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Tommie boy Standout Oklahoma DT Harris reveals his 'other' sidePosted: Tuesday August 06, 2002 3:02 PM
Last year, in his first season of college football, Oklahoma's Tommie Harris was named by conference coaches as the Big 12's top freshman. The defensive tackle impressed by recording 17 tackles for loss as well as 14 quarterback hurries. This fall, Harris will be the centerpiece of one of the nation's top defenses. In between sets in a Houston gym -- where Harris was working out during a visit home to Killeen, Texas, in late July -- the 6-foot-3, 289-pounder and Sports Illustrated cover boy spoke to CNNSI.com about football and higher callings. King: Ohio State safety Mike Doss has said that when he tackles someone, he envisions putting a hole in his back. What do you envision when you hit someone? Harris: I think about giving them an aggressive hug.
Harris: I write poetry, as a matter of fact. Mostly sonnets, about stuff like birth, death and love. Maya Angelou is my favorite poet, my biggest source of inspiration. I haven't had time to write as I would have liked this summer, but I did just write a poem in honor of my mom [Janie] for her birthday. King:Are you telling me that Tommie Harris has a soft side? Harris: It's not so much a soft side as an other side. Just because you're nasty on the field doesn't mean that you can't be a gentleman off of it. King:Does this philosophy have anything to do with your decision to not pose for the Playboy All-America Team photo shoot earlier this year? Harris: I have four sisters and no interest in promoting Hugh Hefner's agenda. What would I be saying by being in that magazine? That I'm poor and am looking for publicity? That I like girls in swimsuits? I don't even like pornography. King:Are there any players on your team who don't get promoted enough? Harris: The guy backing me up, Dusty Dvoracek, is a great player. He's strong, fast, a real good tackler. He could be a star. King:You can bench-press 440 pounds and power-clean 345. Do you have any secrets to acquiring that kind of strength -- pre-dawn lifting sessions, supplements, that sort of thing? Harris: God is my one and only secret. I say this to everyone and no one listens. Put your faith in God, and you'll be able to lift a lot of weight. King:If you could never play football again, would you like to be a preacher like your father? Harris: I always think about having my own church one day. My main goal is to help kids, show them the right way to live. Anyone can say they're a preacher, though. I call myself a Man After God's Own Heart -- a M.A.G.O.H. That's the name that a group of us players who meet for Bible study every Wednesday call ourselves. King:What's a profession you wouldn't take up in a million years? Harris: Burying cable lines, which is something I did the summer before junior year in high school. No summer workout compares to that kind of job and that kind of heat. I said I'd never do that again, and I didn't. King:You versus your cousin, [former Sooners and current Detroit Lions guard] Stockar McDougle, at the line of scrimmage: Who would prevail? Harris: Me! Can we put that in? I'd really like Stockar to read that. King:Does anything or anyone scare you? Harris: Besides the wrath of God? The possibility of failure scares me all the time. I have little failures every day -- I can't lift some amount of weight in the weight room, I don't make a play in a game. It's the fear of failure that keeps me going. Sports Illustrated writer-reporter Kelley King covers college football for the magazine and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com. She will chat with a different player each week during the season.
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