PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Eagles practice squad safety Anthony Harris is doubling down on a positive message to kids about how to handle adversity, just as he had handled the adversity of being initially cut from the final 53-man roster Tuesday.
On the same day the Eagles initially released the 30-year-old Harris — related to a trade for safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson — Harris honored a prior commitment he had made to take a dozen CLS Mustangs youth football players back-to-school shopping at Dick’s Sporting Goods in Cherry Hill. He took that hard journey before the Eagles officially named him to the practice squad Wednesday.
Harris told NBC Sports Philadelphia he wanted to take the opportunity on Tuesday to continue using his platform.
“I wanted to come out here and show kids that, regardless how the day goes, how life goes, adversity is gonna hit sometimes,” Harris said. “Some things that you didn't quite plan for are gonna pop up. And it's not what happened. It's just how you respond.”
Harris — a starter last year, who was re-signed in the offseason to a one-year deal — did not appear to be on his way out of the Eagles on Tuesday as the 4 p.m. deadline to trim their roster to 53 players approached. However, the trading for Gardner-Johnson evidently led to exactly that.
“Today I wanted to come out and make sure that I share that message of, wherever you wanna go, it's never gonna be easy. It'll be adversity. It'll be some tough days, but you just handle it with stride and continue to … do the things that you can control and let the things just take life's natural courses as well.”
Harris also stressed the importance of education, staying out of trouble and being helpful to others, when he spoke to the gathered CLS Mustangs players at the store. He said playing in the NFL would not have been possible for him if he had not done well in school.
NFL general managers and coaches often talk about how difficult cut-down day is. It’s clear in their voices that they loathe every second of letting guys go after the effort they put in throughout the summer.
Eagles General Manager Howie Roseman said cutting Harris on Tuesday wasn’t easy.
“One of the tough conversations, it's with Anthony Harris today,” Roseman said. “I think that was one that [head coach Nick Sirianni and I] were not really looking forward to — but what a pro he is. And like everything he does, he handles everything gracefully.
“We felt like, since there was a possibility that his role had changed from when we had signed him [before the 2021 season], that because we were looking at options, he also deserved to kind of look at options himself. Obviously, you don't want to close any doors on anyone or anything right now.”
Roseman’s talk about not closing doors suggested a possibility — however small or big it may be — that Harris could be brought back. That's what happened Wednesday with his placement on the practice squad.
Harris definitely displayed his strong character on the temporary way out of Philadelphia, before his new way back to the Eagles.
Related
