James Harris

James Larnell "Shack" Harris (born July 20, 1947) is an American former professional football player and executive. He played as a quarterback in the American Football League (AFL) and the National Football League (NFL) with the Buffalo Bills, Los Angeles Rams, and San Diego Chargers. In 1969, Harris became the first Black quarterback to start a season opener for the either the AFL or NFL, and in 1974, he became the first Black quarterback to start an NFL playoff game. After his playing career, Harris worked in the front office for the Detroit Lions, Jacksonville Jaguars, New York Jets, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Baltimore Ravens, where he was a part of the Super Bowl XXXV-winning team.

Early life Harris grew up in Monroe, Louisiana.

Harris attended Carroll High in Monroe, where he led the football team to a Louisiana state championship in his sophomore year, In 1967, he was named MVP of the Orange Blossom Classic.

Professional football career Buffalo Bills Harris was drafted in the eighth round of the 1969 Common draft by the American Football League's Buffalo Bills, and would soon join fellow rookie O. J. Simpson in the starting backfield.

Continuing the American Football League's more liberal (than the NFL's) personnel policies, the Bills made Harris the first black player to start a season at quarterback in the history of pro football. It was his only start for the season, and Harris threw just 24 total passes combined in the other three games he appeared in as the team went 4–10. He scored his first touchdown on a throw to Haven Moses for 39 yards in a 50–21 loss to the Oakland Raiders. He made no starts in 1970, going 24-of-50 for 338 yards with three touchdowns and four interceptions in a year where the Bills went 3–10–1 while using newly drafted Dennis Shaw as their main starter. For his third and last year with the team, he made two starts (both losses) with seven appearances, going 51-of-103 for 512 total yards with one touchdown and six interceptions. After three years with the Bills, Harris was released by the team and signed by the Los Angeles Rams in 1972.

Los Angeles Rams In 1973, Harris was the understudy to veteran John Hadl as the Rams went 12–2 and returned to the playoffs for the first time since 1969. As the 1974 season began, the Rams offense sputtered under Hadl and the team stood at 3–2 after five games. In an effort to spark the Los Angeles offense, Rams head coach Chuck Knox promoted Harris as the starting quarterback. In his starting debut for the Rams against the San Francisco 49ers, Harris completed 12 of 15 passes for 276 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for another as the Rams won easily, 37–14, at the Los Angeles Coliseum. The performance earned Harris a perfect passer rating for the game. Two days later, Hadl was then traded to Green Bay, and Harris became the Rams' first-string quarterback for the remainder of the 1974 season. The football world was stunned by the bold move. However, Harris came through by leading the team to seven wins in its last nine regular-season games. He led the team to its second straight NFC Western Division title, as well as their first playoff victory (19–10 over the Washington Redskins) since 1951. Harris thus became the first African-American quarterback to start and win an NFL playoff game. However, he injured his shoulder very early in the Rams' Week 13 win over the Green Bay Packers; backup Ron Jaworski then led the Rams to wins against Green Bay and the Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers, as well as to a 35–23 win over the St. Louis Cardinals in the divisional playoff game. Knox named Harris the starter for the NFC Championship games vs. Dallas. Harris' first pass was intercepted, and after one more incompletion and a Dallas 21-0 first-quarter lead, he was pulled in favor of Jaworski. It didn't matter as Dallas went on to a 37–7 win.

Harris' injuries continued to give him problems in the 1976 season. The Rams went with three quarterbacks; Harris, Jaworski, and rookie Pat Haden from USC. With Harris injured, Jaworski opened the season as the starter and was injured in the opener. Haden led the team to a comeback tie against the Minnesota Vikings in the second game. Harris, with his throwing shoulder mended, reclaimed his starting job and led the team to two wins, including a 436-yard passing performance against the Miami Dolphins. However, in the next game, on Monday night at home against the San Francisco 49ers, Harris was sacked 10 times and re-injured his shoulder as the Rams were shut out 16–0 at home for the first time since moving to Los Angeles. The Jaworski/Haden platoon led the team to two more wins, then Harris returned again for a win over the then-first-year Seattle Seahawks and a loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. Against the Bengals, however, Harris played poorly and Knox felt like Harris was not fully healthy. After the game, Knox decided to go with Haden as the starter for the rest of the season. There was speculation that owner Carroll Rosenbloom instructed Knox replace Harris with Haden.Under Haden, the Rams won three out of four and the NFC West division title. Knox stuck with Haden in the 1976 playoffs, even though Harris was healthy enough to see action late in the season, including a season-ending comeback win over the Detroit Lions. Haden rushed for a touchdown in the 14-12 playoff win at Dallas. In the NFC title game, the Minnesota special teams and defense led the Vikings to a 24–13 victory to advance to Super Bowl XI. Despite the benching, Harris' 89.6 passer rating that year was tied for the highest in the NFC. It was the first time a black quarterback ever led his conference in that category.

San Diego Chargers Harris was released to the San Diego Chargers prior to the 1977 season. The experience with the Rams hurt him. "I lost my passion," he said in the book Third and a Mile. "Coach Knox was supportive but the owner Carroll Rosenbloom was going over his head.

"As a quarterback, I had done all I could, more than most people could, but it still wasn't enough for the Los Angeles Rams organization to accept me as a quarterback, not a black quarterback," he commented. At the time of his departure, Harris held the highest career completion average of any quarterback in Rams team history (55.4%) and had been an integral part of three straight NFC West Champions. Harris was deeply upset by his trade from a perennial playoff team to a team in rebuilding mode and also by losing his status as a starting quarterback. Nonetheless, Harris maintained a good relationship with Chuck Knox until the latter's death in 2018.

Harris is thought to be the inspiration for the NFL films song, "Ramblin' Man From Gramblin'" composed by Sam Spence.

NFL/AFL career statistics Legend Led the league Bold Career high

Regular season Year Team Games Passing Rushing Sacks 1969 BUF 4 1 0-1 15 36 41.7 270 7.5 55 1 1 65.7 10 25 2.5 9 0 9 70 1970 BUF 7 0 0-0 24 50 48.0 338 6.8 32 3 4 56.9 3 -8 -2.7 1 0 7 63 1971 BUF 7 2 0-2 51 103 49.5 512 5.0 62 1 6 43.0 6 42 7.0 13 0 16 145 1973 RAM 8 0 0-0 7 11 63.6 68 6.2 27 0 0 80.9 4 29 7.3 19 0 0 0 1974 RAM 11 9 7-2 106 198 53.5 1,544 7.8 50 11 6 85.1 42 112 2.7 15 5 12 101 1975 RAM 13 13 11-2 157 285 55.1 2,148 7.5 54 14 15 73.8 18 45 2.5 15 1 21 180 1976 RAM 7 5 3-2 91 158 57.6 1,460 9.2 80 8 6 89.6 12 76 6.3 20 2 14 151 1977 SDG 9 9 4-5 109 211 51.7 1,240 5.9 78 5 11 55.8 10 13 1.3 12 2 12 106 1978 SDG 9 2 0-2 42 88 47.7 518 5.9 34 2 9 34.4 10 7 0.7 9 0 8 43 1979 SDG 8 0 0-0 5 9 55.6 38 4.2 10 0 1 26.4 6 26 4.3 18 0 2 15 Career 83 41 25-16 607 1,149 52.8 8,136 7.1 80 45 59 67.3 121 367 3.0 20 10 101 874

Playoffs Year Team Games Passing Rushing Sacks 1973 RAM 1 0 0-0 0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 1974 RAM 2 2 1-1 21 47 44.7 343 7.3 73 2 4 48.4 9 34 3.8 8 0 2 29 1975 RAM 1 1 0-1 0 2 0.0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 Career 4 3 1-2 21 49 42.9 343 7.0 73 2 5 41.0 9 34 3.8 29 0 2 29

Front office career In 1987, Harris began his front office career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. During his tenure, the Ravens won Super Bowl XXXV. He also served on the NFL subcommittee on college relations.

On February 2, 2009, the Detroit Free Press reported that the Detroit Lions were set to hire Harris as a personnel executive. On February 12, 2009, the Detroit Lions officially named Harris as Senior Personnel Executive. Lions General Manager Martin Mayhew has a long history with Harris, and indicated he was the only individual who was offered the job. Harris assisted in all areas of player personnel in an advisory role.

Shack Harris & Doug Williams Foundation In collaboration with Doug Williams, Harris established the Shack Harris & Doug Williams Foundation in 2005. The BCF-HOF ceremonies are presented annually by the Shack Harris & Doug Williams Foundation. Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Most Powerful African Americans in Sports, Black Enterprise, 2005 National Quarterback Club Hall of Fame Onyx Awards of Achievement in Sports, Onyx Magazine, 2023 Paul "Tank" Younger Award, "for his efforts to promote diversity and equity in sports," Fritz Pollard Alliance, 2006 Southwestern Athletic Conference Hall of Fame Top 50 Most Influential Minorities, Sports Illustrated, 2003 and 2004