. He ran a 10.93 at the District 8-5A track championship in 2007 as a sophomore. At the 2009 Dallas Samuel Invitational, he placed first in both the 100m and

200-meter dash The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightly ...

with times of 10.22 seconds and 21.00 seconds, respectively.

College career

Harris played college football at

Wake Forest University Wake Forest University is a private university, private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, North Carolina, Wake Forest, north of Rale ...

from 2009 to 2013. He would

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Entertainment * ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi * Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after b ...

during his freshman season. In 2010 he led his team in rushing with 720 yards and 5 touchdowns despite starting only four games. In his sophomore year he would battle injuries and only start 5 games. He would be second rushing leader on the Deacons that year rushing 101 times for 432 yards and 3 touchdowns. Harris would also have 5 receptions for 22 yards. The Deacons would go on to the

Music City Bowl The Music City Bowl is a post-season American college football bowl game certified by the NCAA that has been played in Nashville, Tennessee, since 1998. Since 2020, it has been sponsored by TransPerfect and is officially known as the ''TransPerf ...

against

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univer ...

that season, with Harris returning 2 kicks during the game. After an injury plagued sophomore year he would rebound and start a career-high 11 games that season. He would lead the team with 608 rushing yards on 137 carries, but would rank second in rushing touchdowns with 5 for the season. He would also rank fifth in receptions with 19 for 96 yards and no scores. During this season he would also do

, competing in the 2013 ACC Indoor Championships placing 11th in the 60 meter dash. For his senior year he would have 125 rushing attempts for 470 yards and 4 touchdowns in 12 games. Harris also had 15 receptions for 117 yards. During his career he rushed for 2,195 yards on 482 carries with 19

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Americ ...

in 42 games.

Professional career

2014 NFL Draft

Although he was not invited to the NFL Combine, Harris showed great potential during Wake Forest's Pro Day. He expected to be selected during rounds 4–6. After going undrafted and not being signed immediately after the draft he speculated that the Wake Forest staff and his former coaches had bad-mouthed him to NFL scouts saying he was a problem in the locker room and didn't give all his effort. After making public accusations on social media his former position coach at Wake Forest denied the allegations and expressed regret for the possibility that other staff members may have made negative comments that may have affected his draft value. He was among 11 undrafted rookies to attend a tryout at the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divis ...

rookie mini-camp but was unsigned.

Pittsburgh Steelers

Harris signed with the

as an

in 2014 with a contract worth $930k for 2 years. He was signed to the Steelers active roster on November 18, 2014. After Week 11 the

released back up running back

LeGarrette Blount LeGarrette Montez Blount (; born December 5, 1986) is a former American football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons. He played college football at Oregon after transferring from East Mississippi Commu ...

. In need of depth at the position they subsequently signed Harris. His first game on the active roster was Week 13 against the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

. He finished the 2014 season with 9 carries for 16 yards and no touchdowns. After the 2014 season, which he wore 40, Harris would return to the number he wore at Wake Forest, 25. On September 5, 2015, Harris was released by the Steelers.

BC Lions

On October 4, 2016, Harris signed to the

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions played their first season ...

practice squad. On February 27, 2017, Harris re-signed with the BC Lions.

Personal life

Joshua Derrell Harris was born in Dallas, Texas to Derrell Harris III and his mother Beverly Harris. He graduated from Wake Forest with a degree in sociology in 2013.

References

External links

Wake Forest Demon Deacons profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Josh 1991 births Living people Sportspeople from Duncanville, Texas Players of American football from Dallas County, Texas American football running backs Canadian football running backs Players of Canadian football from Texas Wake Forest Demon Deacons football players Pittsburgh Steelers players BC Lions players