Ryan Emerson Wilcox Harris (born March 11, 1985) 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 ...

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive (military), type of military operation * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Fighting words, spoken words which would have a tendency to cause acts of violence by the ...

who played 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). He was selected by the

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 ...

in the third round of the

2007 NFL draft The 2007 NFL draft was the 72nd annual meeting of National Football League franchises to select newly eligible American football players. It took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 28 and April 29, 2007. The draf ...

and was also a member of 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 ...

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

, 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 ...

. With the Broncos, he won

Super Bowl 50 Super Bowl 50 was an American football game to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2015 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos defeated the National Football Conference (NFC) ...

over 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

. 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 ...

at Notre Dame. Ryan Harris works as an analyst for select NFL games on Westwood One.

Early life

Harris attended

Cretin-Derham Hall High School Cretin-Derham Hall High School (CDH) is a private, co-educational Catholic high school in Saint Paul, Minnesota operated by the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. It is co-sponsored by the Brothers of the Christian Schools and the Sis ...

St. Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 311,527, making it Minnesota's second-most populous city a ...

and was a

letterman Letterman may refer to: * Letterman (sports), a classification of high school or college athlete in the United States People * David Letterman (born 1947), American television talk show host ** ''Late Night with David Letterman'', talk show that ...

and

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

. In wrestling, he was a two-year letterman and an All-Conference honoree. He played in the 2003

U.S. Army All-American Bowl The All-American Bowl (currently branded as the Navy All-American Bowl for sponsorship reasons) is a high school football all-star game, held annually at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Typically played in January, the All-American Bowl is p ...

with fellow Notre Dame teammates

Brady Quinn Brayden Tyler "Brady" Quinn (born October 27, 1984) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons. He played college football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, where ...

, John Carlson,

Victor Abiamiri Victor Ikechukwu Abiamiri (born January 14, 1986) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive end for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Notre Dame Fightin ...

and Tom Zbikowski.

College career

Heavily recruited by Notre Dame,

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

, Miami (FL), and

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, Harris committed to play for the Fighting Irish, where he started at offensive tackle for four seasons.

Professional career

Denver Broncos (first stint)

Harris was drafted by the

as a 3rd round pick (70th overall) in the 2007 NFL draft. In the 2008 season, Harris only allowed 1.5 sacks on QB

Jay Cutler Jay Christopher Cutler (born April 29, 1983) is an American former professional American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons. A member of the Chicago Bears for most of his career, he is ...

. In the 2009 season, Harris only started and played in 8 games. He dislocated two toes in a game on November 1, 2009. The injury kept him out the rest of season and was placed on Injured Reserve on December 9.

Philadelphia Eagles

On August 2, 2011, the

signed him to a one-year contract. After undergoing back surgery, Harris was waived/injured on September 3, 2011. He was released with an injury settlement as well.

Denver Broncos (second stint)

On January 2, 2012, Harris was signed by the Broncos as an injury replacement for Chris Kuper. Harris was released by the Broncos on August 31, 2012, and signed by the Houston Texans on September 1, 2012, to replace an injured Rashad Butler who was lost for the season to injury.

Houston Texans

The

claimed Harris off waivers on September 3, 2012. He re-signed with the Texans on April 9, 2013.

Kansas City Chiefs

On July 24, 2014, Harris signed with the

Denver Broncos (third stint)

Harris signed with the Broncos on May 28, 2015. He was signed to replace injured offensive tackle Ryan Clady who was injured on May 28, 2015, due to an ACL tear sustained during the Broncos' OTA's. On February 7, 2016, Harris was part of the Broncos team that won

. In the game, the Broncos defeated the

by a score of 24–10.

Pittsburgh Steelers

Harris signed a two-year, $3.2 million contract with the

on March 15, 2016. Harris played in 39 of the Steelers offensive snaps before it was announced on October 4, 2016, that he was questionable for the Week 5 matchup against the New York Jets. He was ruled out due to a shin/hematoma injury. On October 8, 2016, Harris was placed on injured reserve and was ruled out for the rest of the season. On March 3, 2017, Harris announced his retirement from professional football.

Personal life

Harris is a devout

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

. Before finding his faith, he was raised in the church of

Unitarian Universalism Unitarian Universalism (abbreviated UUism or UU) is a liberal religious tradition characterized by its commitment to theological diversity, inclusivity, and social justice. Unitarian Universalists do not adhere to a single creed or doctrine. I ...

, at Unity Church Unitarian in St. Paul. In the summer before attending Notre Dame, Harris was featured on the

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

show ''

True Life ''True Life'' is an American Television documentary, documentary television series that aired on MTV from March 31, 1998 to June 21, 2017. Each episode follows a particular topic, such as heroin addiction as in the first episode – "Fatal Dose". ...

'' in a documentary entitled "I Want the Perfect Body", back in 2003. He is currently an on-air host at

KKSE-FM KKSE-FM (92.5 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Broomfield, Colorado, and serving the Denver metropolitan area and Northern Colorado. KKSE-FM airs a sports talk format branded as "Altitude Sports 92.5 FM." KKSE-FM has studios on ...

radio.

References

External links

Notre Dame Fighting Irish bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Ryan 1985 births Living people Players of American football from Minneapolis African-American Muslims Muslims from Minnesota Converts to Islam American football offensive tackles Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players Denver Broncos players Philadelphia Eagles players Houston Texans players 21st-century American sportsmen Kansas City Chiefs players Pittsburgh Steelers players