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

It’s only appropriate that the greatest Broncos’ player highlighted on the Fourth of July is a member of the vaunted secondary of the historic 2015 defense — because all that group knew how to do was bring fireworks.

And a key piece to ignite that fire was Chris Harris Jr.

Undrafted to Super Bowl Champ

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

But in between, Strap Harris would play with an eternal chip on his shoulder that helped him accumulate some gaudy statistics worthy of any first round draft pick.

I always prided myself on having a chip on my shoulder. Being able to be a four-year starter at a D-1 school, I always thought I should have been drafted. And I played with a chip on my shoulder my whole career…I think the moment I felt I got the respect I deserved was being named to the All Decade team.

In his 172 games played in Denver, Harris had 97 passes defensed, 7 forced fumbles, 22 interceptions and 4 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 he was a two-time Darrent Williams Good Guy Award winner for his cooperation with the media. He was also the Broncos’ selection in 2017 for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award.

More importantly than CHJ’s stat sheet numbers, was his sheer effectiveness on the field. A mere 5-foot-9, 199 pounds, No. 25 always played big and was a threat to every quarterback looking for an open receiver downfield.

The best secondary in history

CHJ was a key piece to the Denver Broncos’ heralded No Fly Zone. In fact, it was his trademark motion after any interception or pass break up (created in his second year while playing alongside Champ Bailey) that became the inspiration for the name, which was ultimately coined by Harris’ wife Leah in the fall of 2014.

“Every time he played, I would ask him, ‘Why do you do that? Why do you put your arms out?’” Leah Harris told denverbroncos.com in 2017. “And he was like, ‘It means No Fly. No one’s catching balls over here.’”

So the “No Fly Zone” was born and it couldn’t have been at a better time.

During the 2014 offseason, then-GM John Elway went on free agency spending spree to bolster a 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 corner Kayvon Webster.

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

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

“It was just kind of effortless. We all understood everybody’s role and everybody understood the game plan,” Harris told me in an interview last year. “Everybody was competing to make the next play, who’s going to make the big play to get the win. It’s going to be hard for another group to be that elite. I haven’t seen it yet.”

The group posted the No. 1 passing defense in back-to-back seasons from 2015-16, and the unit helped shut down quarterbacks Ben Roethlisberger, Tom Brady and Cam Newton en route to a Super Bowl 50 ring.

Although Harris Jr. wouldn’t finish his celebrated career in Denver, he will always be a Broncos Country favorite — as much for his swagger as the underdog story that propels him.