Syracuse Football: Get to Know Your Orange Man -- #49 Adam Harris

Grip it and rip it, son. 

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PLAYER: Adam Harris

NUMBER: 49

POSITION: Fullback/Designated Smartypant

YEAR: Senior

HEIGHT: 6'2"

WEIGHT: 242

HOMETOWN: Towanda, PA

HIGH SCHOOL: Towanda Junior Senior

2010 STATS: Rear Admiral Marrone gave Harris plenty of opportunity in 2010.  The rising senior started 10 of the 12 games that he played.  On the year, he had eight carries for 21 yards and four receptions for an additional 36.  He also recorded five solo tackles and an assist in 2010, because, well, Adam Harris has a death wish and his preferred method of going out is through tackle-suicide.

In non-football related statistics -- which is why I know you're here -- Harris has made the Fall 2009, Spring 2010, Fall 2010, and Spring 2011 Doctor Daryl Gross Honor Roll of Honor in the Field of Reading Comprehension and Not Being Arrested.

He also made the 2009 and 2010 Big East All-Academic Team, as well as the 2010 ESPN Academic All-District Team (whatever the hell that is).  So, who's full of a bunch of stupids now, Georgetown? 

2011 PROJECTIONS: He's going to be the starting fullback for 2011 according to the gospel that is the post-spring depth chart.  Tombe Kose, a bit of a thumper, is behind Harris, but Harris has his hands all over this spot save for a crazy injury or acceptance to the University of Intelligence to get a B.A. in Genius.

Here's what Lyons had to say in his post-spring report card:

Adam Harris: (B) - Not much has changed for the man who the spring practice regulars deemed "The Natural".  Harris is primarily a blocker who may see a few carries in the short yardage situation, perhaps a few more than this past season, and may catch a few balls out of the backfield.  He's just an all around solid, in unspectacular, player at fullback.

HOW'D HE GET HERE: As a kid, Harris didn't get the message that Ithaca, New York, is the saddest place on the planet not called CasualHoya's bedroom and decided to enroll at Cornell before transferring to Syracuse.

Here's the thing, though: Rear Admiral Marrone didn't offer Harris a scholarship on the transfer.  Harris had to walk on to the team:

Harris (6-foot-2, 232 pounds) took a strange road to those accolades. A star running back and linebacker at Towanda High in Pennsylvania’s Northern Tier, he drew limited attention from Division I-A recruiters and decided Cornell and an Ivy League education was his best fit. In the back of his mind, though, he believed he could play I-A ball.

"It’s always been my dream to play D-I football," Harris said, "and ever since I was a little kid I wanted to be here at Syracuse."

Harris sustained an injury during his season with the Big Red and was unable to play. Standing on the sideline gave him a lot of time to think, specifically about his dream and wondering if he had settled for less.

"I did my first year at Cornell and something just didn’t quite feel right," he said, "so I figured I’d give it a shot and see what happened and just give it the best go I could."

WHAT DID SCOUT/RIVALS SAY?: Your precious recruiting services don't have Harris in their databases. 

MONEY QUOTE: The kid is all about work ethic:

WillofaChampion: How did you get the coaches to notice you?

Adam:  I always tried to hustle in each drill.  Be the first one out, never walking on the field, I spent extra time in the weight room, and I always try to be an "A" student in the classroom.  In the weight-room I worked on my feet to get quicker.  When I got here I was a little over-weight so I had to stretch more.  I wanted to be more agile.

WillofaChampion: Did you have to be mentally tougher as a walk-on compared to a scholarship player?

Adam:  I definitely think so.  As a walk-on you pretty-much make all your own breaks.  You’re not going to get a lot of attention, so if you’re not strong, you won’t make it.  You’re not going to have somebody there encouraging you all the time.  You have to believe in yourself.  That was one of the more difficult challenges.

INTERESTING NUGGET O' INTEREST: The knucklehead is on Twitter.  He's also apparently working at UPS?

What can brown do for u #backtowork

Or is that something that the kids are saying these days that actually means "having lots of sex"?  I don't know. 

WHAT DOES MARRONE THINK?: I'm pretty sure that he'd like to wrap him up in a box and put a little bow on it:

"We looked at Adam and then we looked at the speed we had coming in at the linebacker position," Marrone said. "We know Adam is tough, we know he’s physical, so we wound up saying, hey, this is a good situation. I brought Adam in and said, ‘Obviously I don’t think you’re going to be able to start in front of Derrell Smith (at middle linebacker), but I do think you’ll have a better opportunity to help our football team if we move you to fullback.’ "

* * * * *

"You have to be able to catch the ball at that position, and he does that well," Marrone said. "He’s a very good blocker, a very tough kid, very conscientious, a very bight kid. We ask the fullbacks to do a lot of things, and he has done them all very well. I’m very, very excited about where he is."