I remember when the 2017 NFL draft came around I was so excited to see which of my favorite players would be picked up by an NFL team. One of the players I was most anticipating was Charles Harris, a safety out of Missouri. I honestly thought he was a lock to get drafted to a team.
It was a very tense few days waiting for the draft decisions to come out and I was anxiously checking all the mock drafts and sports news websites to see what names they were predicting would come off the board in the draft. Charles Harris was one of the names that everyone had ranked to be a surefire draft pick, but as the drafts started to pass and I saw his name wasn’t being picked as I had expected, my heart sank.
I was shocked when I heard Charles had gone undrafted. I had never seen a prospect with his talent and size be let slip through the cracks like that. He had great numbers in all of his pre-draft workouts and he had been gaining some serious national attention leading up to the draft. Everyone seemed so high on him and just like that he was passed up all 7 rounds.
I couldn’t help but feel a little upset, not only for Charles himself, but for my team, the Minnesota Vikings. I was quietly hoping that they would pick him up and to be honest I couldn’t believe that none of the 32 teams saw his potential. I was hoping the Vikings would be the team to add him to their roster but it seemed like they too were overlooking Charles Harris.
Despite being undrafted, Charles Harris was luckily signed to the Cincinnati Bengals after the draft. It was a huge weight off my chest to see him still getting his shot in the NFL but there was definitely a sense of disappointment as I knew he could of been a huge help to the team and potentially even had made a slight difference in that years season.
The Bengals weren’t the only team that had their eye on Charles Harris. The Philadelphia Eagles were reportedly very interested in him but just as they were going to add him to the roster, the Bengals swooped in and offered him a contract. It was pretty evident even then that Harris had the makings of a promising player – he was just an unlucky victim of circumstance.
The signs that the Bengals saw in Harris have since definitely proven to be true, he’s been a great presence on the team and if you watched this season you would see he’s an important part of the defense. He’s a great safety, tackling machine, he’s always around the ball and he’s just full of energy and enthusiasm.
Despite the unfortunate circumstances surrounding the draft, it all came to fruition in the end for Charles Harris and because of this he’s been thriving in the NFL and I couldn’t be happier for him. If it wasn’t for the Bengals taking a chance on him, who knows where Harris might have ended up.
Now that Charles had been able to make it to the NFL, he had more opportunities to make a name for himself and show the world what he could do. With increased national attention and some great opportunities, Harris quickly became one of the most popular players on the Bengals roster. He was constantly talking about his experiences in the NFL, inspiring countless young players who wanted to make it in the league themselves one day.
Harris was also featured in film and TV commercials, landed sponsorships and endorsement deals, and was even invited to speak in schools and give lectures at different events. It was clear that Charles had made a huge impact on the team and reference began building for him.
What made Charles Harris such a unique story was that despite being undrafted out of college, he still went on to have such a successful career in the NFL. Most players in his position would have crumbled under the pressure and just accepted being undrafted, but Charles still kept pushing, kept working and eventually made it to the top. It was really inspirational to see someone go out of their way to achieve their dream and it definitely gave the underdogs like myself hope that anything is possible if you keep believing and working hard.