Chris Harris Jr., the former Denver Broncos standout who went to four Pro Bowls and helped Mile High win Super Bowl 50, is retiring from the NFL after a 12-year career. The 34-year-old cornerback had been trying to find a new team since finishing the 2022 season with the New Orleans Saints, he told the Denver Gazette this week, but has since decided to hang up the cleats.
“I realized that everybody was pretty much moving on with the younger players, the younger wave,” Harris said, per the Gazette. “So I thought it would be great to just call it an end. … I was able to accomplish pretty much everything. … Getting All-Decade was the top thing. I feel … blessed, especially coming in as undrafted. I pretty much had to fight through all my career, and being able to overcome that, that’s one thing I’m definitely happy for.”
Harris leaves the NFL as one of the most accomplished undrafted players in league history. The Broncos originally signed him in July 2011, three months after his name wasn’t called despite a four-year college career at Kansas. He quickly established himself as a stalwart of Denver’s secondary, logging three consecutive seasons with at least three interceptions from 2012-2014. Widely considered one of the league’s top slot cornerbacks in his prime, Harris had two picks and two forced fumbles in 2015, helping the Broncos’ vaunted defense win Super Bowl 50.
Later named to the NFL’s 2010s All-Decade Team, he went on to play two seasons for the rival Los Angeles Chargers from 2020-2021, then finished with the Saints in 2022. Also a three-time All-Pro honoree, Harris retires with career marks of 621 tackles, 22 interceptions, 97 pass deflections and 25 tackles for loss.
