Everything Seahawks - Demetris Harris (UDFA) - Exclusive Meeting
In the first of what is expected to be many parts in our series “Everything Seahawks”, we interviewed OL Demetris Harris in an exclusive meeting with Seahawks Today. Below is a complete unedited transcript of the interview which will be followed by our summary and thoughts on the meeting with South Florida’s Demetris Harris.
Seahawks Today Lead Writers: Shrihun Sankepally and Nevin Tamilselvan ———————————————————
Q: What would be one thing you would bring to Seattle as a person?
DH: I just think, besides my play, my personality. Once I get around the vets I feel I would mesh in well and be a good locker room guy. I would bring some attitude to the time, that dog mentality. I feel that’s what I could bring to the Seahawks.
Q: How would you think you would fit into the Seahawks Locker room culture
DH: That’s kind of the reason I picked the Seahawks. I had two teams I could choose from. I just felt the Seattle Seahawks was the better fit for me personally. Knowing the success rate of Pete Carroll being unorthodox and wild card, and his whole thing is just competing, I love to compete. I love to win, I hate losing. Just being around an organization that has been successful since he’s been there, but just being around like-minded people. That’s #1 for me.
Q: What is one thing that stood out to you about the Seattle Seahawks last season, the one where they made the wild card with Geno Smith?
DH: I think Geno Smith said it best when they ended up making playoffs: “Y’all wrote me off but I didn’t write back”. So things like that, that underdog mentality, taking no for an answer. No one gave them a chance on the outside, but in the end, it’s all about the 53 guys in the locker room and the coaching staff. So I think they did great. Some people said they overachieved, but if you expect them to compete every year, making the playoffs is a part of doing that, so I just hope that when I come in there I get to meet the coaches and do what I’m capable of and be a part of that success as well.
Q: What was your toughest challenge at South Florida and getting to the point you’re at now?
DH: Man, there’s so many. So I was a 6-year student, I redshirted my first year, did my 4 years, and then you know, we had the COVID year. So I could go anywhere between just dealing with COVID just that whole dynamic of putting the whole world on pause. Man, I could write a whole book on just that. When I first got there, I injured my hand as a freshman, and I wanted to become an impact freshman, one that started, but I got hurt my second week of training camp. I had to get surgery on my thumb. Eventually, they just redshirted me. This was before you could play 4 games because my freshman year was 2017. I don’t think it went into effect until 2 years later. If you played one snap, that was your whole freshman year. For me that was pretty tough, because it felt like I was doing good before. I always wanted to be a 3 & out guy, but I ended up doing 6. Just that whole dynamic of being patient and then when the time was right, the time was right. I felt like hindsight is always 20/20. Looking back, I was glad I redshirted. I was glad I was able to get that cold year to help me process football.
Q: You mentioned you played 6 years, what coaches or players helped you throughout your college career and impacted you the most?
DH: Man, that’s tough. I mean, being there 6 years, you meet so many people. From the guys I came in with, from the older guys, and then actually being there for 6 years. You see so many faces and so many coaches, it’s hard to put it on one person. I feel like I’ma miss somebody, so I don’t want to miss anybody or hurt anybody feelings. But they know who they are, I still keep in contact with them. But yeah just so many people, from the janitors to the coaches to the like the players and staff/personnel, the equipment people, the academic people upstairs. Everyone has had a great impact on my life upstairs, and I try to learn from everybody like I said. That whole building, man 6 years you become like the face of the building, and everybody know you. Even though, everybody I talked to, they know what they represent.
Q: As a football player, what would you say is the hardest aspect about being a football player, on the field?
DH: I would say just being consistent. I know many people who, if you give them 10 tries, they can do something once. But as football players, it’s not that the game of football is hard. Everybody’s running, you’re either tackling, or you’re blocking. Your quarterback, he’s making passes. But the great ones are able to do the same thing over and over and over and consistently and it may not even be that they are that great, but you know what you’re gonna get every time. Like, you can call him the GOAT, Tom Brady, with his time in Tampa, it wasn’t like he was throwing the ball all over the place, he was just making the right decision every single time. That small consistent wins, they add up, turning into big wins and championships. I’d say being consistent is the hardest part of being a football player.
Q: What specific aspect of your game would you bring to the Seattle offense?
DH: Like I said earlier, I think that dog mentality. I feel like, having that mentality it may not be pretty all the time or picture perfect, but at the end of the day, the dog is gonna get it done. And again, being at college for 6 years, I had two different head coaches and 4 different offensive coordinators. So I played in a pro-style offense. I played in a power-scheme offense. I played in a more RPO-based system. Just having experience in 4 different offenses, 4 different languages, 4 different sets of calls, would help me in the next level.
ST: So your strength is versatility.
DH: Yeah most definitely.
Q: After not being drafted, what does that mean to you? Do you feel like you have a chip on your shoulder?
DH: Oh man, for sure. I’ll tell you guys this too. I didn’t get drafted. Was I expecting to get drafted? I knew it was a reach. But man, I knew I was better than some of the dudes drafted. And I hope everyone says that if they went undrafted that they knew they were better than some of the ones that were. I feel like that’s how you supposed to be. But uh, the Seahawks didn’t call me till later, like on Saturday. After the draft, I was like man, I didn’t get drafted, no one’s calling me to sign. I had went on Indeed and filled out some job applications like right after the draft, like wow. I just thought it was going to come faster. Eventually, they ended up calling me later that night. I was like, I want that job, I want to play football. It was surreal to me. Obviously, I knew I was going to get that phone call. I didn’t get it when I wanted it, but I got an opportunity, you know, to show these coaches what I’m capable of and show them what they missed out on. But I’m there now, so I feel grateful, and I’m happy for the opportunity.
ST: Yeah, Seattle’s a big opportunity. In their last 5 years, they were really known for taking UDFAs and a lot of them later in the year start for them. A lot of them develop to be longtime starters in the NFL.
Q: What’s the biggest lesson you learned, in your whole life and career, that you’d like to tell people?
DH: So I’ll tell you guys something. So somebody gave me the most cliche piece of advice. But I’ve used it every day since. So in 2018, my second year, I’m starting, and I end up spraining my ankle early in the season. And my backup goes in for the next two games. He graded out the highest, and he was playing very well, and he wasn’t even on a scholarship or anything. He knew I loved football, so he was like, ‘get healthy, I’ma hold it down for you, but I want you to get it because you love it more than me’, and I was like, ‘that’s real’. The biggest thing he taught was don’t get too high or too low. You’re gonna have good days and you’re gonna have bad days. You’re gonna have ehhh days. You’re gonna have days you want to redo or repeat. He was just saying when the good is good, don’t get too high because reality might have a funny way of humbling you, in so many different ways. That’s the biggest thing for me. Don’t get too high or too low. Try to stay as even as possible. When you win, you celebrate, but don’t celebrate too long. When you’re down, be down in the moment, but don’t stay down. As long as you right there in the middle, day in and day out, life is gon’ to be better for you.
Demetris Harris was one of the most humble and respected people we at Seahawks Today have met in our lives. He was very professional and genuine in his responses and has gone through enormous struggles in his life. Harris is a strong individual that has already endured so much in his life and has all the potential to be something great in the NFL and as a person. We really hope Harris makes the roster as he is definitely deserving of a roster spot and wish to see him in training camp or better yet during the 2023 NFL season.