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11 things to know about new Bills RB Damien Harris

Nick Wojton
·5 min read

Here are 11 things to know about new Buffalo Bills running back Damien Harris:

Ridiculously productive in college at a place that doesn't happen

Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

Harris was a third-round pick by the New England Patriots in 2019. That came after a four-year career at Alabama where he rushed for more than 3,000 yards.

Harris was one of the most consistent run producers in SEC history, averaging 6.45 yards per carry for his career to rank third in SEC history behind on Bo Jackson and Derrius Guice. Decent company to say the least.

Something about the Bills

(AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)

Harris, 26, has played four times against the Bills during the regular season. In those New England-Buffalo showdowns, he has three 100-yard games and averages a touchdown-per-game.

Harris won’t be doing that against the Bills anymore, thankfully, since he’s now signed with the team. But he admitted during in introductory press conference that Buffalo brought the best out in him… as an opponent, as least.

“I always said that playing against the Bills, I felt like brought out the best in me as a competitor and as a player,” Harris said.

Has to stay healthy

Credit: Brian Fluharty-USA TODAY Sports

One area Harris has to improve upon in the NFL is the aspect of staying healthy. The best ability can be availability.

In his career, Harris has not played a full season. He’s had a slew of injuries in the pros but has played through some.

Per Banged Up Bills, some of injuries those include: hamstring (2019), broken finger (2020), ankle (2020), concussion (2021), and a thigh (2022). Visit Banged up Bills for more.

Has split carries plenty

(AP Photo/Winslow Townson)

Derrick Henry, Kenyan Drake, Josh Jacobs, Jalen Hurts, Najee Harris, Brian Robinson, Sony Michel, Cam Newton, Rhamondre Stevenson.

With the Bills, Harris will play in a tandem with James Cook. He shouldn’t have a problem with that.

The list of players above are some of the names Harris has split carries with during his time with Alabama and the Patriots.

Beyond the field

Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Harris has accomplished a lot in life. Two national titles and an NFL career. He’ll hope to add a Super Bowl in Buffalo, but there’s one thing nobody can take from him: His degree.

He graduated from Alabama after studying communications. Harris was raised by a single mother, Lynn, and was the first person in his family to graduate college.

“Getting my degree is my greatest accomplishment to date,” Harris told Patriots.com.

Already has post-football career in mind

Teased already, Harris studied communications at Alabama–And not just for the heck of it. He wants to be an analyst some day:

Already some Pats hatred?

For a couple of reasons, we can believe that Harris will have no (or at least not a lot) of fondness for the Patriots when the Bills face them in 2023. 

As recently as last week, Harris re-tweeted an anti-Patriot message:

Then there’s… this: He told Boston.com he “hated” the Patriots growing up. It’s more because of other fandom back in the day, but we’ll take it and Bills fans will have no problem with that:

“No offense, it definitely wasn’t the Patriots. It definitely wasn’t the Patriots,” Harris said. “I was a Colts fan growing up, back with like Peyton (Manning), Dallas Clark, all those guys. So, obviously, I used to hate the Patriots.”

A change in feelings

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Harris is a between-the-tackles rusher. He can make things happen in the gritty areas of the field.

But he didn’t always like to do that. Harris revealed previously when he first started playing football at eight, he wasn’t sure he liked it. Harris hated getting dirty and hit.

“I wasn’t really a fan of it at first,” Harris said. “I didn’t really like getting dirty. I didn’t like getting hit and everything,” Harris told MassLive.com.

Was part of botched tweet

Once upon a time, Harris was traded… but not actually. He was part of a botched tweet in March 2022.

The FOX Sports NFL Twitter account sent out a message saying Harris was being sent away in a trade to the Atlanta Falcons. FOX tagged Harris’ agent… and that’s how the correction was made: Damien Harris wasn’t traded… it was Damian Williams.

Even Harris said he was worried for a second:

Threw out a Red Sox first pitch

Not the worst toss:

A favorite food

Harris is a bigger back, but he’s cut weight in the past to improve his speed. In doing so, he revealed one of his favorite foods he had to cut out, the delicious treat that is a honey bun:

Story originally appeared on Bills Wire