Clifford Allen Harris (born November 12, 1948) is an American former professional football player who was a safety for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL) for ten seasons. A Pro Football Hall of Famer, he appeared in five Super Bowls and was selected to six consecutive Pro Bowls. Harris retired from football at 31 to focus on his work within the oil business.
Early years
Born in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Harris started his football career as a backup quarterback at Hot Springs High School, but moved to Des Arc High School for his senior season.
Harris was only offered a scholarship to Ouachita Baptist University (OBU) in Arkadelphia, after his father's roommate at Ouachita convinced head coach Buddy Benson to do it. Harris' father, O.J "Buddy" Harris, also played football for OBU. In college, Cliff became an accomplished defensive back. He played all of the secondary positions and was a quality kick returner. He was named to two All-Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference (AIC) teams and was part of the 1966 AIC Football Championship team during his freshman season. Harris was part of the track and field team and graduated with a double major in math and physics.
In addition to the Pro Football Hall of Fame (2020), Harris has been inducted into numerous other athletic halls of fame, including the Texas Sports Hall of Fame (2015), the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame (1985), the NAIA Hall of Fame (1978) and the Ouachita Athletics Hall of Fame (2003).
Professional career
Harris was not chosen in the 1970 NFL draft, but the Cowboys invited him to training camp and he signed as a free agent. He beat out Cowboys third-round draft choice Charlie Waters (who did not crack the starting lineup until the retirement of Cornell Green following the 1974 season) for the starting free safety position his rookie year. Military service caused him to miss the second half of the season, although he returned in time for Super Bowl V and never relinquished the position after 1971. Harris was a key member of the Cowboys Super Bowl VI winning team in the following season, intercepting 2 passes and recovering three fumbles, while also ranking 3rd in the NFL with a 28.4 yards per kickoff return average.
He eventually teamed up with Waters to form the top safety duo in the NFL in the 1970s. Harris made it a point to wear the pads of placekickers in order to keep his speed and quickness up.
Harris won another Super Bowl with the Cowboys in the 1977 season, intercepting 5 passes that year. He also played in Super Bowl X and Super Bowl XIV, both losses to the Pittsburgh Steelers, making him one of the few players to play in all five of Dallas' Super Bowl appearances in the 1970s. Harris gained some infamy in Super Bowl X for an incident after Steelers kicker Roy Gerela missed a third quarter field goal that would have tied the game (his second miss of the day). After the play, he mockingly hugged Gerala and patted him on his helmet, resulting Harris being violently shoved to the ground by Steelers linebacker Jack Lambert. Gerela went on to make his next two field goal attempts and help the Steelers win the game.
Harris was nicknamed "Captain Crash" by his teammates for his punishing hits and reckless pursuit of ball carriers and was also described as a "rolling ball of butcher knives" by hall of fame head coach George Allen. Pro Football Hall of Fame safety Larry Wilson said of Harris, "I feel Harris is the finest free safety in the business today. He changed the way the position is being played. You see other teams modeling their free safeties around the way Harris plays the pass, and striking fear in everyone on the field because he hits so hard.". The Cowboys' defense ranked in the top 10 every year with him in the lineup.
He is one of only 13 players in NFL history to play in five Super Bowls, was chosen for the Pro Bowl six consecutive times and was voted First-team All-Pro four times. The Cowboys were surprised when Harris announced his retirement in March 1980 at the age of 31 to concentrate on his oil business ventures. Sports Illustrated writers named him their Football Dream Team free safety. In 2004, he was a finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame and was added to the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor. He was also selected to the National Football League 1970s All-Decade Team and the Cowboys Silver Season All-Time Team in 1984. In 2011, the Professional Football Researchers Association named Harris to the PRFA Hall of Very Good Class of 2011