Harrison Foster Phillips (born January 25, 1996) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

nose tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that typically lines up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the Guard (American football), offensive guards; however, he may also line up opposite one of the offensive Tackle (gridir ...

for the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Stanford Cardinal The Stanford Cardinal are the college athletics in the United States, athletic teams that represent Stanford University. Stanford's program has won 138 National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA team championships, the List of NCAA schools ...

Early life

Phillips was born in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

on January 25, 1996. He attended Millard West High School in

, where he played

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

. As a senior, he was the Nebraska

Gatorade Football Player of the Year The Gatorade Player of the Year awards are given annually to up and coming high school student-athletes in the United States. They are given for boys baseball, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls cross country, boys football, boys and girl ...

. He committed to

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

to play

. In his high school career, he had over 175

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position) A tackle is a playing position in American football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent ...

, 35 sacks, and 75 tackles-for-loss.

College career

Phillips played

from 2014 to 2017. He played in only one game as a sophomore in 2015 after tearing his ACL, and

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

. In 2017, he led all

linemen Lineman or linesman may refer to: In personal roles: *Lineworker, one who installs and maintains electrical power, telephone, or telegraph lines *Lineman (gridiron football), a position in American football *Head linesman, the American football of ...

in the

Football Bowl Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As ...

with 103 tackles and earned All-Pac-12 First-team and Pac-12 All-Academic First-team honors. He was also invited to play in the

2018 Senior Bowl The 2018 Senior Bowl was an all-star college football exhibition game featuring players from the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season, and prospects for the 2018 draft of the professional National Football League (NFL). The game was the last ...

. Having graduated with a double major in Sociology and Science, Technology and Society, and a minor in Education in December 2017, Phillips decided to forgo his last year of eligibility and enter the

2018 NFL draft The 2018 NFL draft was the 83rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2018 NFL season. The draft was held on April 26–28 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington southwest of Dallas; it was ...

Professional career

Pre-draft

On November 20, 2017, it was announced that Phillips had accepted his invitation to play in the

Senior Bowl The Senior Bowl is a post-season college football all-star game played annually in late January or early February in Mobile, Alabama, which showcases the best NFL Draft prospects of those players who have completed their college eligibility. Pr ...

. On January 4, 2018, Phillips officially announced his decision to forgo his remaining year of eligibility and enter the

. He was eligible to return as a fifth-year senior after missing the majority of his sophomore season due to an ankle injury he sustained in the season-opener. Phillips practiced well throughout preparations for the game and impressed scouts and analysts. On January 27, 2018, Phillips played in the 2018 Reese's Senior Bowl and was part of

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

head coach Vance Joseph's North team that lost 45–16 to the South. He attended the

NFL Scouting Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Foot ...

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and performed all of the combine drills. Phillips finished first among any player in the bench press with 42 repetitions. On March 27, 2018, Phillips participated at Stanford's

pro day The NFL draft, officially known as the Annual Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the most common source of player recruitment in the National Football League. Each team is given a position in the drafting order in reve ...

, but opted to stand on his combine numbers and only performed positional drills. At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Phillips was projected to be a second round pick by NFL draft experts and scouts. He was ranked as the fourth best defensive tackle by

Scouts Inc. Scouts Inc. is a partner of ESPN Inc., that specializes in scouting and evaluating current and future players and teams in professional, college and high school sports. The content is provided on the ESPN television networks, ESPN Radio and ESPN ...

, was ranked the fifth best defensive tackle by DraftScout.com and NFL analyst

Mike Mayock Michael Francis Mayock Sr. (born August 14, 1958) is an American former professional football executive and player in the National Football League (NFL). He played as a safety with the New York Giants. After his playing career, he was a draft ...

, and was ranked the sixth best defensive tackle 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 a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

''.

Buffalo Bills

The

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

selected Phillips in the third round (96th overall) of the 2018 NFL Draft. Phillips was the tenth defensive tackle drafted in 2018. The Bills previously acquired the pick used to select Phillips along with

Jordan Matthews Jordan Armand Matthews (born July 16, 1992) is an American professional football tight end. He played college football for the Vanderbilt Commodores and was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles in the second round of the 2014 NFL draft. Matthew ...

in a trade with the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

. On May 30, 2018, the Bills signed Phillips to a four-year, $3.34 million contract that includes a

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

of $775,040. Phillips played a reserve role as a 1-tech tackle during his rookie season, alternating snaps with Star Lotulelei, Kyle Williams, and

Jordan Phillips Jordan Phillips (born September 21, 1992) is an American professional football defensive tackle. He played college football at Oklahoma and was selected by the Miami Dolphins in the second round of the 2015 NFL draft. He has played for the Arizo ...

. In his second year, Phillips recorded his first career sack against the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

, taking down

Eli Manning Elisha Nelson Manning (born January 3, 1981) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons with the New York Giants. A member of the Manning family, he is the youngest ...

during a 28–14 Bills win. In Week 3, Phillips suffered a torn ACL and was ruled out for the season. He was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

on September 24, 2019.

Minnesota Vikings

On March 16, 2022, Phillips signed a three-year, $19.5 million contract with the

. He started all 17 games in 2022, recording 59 tackles and 1.5 sacks. Phillips followed up his strong 2022 season by setting career-highs in 2023, recording 92 tackles and three sacks. On September 10, 2024, Phillips signed a two-year extension with the Vikings, keeping him under contract through the 2026 season.

References

External links

Minnesota Vikings bioStanford Cardinal bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Harrison 1996 births Living people Players of American football from Omaha, Nebraska American football defensive tackles Stanford Cardinal football players Buffalo Bills players Minnesota Vikings players