The best Broncos players of all time: #14, CB Chris Harris Jr.

It’s only fitting that the Broncos’ biggest player in the spotlight on July 4th is a member of the vaunted secondary of the historic 2015 defense – because that group could do nothing but create fireworks.

And a key figure in igniting that fire was Chris Harris Jr.

From undraft to Super Bowl champion

CHJ’s NFL story always begins with the status of an undrafted free agent and ends with being named to the All Decade Team of the 2010s.

But in between, Strap Harris played with an eternal grudge that helped him amass some impressive statistics worthy of a first-round draft pick.

I’ve always prided myself on holding a grudge. Being a four-year starter at a D-1 school, I always thought I should have been drafted. And I played my whole career holding a grudge… I think the moment I felt like I got the respect I deserved was being named to the All-Decade team.

In his 172 games in Denver, Harris defended 97 passes, forced seven fumbles, 22 interceptions and four pick-sixes. He was a four-time Pro Bowler (2014-16, 2018) and three-time All-Pro (1st team 2016; 2nd team 2014, 2015). In 2014, Harris was named the Broncos’ Ed Block Courage Award winner and twice won the Darrent Williams Good Guy Award for his work with the media. He was also selected by the Broncos for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award in 2017.

More important than CHJ’s stats was his sheer effectiveness on the field. At just 5’10” and 195 pounds, No. 25 always played big and was a threat to any quarterback looking for an open receiver in the far half of the field.

The best secondary school in history

CHJ was a key part of the Denver Broncos’ celebrated No Fly Zone. In fact, it was his signature move after every interception or pass breakup (which he developed in his sophomore year alongside Champ Bailey) that became the inspiration for the name, which was eventually coined by Harris’ wife, Leah, in the fall of 2014.

“Every time he played, I would ask him, ‘Why are you doing that? Why are you holding your arms out?'” Leah Harris told denverbroncos.com in 2017. “And he said, ‘That means no flying allowed. Nobody catches balls here.'”

This is how the “no-fly zone” came into being and the timing could not have been better.

During the 2014 offseason, then-general manager John Elway spent a lot of money on free agents to bolster the defense that had been decimated by Seattle in Super Bowl 48.

TJ Ward, Aqib Talib and Darian Stewart joined CHJ for a star-studded secondary that also included special teams ace David Bruton Jr., rookie Bradley Roby and third-year cornerback Kayvon Webster.

The 2014 season wasn’t supposed to be the big year, but the magic of the defense a year later under Wade Phillips was everything.

Whether it was an INT by David Bruton in the end zone in one game, a scoop-and-score by Bradley Roby in another, or a spin sack by DeMarcus Ware or a strip sack by Von Miller… So many wins this Super Bowl season came from seemingly improbable defensive plays. But if you asked them, they were just expected to make that play.

“It was just effortless. We all knew each other’s roles and we all knew the game plan,” Harris told me in an interview last year. “Everyone was competing to see who was going to make the next play, who was going to make the big play to get the win. It’s going to be hard for another group to be that elite. I’ve never seen it.”

The group provided the best pass defense in back-to-back 2015-16 seasons and helped shut down quarterbacks Ben Roethlisberger, Tom Brady and Cam Newton en route to a victory in Super Bowl 50.

Although Harris Jr. was unable to finish his celebrated career in Denver, he will always be a Broncos Country favorite – both for his confidence and the underdog story that drives him.