Saints’ Harris happy to share his blessings
Baltimore native donating financially to food banks
Wide receiver Deonte Harris has been a bright spot for the New Orleans Saints’ special teams unit.
His actions during the coronavirus pandemic have been a bright spot for his hometown too, as well as New Orleans.
The Baltimore native recently made a significant financial contribution to feed the hungry in both communities, providing about 10,600 meals to food banks.
Many things have been hard to come by during the pandemic, with schools shut down, grocery stores running out of stock and thousands of people losing their jobs. For Harris, an Archbishop Curley graduate, assisting his community is of the utmost importance.
“Growing up, I was always taught to give back,” Harris said. “Fortunately, I was blessed with the opportunity to be financially stable in a time like this.
“I just thought that this was a good opportunity for me to do my part in the world. I had my marketing guys and my
family and friends obviously helping me, but I just thought now was the time.”
Harris planned to participate in the Torrey Smith Family Fund Charity Basketball Game, organized by the former Ravens and Maryland receiver, that was set to take place Saturday at UMBC. Although the game had to be canceled, Harris still plans to make his presence heavily felt in the Baltimore area with his acts of giving.
“It was a big opportunity,” Harris said. “I felt that it was a good event to be a part of.
“It’s something that a lot of people look forward to around this time [of ] the year. So for me to have been able to be in it, that would’ve been good. But with times like this, you just hope and pray for the best.
“It’s a time where everyone should just come together and pick each other up.”
Harris, a rookie in 2019, was named to the Pro Bowl and an All-Pro in his first NFL season. The special teams ace had three fumble recoveries, 36 punt returns for a league-leading 338 yards and a touchdown and 24 kickoff returns for 644 yards.
As someone who had to grind his way to an NFL roster as an undrafted rookie from Division II Assumption College, Harris wants to make the most of his opportunity. The 22-year-old plans to show other younger players from the area that they too can make it if they stick to the grind.
“I’m just trying to set an example,” Harris said. “I feel as though I have a unique story coming up. So I just try to set the example to motivate and push people [to] their fullest potential.”
It goes in hand with the values that he learned from his Franciscan education at Archbishop Curley — helping those in need, assisting the youth, giving back to the community and placing a value on loving thy neighbor.
“That’s a school of brotherhood,” Harris said of Archbishop Curley. “Just looking out for one another [and] always having each other’s backs. I’ve still got people that I went to high school with that I communicate with on a regular basis. So the school taught me how to be a man at a young age and I’m grateful for that.”
Though there’s uncertainty surrounding when or whether the 2020 NFL season will start, Harris has continued to stay in shape at home and occasionally keep in contact with his teammates.
“It’s frustrating — they’re closing down all of the gyms and all of the fields are being shut down, but you just try to control what you can control,” he said. “I try to do as much as I can with what I’m given.
“So I just go from there. We communicate — I wouldn’t say on an everyday basis, but we reach out every once in a while. You’ve got social media. If someone posts something, you’ll comment on it and we communicate.”