Wayne Harris
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Carroll Wayne Harris (May 4, 1938 – June 4, 2015) was 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 ...
player who was a
linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...
for the
Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium a ...
of the
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) from 1961 through 1972. His son, Wayne Harris, Jr., coaches football and also played for the Stampeders of the CFL.


Early life and college

Harris was a high school all-American for the El Dorado, Arkansas High School Wildcats and played collegiately for
University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States. It is the Flagship campus, flagship campus of the University of Arkan ...
Razorbacks from 1957 to 1960. In 1960, he was selected as the outstanding player in the
Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference also included schools from Oklaho ...
and played in the
Cotton Bowl Classic The Cotton Bowl Classic (also known as the Cotton Bowl) is an American college football bowl game played annually in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex since January 1, 1937. The game was originally played at its Cotton Bowl (stadium), namesake ...
and the
All-American Bowl The All-American Bowl was an annual postseason college football bowl game played at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama from 1977 to 1990. The game was known as the Hall of Fame Classic from 1977 to 1985. In 1986, the National Football Foundatio ...
. He was nicknamed "Thumper".


Professional career

Harris was drafted by the
Boston Patriots Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and financial center of New England, a region of the Northeastern United States. It has an area of and a ...
of the
American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, AFL–NFL merger, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Foot ...
, but opted to play in
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 ...
for 12 years, all with the
Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium a ...
. He won the Outstanding Lineman Award a record 4 times. He was named all-Western Conference 11 times and all-Canadian 9 times, appearing in 3
Grey Cup The Grey Cup () is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested between the winners ...
finals: the 56th Grey Cup of 1968, the
58th Grey Cup The 58th Grey Cup was played on November 28, 1970, before 32,669 fans at CNE Stadium in Toronto. The Montreal Alouettes defeated the Calgary Stampeders 23–10. The 1970 Grey Cup marks the only time in CFL history that two third-place teams have m ...
of 1970, and the 59th Grey Cup of 1971, the latter being the only victory, when he was named Most Outstanding Player in the game. His jersey #55 was
retired Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...
by the Stampeders in 1973.


Awards & Legacy

Harris has been inducted into the
Canadian Football Hall of Fame The Canadian Football Hall of Fame (CFHOF) is a not-for-profit corporation, located in Hamilton, Ontario, that celebrates achievements in Canadian football. It is maintained by the Canadian Football League (CFL). It includes displays about the CFL, ...
, the
College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive Tourist attraction, attraction devoted to college football, college American football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players ...
(2004), the
Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...
Sports Hall of Fame, Arkansas' all-century team for the 20th century, and the
Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...
Sports Hall of Fame. In November 2006, Harris was voted 9th among the CFL's Top 50 players of the league's modern era by Canadian sports network
The Sports Network The Sports Network (TSN) is a Canadian English language discretionary sports specialty channel owned by the Sports Network Inc., a subsidiary of CTV Specialty Television, which is also a joint venture of Bell Media (70%), also owned by BCE ...
/TSN, no linebacker being ahead of him. In 2012 in honour of the
100th Grey Cup The 100th Grey Cup was a Canadian football game between the East Division champion Toronto Argonauts and the West Division champion Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League to decide the Grey Cup champions of the 2012 season. The ga ...
,
Canada Post Canada Post Corporation (, trading as Canada Post (), is a Canadian Crown corporation that functions as the primary postal operator in Canada. Originally known as Royal Mail Canada (the operating name of the Post Office Department of the Can ...
used his image on a series of commemorative postage stamps. The image was also used on presentation posters and other materials to promote the Grey Cup game and other celebrations associated with the centennial.


Later life and death

Wayne worked for CanTex drilling as vice president and general manager of operation and served on the CAODC. He died June 4, 2015, at the age of 77.Calgary Stampeder great Wayne ‘Thumper’ Harris dies at 77
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Further reading

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Wayne 1938 births 2015 deaths Arkansas Razorbacks football players Players of Canadian football from Arkansas Calgary Stampeders players Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductees Canadian football linebackers College Football Hall of Fame inductees People from Hampton, Arkansas Players of American football from Arkansas