Damon Harrison

Damon Paul Harrison (born November 29, 1988) is an American football nose tackle who is a free agent. Harrison played college football at William Penn University and was signed by the New York Jets as an undrafted free agent in 2012. He has also been a member of the New York Giants and Detroit Lions. According to Pro Football Focus, he led the league in run-stop percentage between 2013 and 2016.[1]

Damon Harrison
Harrison with the Giants in 2016
Free agent
Position:Nose tackle
Personal information
Born: (1988-11-29) November 29, 1988
New Iberia, Louisiana
Height:6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight:350 lb (159 kg)
Career information
High school:Lake Charles-Boston
(Lake Charles, Louisiana)
College:William Penn
Undrafted:2012
Career history
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics as of 2019
Total tackles:484
Sacks:11.0
Forced fumbles:4
Pass deflections:10
Interceptions:1
Player stats at NFL.com

Early years

Harrison was born in New Iberia, Louisiana on November 29, 1988. He attended Lake Charles Boston High School, where he primarily played shooting guard on the school's basketball varsity team.[2] On November 29, 2005, during his junior season, he injured the meniscus in his left knee, and gained "like 40 or 50 pounds" over the next two months.[3] He decided to take on football for his senior year, playing both offensive and defensive line, and was an all-district and all-Southwest Louisiana selection in 2006.[4] He was also named as the team captain and was selected as Lake Charles Boston's Offensive MVP and Defensive MVP along with being selected as the Lake Charles Boston's Offensive Lineman of the Year.[4]

Since much of recruiting takes place during a high school player's junior season, Harrison was overlooked by college scouts and wound up without any scholarship offer after his graduation. He enrolled at Northwest Mississippi Community College, but dropped out after the first semester to work as a night stocker at Walmart in Lake Charles.[3] However, he was later recruited to William Penn University, in Oskaloosa, Iowa, by former NMCC assistant coach Steve Miller.[2][3][5]

College career

In his freshman year at William Penn, Harrison finished fifth on the team in tackles. As a sophomore and junior, he was voted second-team all-conference.[3] During his senior season, he was recognized as NAIA All-American and first-team all-conference after posting 3.5 sacks and 8.5 tackles for losses among his team-high 60 tackles.[3] Throughout his college career, he started all 44 games he played at William Penn.[6]

Professional career

Prior to the draft, Harrison worked out at Iowa State's pro day, and was “considered a late-round prospect in a weak class of nose tackle.”[3] The last player to have been selected from William Penn in the NFL Draft was Andy Stokes in 2005, who was taken by the New England Patriots with the final pick, and their last player to appear in an NFL game was Warren Loving in 1987.

Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight 40-yard dash 10-yard split 20-yard split 20-yard shuttle Three-cone drill Vertical jump Broad jump Bench press
6 ft 2 5⁄8 in
(1.90 m)		 339 lb
(154 kg)		 5.54 s 1.91 s 3.14 s 4.99 s 7.80 s 25 in
(0.64 m)		 7 ft 9 in
(2.36 m)		 34 reps
All values from Iowa State pro day (March 20, 2012)[7]

After receiving a seventh-round grade by Jeff Bauer, Jets' director of college scouting, Harrison went undrafted in the 2012 NFL Draft. Right after the draft, he was called by twelve NFL teams to join their practice camp squads.[8]

New York Jets

Harrison was signed by the New York Jets as an undrafted free agent on April 29, 2012.[9] He appeared in 5 games in 2012 but did not record a single stat that year. Following the departure of Sione Pouha and a preseason injury to Kenrick Ellis, Harrison was named the starting defensive tackle for the 2013 season.[10] On October 20, 2013, Harrison recorded his first career sack when he brought down New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. During the 2013 season, Harrison started all 16 games making 66 tackles, 2 passes defended, and 1 sack. In 2014, Harrison again started all 16 games with 55 tackles. In 2015, Harrison again started all 16 games making 72 tackles, 0.5 sacks, and a forced fumble.

New York Giants

Harrison signed with the New York Giants on March 9, 2016, to a 5-year contract worth $9.25 million per year with $24 million guaranteed and $30 million over the first three years.[11] With the Giants, Harrison was selected to be in the first team All-Pro by the Associated Press on January 6, 2017.[12] He was also ranked 96th on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2017.[13]

Detroit Lions

On October 24, 2018, Harrison was traded to the Detroit Lions for a conditional 2019 fifth-round draft pick. The condition was that the Lions would give either their own 2019 5th round pick or the 5th round pick that was previously acquired from the San Francisco 49ers in a trade for Laken Tomlinson, depending on which is higher.[14] Because he was traded to the Lions before the Giants bye week and after the Lions bye week, Harrison played in 17 games during the 2018 season, the first defensive lineman to accomplish this feat.

On August 21, 2019, Harrison signed a one-year, $11 million contract extension with the Lions, keeping him under contract through the 2021 season.[15]

On February 21, 2020, Harrison was released by the Lions.[16]

Personal life

Harrison has four children: a son, Damon Jr, and three daughters.[17] He has been a resident of Washington Township, Bergen County, New Jersey.[18]

He goes by the nickname "Snacks".[19][20]

References
  1. "What makes Damon Harrison the league's best run-stuffer". Pro Football Focus. January 26, 2017.
  2. Slater, Darryl (September 3, 2013). "Jets nose tackle Damon Harrison took circuitous path to possible starting role in NFL". The Star-Ledger.
  3. Huber, Bill (April 20, 2012). "Nose Tackle Won't Take 'No' for an Answer". Scout.com: Packer Report. Archived from the original on February 6, 2015. Retrieved October 23, 2013.
  4. "William Penn Profile". statesmenathletics.com. Archived from the original on September 28, 2013.
  5. "Jets' 'Big Snacks' making big impact".
  6. Eisen, Michael (March 11, 2016). "Humble beginnings motivate DT Damon Harrison". Giants.com. Archived from the original on January 3, 2018. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
  7. "Damon Harrison - William Penn, DT : 2012 NFL Draft Scout Player Profile". nfldraftscout.com. Retrieved April 2, 2017.
  8. "Lake Charles' Harrison tackles Big Apple". American Press. September 19, 2012. Archived from the original on October 24, 2013.
  9. Jets Media Relations Department (April 30, 2012). "10 Undrafted FAs, 23 Tryouts Announced". New York Jets. Archived from the original on May 1, 2012. Retrieved June 4, 2012.
  10. Cimini, Rich (September 24, 2013). "New York Jets' Damon Harrison, from water boy to starting nose tackle". ESPN.com.
  11. "Damon Harrison set to leave Jets to sign with Giants". nfl.com. Retrieved April 2, 2017.
  12. "2016 Associate Press All-Pro Team". bleacherreport.com. Retrieved January 6, 2017.
  13. NFL Top 100 Players of 2017 - No. 96 Damon Harrison
  14. Teope, Herbie (October 24, 2018). "Giants trading Damon 'Snacks' Harrison to Lions". NFL.com.
  15. Bergman, Jeremy (August 21, 2019). "Damon Harrison signs one-year extension with Lions". NFL.com.
  16. Baca, Michael (February 20, 2020). "Detroit Lions release DT Damon 'Snacks' Harrison". NFL.com.
  17. Holt, John (October 12, 2012). "Damon Harrison: Nervous Rookie, Loving Dad". New York Jets. Archived from the original on April 25, 2013. Retrieved April 25, 2013.
  18. Hubbard, Daniel. "NY Giant Damon 'Snacks' Harrison Moves To $1.5M Bergen County Home; Harrison purchased a five-bedroom, six-bathroom house in Washington Township.", Westwood Patch, January 6, 2017. Accessed January 1, 2018. "New York Giant Damon 'Snacks' Harrison now calls Bergen County home. Harrison has purchased a 7,000-square-foot home in Washington Township for more than $1.5 million, said listing broker Dawn Braithwaite."
  19. "Two-minute drill: Damon Harrison". espn.com. Retrieved December 28, 2013.
  20. Single, Eric. "Fridge Raider: What does Giants DT Damon 'Snacks' Harrison actually eat?". SI. Sports Illustrated. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
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