James Harris (quarterback)

James Larnell "Shack" Harris (born July 20, 1947 in Monroe, Louisiana) is a senior personnel executive for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League. He is also a former collegiate and Professional Football quarterback, and a former vice president for player personnel of the Jacksonville Jaguars.

College football career
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.

Buffalo Bills
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 and 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 returned to his original position as a receiver. 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. After the season, Hadl was then traded to Green Bay, and Harris became the first-string quarterback for the Rams entering the 1974 season. He led the team to their second straight NFC Western Division title, and their first playoff victory (19-10 over the Washington Redskins) since 1951. Harris then became the first African-American quarterback to start a conference championship Game. The Rams lost the NFC Championship Game to the Minnesota Vikings 14-10, as the Vikings were aided by some controversial officiating. Harris was named to the NFC Pro Bowl team in 1974 and was awarded MVP of that game.

The strong-armed Harris was somewhat stymied by Ram coach Chuck Knox's conservative, "run-first" offensive philosophy, but still helped lead the team to another division title in 1975. 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. Stating that a "player cannot lose his starting job due to injury", Knox named Harris the starter for the NFC Championship games vs. Dallas, as he appeared to be recovered from his injury. Harris' first pass was intercepted, and after two more incompletions 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' throwing shoulder 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 hurt his shoulder again, and Knox decided to go with Haden as the starter for the rest of the season. Haden led the Rams to three wins out of four and the NFC West division title. Knox went 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.

San Diego Chargers
Harris fully expected to regain his starting job for the 1977 season as coach Knox always said "a player cannot lose his starting job due to injury." Harris also hoped Knox would open up the offense more. However, the Rams acquired the aging Joe Namath (who eventually played only four games for the team) and traded Harris to the San Diego Chargers. When he left the Rams, Harris had the highest career completion average of any quarterback in team history (55.4%) and had been an integral part of four straight NFC West Champions.

Harris was understandably jolted by the trade from a perennial playoff team to a team in rebuilding mode. He had lost his first-string position with the Rams only because of injury, and he was traded to a team that already had a young first-string quarterback in Dan Fouts around whom they were building. Harris played in San Diego for three years, starting a total of 11 games, primarily when Fouts was injured.

When some reporters suggested race played a factor in his demotion by the Rams, Harris refused to get involved in that type of exchange and maintained that the Rams' decisions &mdash; even the ones he disagreed with &mdash; were made based on football only.

Front office career
Prior to his job in Jacksonville he served as the Baltimore Ravens pro personnel director from 1997 to 2003.

Harris served as the vice president for player personnel for the Jacksonville Jaguars. He resigned on December 23, 2008.

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 will assist in all areas of player personnel in an advisory role.

Honors
Harris has been inducted into the SWAC Hall of Fame, the Grambling Athletic Hall of Fame, and the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame.