Pt. 1 | Me? Play football? Nah, man.

The NFL Draft is upon us. Personally, I’m not a big fan of watching every minute of it on TV. However, one year I made an exception and watched quite a bit of it...

2005 -- The year I was drafted.

I can’t believe it’s been seven years since I was drafted! Man, time flies! I can’t believe it happened that long ago! Despite quite a few years having passed, I still remember my draft experience like it happened only a minute ago. If you’re interested in hearing about it, here’s how it went down...

Just like most players will tell you... My draft experience was an interesting one. Obviously, I, along with a bunch of my family and friends, was very excited to find out which team was going to select me. So, to keep the excitement on high, we decided to invite everyone over to my Mom and Dad's house on Saturday -- back then, the draft happened on Saturday and Sunday -- for a little pre-draft party. (Well, I guess it really wasn’t a “party,” but we definitely had a nice-sized gathering of people over for a BBQ.)

That Saturday, if I remember correctly, I think I only watched the first round on TV. Never in a million years did I think I’d be selected on the first day. After all... Considering how unexpected it was in the first place that I was even being CONSIDERED as a potential NFL player was unbelievable in and of itself. IF I was going to be drafted by a team, I thought it would happen on the second day, maybe in the fourth or fifth round. So on Saturday, I was in chill-mode, because an opening day selection just didn’t seem to be in the cards for me. And, sure enough, it wasn’t.

Now don't you go off and think I was being pessimistic about not being selected on the first day! I was just being a realist! Many of you don’t know this, but becoming an NFL football player was never a dream of mine. I actually wanted to play baseball in the big leagues, as it was my favorite sport. Up until my senior year of high school, the thought of playing football had never crossed my mind.

Seriously! Football wasn’t my game! Baseball was! In fact, the only time I played football before college was during my senior year of high school. And I guess I played pretty well during that one year, because colleges started calling, wanting me to come play ball for them.

The University of Arkansas was where I really wanted to go to college, but they wanted me to walk on to the team. Fortunately, the University of Louisiana at Monroe (ULM) -- the only Division 1 school to approach me -- offered a scholarship. So, between those two schools, ULM won out. My parents didn’t raise a fool! I was going to go where the money was at!

My freshman year at ULM, I was a starter as a red shirt. I was also a starter my sophomore and junior year. As someone who was new to playing football, I surprisingly played well during those seasons. That’s when I began to think...

“OH! Maybe I’m actually pretty good at this! I wonder if I could cut it in the NFL?!”

How I performed during my senior season would determine whether or not anyone thought of me as a pro-baller. Personally, I was confident in my ability to play the game at a higher level. But, literally, “small” condition was going to potentially stand in my way of earning the NFL’s attention...

Pt. 2 | There Was One Small Problem...

Up until my senior year of high school, I always wanted to be a major league baseball player. Never did I imagine the NFL would come calling my name. But it did, thanks to God’s good graces, which allowed me to jump head-first into this new sport, and actually be pretty damn good at it -- Good enough that I was able to play college football at The University of Louisiana at Monroe. But, if I was to get noticed by NFL scouts and potentially make it to “the show,” there was an obstacle I was going to have to overcome...

ULM is a small school, man. No matter how talented you are on the field, there was always a thought racing around in the back of my head asking...

“Will I get noticed by the NFL here in Monroe?”

Don’t get me wrong... I’m not rippin’ on ULM for being small. I loved the school! It was there that I got a great education and, obviously, enjoyed a lot of success playing football. The unfortunate fact of the matter was that ULM didn’t have the same level of notoriety that the bigger schools got. That’s why I was nervous about my chances of the NFL taking notice of me.

But, yet once again, HE was watching out for me, because agents began calling during my senior year.

Now that agents were calling, I was like... “This NFL-thing could be for real!” It was crazy! There I was, a kid with big league dreams, being thought of as a potential professional football player! Luck had struck and ULM’s size wasn’t going to get in my way of this new and unexpected path my life was seemingly taking me. This is why, when I talk with young guys who play ball at smaller schools, I always tell them that it doesn’t matter where you’re playing, because, if you’re good, they’ll find you.

Sunday, the second day of the 2005 NFL Draft, had arrived. The day prior, my family and friends had a BBQ and watched some of the TV broadcast of the first day’s selections. I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to get drafted that first day, so our get-together was a bit more toned-down in comparison to how I hoped Sunday would be.

Before any draft-watching began that Sunday, my family and I went to church so we could start the day off on a positive note. Once Sunday service was over, we all took our good energy back to the house, hoping and praying for good news to come...

Pt. 3 | ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!

Honestly, for the longest time, I thought I was going to be selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars. We had spoken several times and they always had good things to say about me. But that thought was quickly put to rest when their fifth-round selection was a safety. If I remember correctly, I think it was Gerald Sensabaugh.

After that news went crawling across the screen I, obviously, became a little bummed-out and decided to stop watching the draft for a while. From that point on, I decided that if it’s meant to be, the news would eventually come calling. In the meantime, I went and chilled in the back room of my Mom and Dad’s house, half pissed, half hopeful my big moment was still going to come.

After Jacksonville picked a safety other than myself, my mind was all over the place. I didn’t know what to think. All I could do was stay positive. But, as we all know, some things are easier said than done.

Then the phone rang. The caller ID said “0000000000.”

YEZZZZIIIIIIIR! This HAD to be the call I was waiting for! Quickly, I answered...

“Hello. How are you doing?” …said the man on the other line. (I know this sounds crazy, but, to this very day, I’m STILL not sure who that man was. I think it was Lovie Smith.)

My reply: “I’d be doing a lot better if you would tell me you’re about to draft me!”

He laughed and said... “Well, we’re about to select you in the sixth round. So congratulations -- You’re going to be a Chicago Bear!”

After hearing some of the best news I’ve ever heard in my life, I ran to the TV with a huge smile on my face and read this on ESPN's draft ticker...

“The Chicago Bears select Chris Harris (Safety - University of Louisiana at Monroe) as their sixth round draft pick.”

Watching those words scroll across the screen stands as one the happiest moments of my life.

Almost in tears, I rushed outside to find my family crying their eyes out. They were so proud of me! Shoot -- I WAS PROUD OF ME!

There I was, jumping up and down, feeling happier than I’d ever felt before! I -- someone who was NOT supposed to be in the position I was currently in -- was going to be a Chicago Bear! The moment was unbelievable! I mean, if you take a good, hard look at my life as it led up to that very moment, and compared it with other people who’ve been drafted, you’d assume that I’d never stand a chance of making it as far as I had made it! But I did! SHOCKINGLY, I did!

Shortly after my name scrolled across the screen, my phone began ringing...and ringing...and ringing! I’d answer one call from a friend who was congratulating me while three others were beeping in at the same time. I swear to you... My voicemail was completely full in just under three minutes! Never in my life had I experienced that much love and support at one time! It was a high I’ll never, ever forget.

To this day, I still have trouble wrapping my head around the fact that I’ve been a six-year starter for two incredible NFL teams. God has definitely showed me favor by gracing me with the life of my dreams. And for that I say... God is good -- God is SO good.

Listen-up, people . . . Life can treat YOU just as well as it’s treated me. If you simply work hard, stay determined, and keep God on your side, you, too, will find that ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE. I’m a living witness to that fact. So Bear Down and believe it...