Victor "Macho" Harris, Jr. (born February 16, 1986) is an American former 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 ...

player who was a

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

in 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) and

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL). 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

Virginia Tech Hokies The Virginia Tech Hokies are the athletic teams representing Virginia Tech in intercollegiate athletics. The Hokies participate in the NCAA's Division I Atlantic Coast Conference in 22 varsity sports. Virginia Tech's men's sports are football, b ...

and was selected by 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 ...

in the fifth round of the

2009 NFL draft The 2009 NFL draft was the 74th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 25 and 26, 2009. The draft c ...

. Harris was also a member of the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

and

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 of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

of the NFL and the CFL's

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 19 ...

and

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division (CFL), West division. They play thei ...

Early life

Victor "Macho" Harris earned All-District, All-Region, All-Metro, All-State, Parade All-American, and U.S Army All-American Honors while playing Running Back, Kick Returner, Punt Returner, and Safety at

Highland Springs High School Highland Springs High School is a public high school located in the East End of Henrico County, Virginia. It was one of the first high schools established in the Greater Richmond Region. Replacement school After 70 years in its Oak Avenue fa ...

Highland Springs, Virginia Highland Springs is a census-designated place (CDP) located in Henrico County, Virginia, United States, east of Richmond. The population was 16,604 at the 2020 census. History Edmund Sewell Read founded the community of Highland Springs in t ...

. In his Junior year, Harris rushed for 2,346 yards and 27 touchdowns and finished his high school career as the central regions career leader in rushing yards at that time. Harris was rated the #1 High School football player coming out of Virginia in 2005.

College career

Harris started as the

' number one

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

, playing the boundary position. During his junior year, he was a first-team all- ACC selection. He had five career touchdowns with Virginia Tech: a 72-yard interception return against

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

in 2006, a 100-yard kickoff return against Clemson, an interception return against

East Carolina University East Carolina University (ECU) is a public university in Greenville, North Carolina, United States. It is the List of universities in North Carolina by enrollment, fourth largest university in North Carolina and the only one in the state with s ...

in 2007 as well as interception returns against Boston College and Duke in 2008. Harris had a total of 15 career interceptions during his career at Virginia Tech. He previously had announced his intentions to leave early and enter the

2008 NFL draft The 2008 NFL draft was the 73rd NFL draft, annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York (state), New York ...

, but subsequently changed his mind and returned for his senior season.

Professional career

Pre-draft

At the 2009 NFL Scouting Combine, Harris recorded 3.98 seconds in the

20-yard shuttle 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 ...

, and 6.68 seconds in the

3 cone drill 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious and cultural significance in many societies ...

. His time in the 20-yard shuttle was the second best among cornerbacks, and his time in the 3 cone drill tied for second.

Philadelphia Eagles

2009 season

Harris was selected by the

in the fifth round (157th overall) of the

. He opened the 2009 NFL regular season as the

starting Start can refer to multiple topics: * Takeoff, the phase of flight where an aircraft transitions from moving along the ground to flying through the air * Starting lineup in sports * Starts use in sport race * Standing start, and rolling start, i ...

free safety, beating out

Quintin Demps Quintin Lamon Demps (born June 29, 1985) is an American college football coach and former safety. He is the head football coach for Judson University, a position he has held since 2023. He played college football at Texas-El Paso, and was select ...

for the job. He was eventually replaced in the starting lineup by Sean Jones. However, the two split the majority of the playing time, and Harris eventually took back the starting position for final two games of the season: against 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

in Week 17 and in the NFC Wild Card Round playoff game.

2010 season

Because Sean Jones was not re-signed in the offseason, Harris was projected to compete for the starting free safety job with

Marlin Jackson Marlin Tyrell Jackson (born June 30, 1983) is an American former professional football player in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Michigan Wolverines, and was recognized as a two-time All-American. The I ...

, and rookie Nate Allen. For the team's preseason mini-camps, however, he took snaps from the cornerback position, the position he played in college. Due to the performance of rookie cornerback

Trevard Lindley Trevard Lindley (born February 2, 1986) is an American former professional football player who was a cornerback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Kentucky Wildcats before being selected by the Philadelphia ...

in the first three preseason games, Harris was switched back to free safety. Harris was waived on September 4.

Washington Redskins

Harris was signed by the

on November 23, 2010. After playing in three games in 2010, he was waived on July 30, 2011.

Pittsburgh Steelers

On August 17, 2011, Harris signed with the

. He waived for final cuts on September 2, 2011.

Saskatchewan Roughriders

Harris signed with the

of the

(CFL) on April 19, 2012. He was released during final cuts on June 24, 2012. Nevertheless, Harris returned to the Riders roster for the 2012 season, recording 7 tackles in 2 games. Harris saw more playing time in his second season in the CFL, collecting 23 tackles and his first career interception. Macho Harris started 16 of 18 regular-season games at defensive back for the Roughriders in 2014, posting a career best 61 tackles, 2 sacks, and 1 fumble recovery. On March 23, 2015, the Riders announced they had signed Harris to a contract extension. In Week 14 of the 2015 CFL Season, Harris had arguably the greatest game of his CFL career, recording 3 interceptions (including a 50-yard pick six) while also recording 3 tackles in a Roughrider win over the Alouettes. Harris's 3 interceptions tied a Roughrider record for the most interceptions in a game.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers

Harris played for the

of the CFL in 2016.

Personal

Macho is the son of Victor Harris and the late Maritza Harris. He lives in Regina, Saskatchewan with his wife Kylie Harris and they recently had a baby girl named Kamila Harris. His father gave him the nickname "Macho" at the age of 2.

References

External links

Saskatchewan Roughriders bio

Macho Harris going pro
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Macho 1986 births Living people People from Highland Springs, Virginia Players of American football from Virginia American football safeties American football cornerbacks Canadian football defensive backs Virginia Tech Hokies football players Philadelphia Eagles players Washington Redskins players Pittsburgh Steelers players Saskatchewan Roughriders players Winnipeg Blue Bombers players 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen Players of Canadian football from Virginia