Striving To Be The Best
Nov 5, 2001 | Football
Nov. 5, 2001
NEW ORLEANS, La. - Being the best is never easy. Neither is being a leader. But Tulane senior wide receiver Terrell Harris has made both accomplishments look easy.
Voted team captain in the offseason, the three-year starter has been a leader on the field with his standout play and his competitive fire has helped him become one of the best players on the Tulane squad. Going into this weekend's game against Navy, Harris has a 27-game streak with at least one reception, and ranks third on the team in receptions and receiving yards with 39 catches for 504 yards and three touchdowns.
"The biggest thing I say is that if I'm going to do something, I'm going to do the best that I can," Harris says. "I try and go into practice and into games with the attitude that I am the best. Having confidence in yourself, your teammates and coaching goes a long way."
That confidence has helped Harris not only become one the best receivers on the Tulane team, but one of the best in Green Wave history. In three-plus years in the Olive and Blue, Harris already ranks sixth in career receptions with 150 and ranks 11th in receiving yards with 1,512. He also has four 100-yard receiving games under his belt, including a career-best 133 yards on nine catches in the season opener at BYU in the BCA Classic.
"He wants to be the best, no matter what it takes," wide receivers coach Trooper Taylor says. "If it's catching balls of the JUGGS machine or doing work during the positional meetings, he's going to strive to be the best.
"He's been blessed with a strong family and they've been able to provide him with just about everything he needs. Usually those types of kids are hard to work with because they don't want for anything. But Terrell plays like he comes from nothing. He's always hungry and always working to get better."
Harris' work has paid off in the form of big numbers. But what impresses Taylor more is his unselfish attitude.
"He's going to work harder than anybody on the field and do what he has to do to get open," Taylor says. "He's a team player. Roydell (Williams) gets a lot of catches, but that's because they're double covering Terrell. He's a totally unselfish person. But if we're in a tough situation, we can always go to him. He's the guy we go to in the clutch."
While Harris' numbers are impressive on the surface, the numbers are even more eye-popping when you realize that the 5-10 wideout is running routes out of the slot position and he often goes over the middle where linebackers and safety's lurk looking to put a big hit on their opponents. And while Harris is aware that the big boys on defense hang out in the middle of the field, his determination supersedes any fear of the big hit.
"You're always going to hear footsteps," Harris says. "You know they're there, but you're going to get hit regardless so you might as well catch the ball. I've got to be a playmaker. When they call on me, I just have to step out and get the job done."
Harris' drive to be the best is not something he picked up after joining the Green Wave in 1998 after a stellar prep career at Shaw High School. His high level of intensity was evident with the Eagles as he wrapped up his high school career as the school's all-time leader in receptions (89), yards (1,973), yards per reception (22.2) and receiving touchdowns (23). As a prep senior, Harris hauled in 48 passes for 1,117 yards and 12 touchdowns, earning USA Today All-USA honorable mention recognition and Max Emfinger All-America honors.
"I remember our first game together," senior offensive lineman Torie Taulli, who played with Harris at Shaw and at Tulane, says. "We were playing freshman football and on the first play of game, we ran a reverse and he scored a touchdown. From that game on, we ran a reverse to him and he scored every time. If there was such a thing as Freshman Team All-American, he definitely would have been one.
"He's gotten better and better each year, too. He works hard in everything that he does simply because he wants to be the best."
One of the things that was new for Harris in college, however, was his switch from being a prep speed receiver to being a collegiate possession receiver. But like everything else he has attempted during his football career, Harris accepted his role change and began working to become the best slot receiver on the club.
"Once I got here, I had to get used to going against linebackers, getting jammed a lot at the line of scrimmage and having to deal with the safety coming over the top," Harris says. "I've always considered myself a big receiver and a strong receiver. Defenders like to get up on you and bump you coming out of the blocks, and the coaches have helped me a lot with the technique to stop from getting jammed. Speed helps with the linebackers."
In fact, Harris' drive to preparing for the punishment of being a slot receiver almost cost him.
"We worked out a lot together during the summer," Taulli said. "He was benching somewhere around 360 pounds and he actually got too big to do the things he needed to do on the football field. He was in there every day working, though. And when he was done working out, he'd take off running, and I think that shows a lot of character on his part."
And while his on-the-field accomplishments have impressed his coaches, his off-the-field demeanor is something that leaves an impression as well.
"He and I have grown really close," Taylor says. "And when I say I love the kid - I really love the kid. He's never been a guy we've had on a list for missing class or study hall. He's the true definition of a student-athlete."
When asked how he would like to be remembered, Harris said "I want to me someone that people thought had a great attitude on and off the field."
Harris can simply consider that another goal accomplished and another step to being the best to don a Green Wave uniform.
