Athletes - James Harris

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	Athletes - James Harris

James Harris (born 1947) and played college football for the Grambling State University Tigers from 1965 to 1968. Under the guidance of head coach Eddie Robinson (football's winningest coach) Grambling won or shared all four SWAC titles while Harris was a player and he was named MVP of the 1967 Orange Blossum Classic. He was drafted in the eighth round of the 1969 draft by the Buffalo Bills and would soon join fellow rookie O.J. Simpson in the starting backfield. He was the first black player to start a football season as quarterback for a professional American football team in the modern era, doing so in 1969 for the American Football League's Buffalo Bills against the Super Bowl Champion New York Jets. It was his only start in an injury plagued season. He was also the second black player to start a game as quarterback in the modern era for a professional football team. Marlin Brisco of the Denver Broncos was the first in 1968. Interestingly, a few of Harris's completions in 1969 went to Marlin Brisco, who had been traded to the Bills and converted to a receiver. After three years with the Bills "Jimmy" (or "Jim") Harris joined the Los Angeles Rams in 1972 and became "James" Harris. A characteristic of all Chuck Knox coached 1970's Rams teams was a quarterback controversy and Harris would split playing time with John Hadl, Ron Jaworski, and Pat Haden in this merry-go-round. After an up and down year in 1976 in which he had the highest passer rating in the NFL (89.8%) and the best individual performance of his career with 436 yards passing in win against the Miami Dolphins, he was also at the helm when the Rams suffered their first regular season shut out in Los Angeles Coliseum history at the hands of a weak San Francisco 49ers team and ended the season on the bench. In early 1977 he was traded to the San Diego Chargers to make room for Joe Namath (and to free up the number twelve jersey for Namath). When he left the Rams he had the highest career completion average of any quarterback in team history (55.4%) and had been a intregal part of four straight NFC West Champions. He played three years for the Chargers, but without much success and his career petered out at the end of the 1979 season. Known by friends and family as "Shack", he is currently the vice president for player personnel for the Jacksonville Jaguars. He has been inducted into the SWAC Hall of Fame, the Grambling Athletic Hall of Fame, and Louisiana Sports Hall of fame. He also serves on the NFL subcommitte on college relations.

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