James Harris (quarterback)
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| Position: | Quarterback | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Date of birth: | July 20, 1947 | ||||||||||||||
| Place of birth: | Monroe, Louisiana | ||||||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight: | 210 lb (95 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| College: | Grambling State | ||||||||||||||
| NFL Draft: | 1969 / Round: 8 / Pick: 192 | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
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| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||
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| Pass attempts: | 1,149 |
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| Pass completions: | 607 |
| Percentage: | 52.8 |
| TD–INT: | 45–59 |
| Passing Yards: | 8,136 |
| QB Rating: | 67.3 |
| Player stats at NFL.com | |
James Larnell "Shack" Harris (born July 20, 1947) is a former American football executive and former player. He also was a senior personnel executive for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL). He played as a quarterback in the American Football League (AFL) and the NFL with the Buffalo Bills, Los Angeles Rams, and San Diego Chargers. Harris is the inspiration for the song "Ramblin' Man From Gramblin'" composed by Sam Spence. His nickname Shack is short for Meshach which was given to him by his Baptist minister father.
Harris played college football for the Grambling State University Tigers from 1965 to 1968. Under the guidance of head coach Eddie Robinson, Grambling won or shared all four Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) titles while Harris was a player and he was named MVP of the 1967 Orange Blossom Classic.
Harris was drafted in the eighth round of the 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. Harris was also just the second black player in the modern era to start in any game as quarterback for a professional football team. Wide receiver Marlin Briscoe, of the AFL's Denver Broncos, had been the first to start a game at quarterback in 1968, and a few of Harris's completions in 1969 went to Briscoe, who, by that time, had been traded to the Bills and had been converted to the position of receiver. After three years with the Bills, Harris was released by the team and signed by the Los Angeles Rams in 1972.
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