Jim Gehman
The third and final day of the 2010 NFL Draft was life-changing for Clay Harbor, a three-time All-Missouri Valley Conference tight end from Missouri State, who was chosen by the Eagles in the fourth round.
“It was one of those things where it’s a dream. Especially coming from a small town, Dwight, Illinois, to get drafted was a surreal feeling,” Harbor says. “People from my town don’t even go to college to play sports, typically. It was hard to put into words, but some of the real feelings were like a crazy accomplishment coming from being very underprivileged, living in a trailer with 10 family members.
“Mom cried. Dad was shocked. I know they were very proud. Nobody in my family had really ever been successful before, and I felt like it was kind of like a changing of the tide, so to speak, and thinking that we can really do this. It was just a good moment for my family, knowing how hard things had been financially and everything.
“Just coming from that background to achieve something like getting drafted to the Philadelphia Eagles, such a storied franchise, was incredible.”
Making the team as the backup tight end, Harbor was mentored and became instant friends with veteran Brent Celek.
“Brent was really good at helping me, showing me his routine, and what it really meant to be a pro,” Harbor says. “We had a mutual respect for each other. We knew our strengths and weaknesses, and it was just a really good working relationship. We enjoyed being around each other, to talk to each other about anything. Whether it’s real life or football. Really, just getting along on and off the field was great for us.”
Playing in nine games with six starts, Harbor caught nine passes during his rookie season, including one for a 3-yard touchdown in Week 16 at Lincoln Financial Field against Minnesota. That first career score is one of his two most memorable trips to the end zone as an Eagle.
“It was a Tuesday night game because the Monday night game got delayed because of weather,” Harbor says. “Tuesday Night Football, everybody’s watching. I remember that the play was in back of the end zone and I went up and caught a (3-yard) ball from Mike Vick.
“And then the second one would be (during the 2012 season-opener) in Cleveland. It was in the fourth quarter. We’re down six, there’s a minute left in the game, and I caught the game-winning (4-yard) touchdown from Michael Vick.”
Another one of Harbor’s fondest memories as an Eagle had nothing to do with catching a pass from Vick. In fact, Philly’s offense wasn’t even on the field.
It occurred in Week 15 of the 2010 season when the Eagles traveled north on I-95 to take on the rival New York Giants, while both were sitting atop the NFC East with 9-4 records.
In the game, which became known as the Miracle of the New Meadowlands, DeSean Jackson raced the ball 65 yards into the end zone as time expired to record the NFL’s first game-winning, walk-off punt return for a touchdown. That capped off a 21-point fourth-quarter comeback, and the Eagles went back home as the division leader with a 38-31 win.
“I remember talking to each other in the huddle, ‘If they punt this to DeSean and we block our guys, he’s going to do the rest,'” Harbor says. “We were all just really hyped up, and knew that there was a chance because DeSean was such an amazing playmaker.
“And it’s funny, because we’re all talking to each other in the huddle about that, and it literally just came to fruition. It was almost surreal, because how often do you take a punt back? Especially at that point in the game, they’re not going to punt it to him.
“But we’re all just believing it, and it happened! And there was a really great moment in the locker room after that return with Coach (Andy) Reid. We doused him with Gatorade because that’s the game that won the division for us.”
After three seasons, he was released at the end of the 2013 Training Camp, signed as a free agent with Jacksonville, and would then finish his eight-year career with New England, Detroit, and New Orleans.
“Going from Philadelphia to Jacksonville, I loved my time in Jacksonville and I think I played my best football there, but there was nothing like playing in the Linc in front of the Eagle fans. I mean, Philly fans bleed green. They’re die-hard. They’re generational fans,” Harbor says.
“I go by a coffee shop in South Philly, and a guy knows exactly who I am. I’m not the biggest name guy, obviously, but I’m like, ‘Wow! That’s incredible.’ They love the Eagles. You know, it’s not just a fan thing, it’s the culture. It’s Eagles culture. The underdogs. It was really cool to be a part of that.”
What makes Harbor most proud of his career?
“The fact that I did have some setbacks, got released, but I always bounced back and never got down on myself,” he says. “I thought I was good at certain things and should have been used a certain way, but that never stopped me from being versatile and making sure that I could change and adapt. I was able to overcome a lot of adversity. I had eight surgeries in my life, six in the NFL, and was able to always bounce back and make a lot of different teams.”
Strangely enough, one of Harbor’s non-NFL-related surgeries came after he injured his wrist while playing football six years ago as one of the contestants trying to swoon Becca Kufrin on the ABC reality series The Bachelorette.
“A buddy of mine had tried out. He didn’t make it and got approached again. But at that time, he was dating a girl who ended up being his now wife. So he’s like, ‘Hey, I’m sorry I can’t do it. But I’ve got a couple buddies you might like,'” Harbor says.
“This is while I was still playing football. They called me, ‘We’ll work around your schedule,’ blah, blah, blah. I saw Jesse Palmer did something like that. Travis Kelce did something like that. Jordan Rodgers, Aaron Rodgers’ brother. I’m like, this could lead to something afterwards. It’s just a dating show for a couple weeks. What’s the worst that could happen? And I end up getting injured.
“But it was an interesting experience being in that reality TV world. It’s a chapter in my life. Looking back at it, sometimes I’m like, what the heck were you thinking? But I’ll have a lot of stories to tell when I’m an old grandpa one day at the kitchen table.”
Far from being an old grandpa, Harbor is single and still searching for the right bachelorette. Making his home in Chicago, he’s involved with sports media, working with NBC Sports Chicago, Stadium TV, 670 The Score, Big Brand, and doing color commentary for the Missouri Valley Football Conference on the Marquee Sports Network.
“It’s been great being able to live that dream,” Harbor said. “I just continue to expand on my sports media career. As well as speaking. I’ll have a couple of speaking engagements a month and just kind of tell my story about basically coming from being underprivileged to this guy that was able to make the NFL from a small town, a small college. And how discipline is really the most important thing in your life. Not so much talent, so to speak, and that grit will overcome talent in the end. If you just stay consistent, you will achieve what you want to achieve.”
Speaking of which, Harbor is also working toward his goal of earning an MBA from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University.
“Sports came easier to me, it was something I enjoyed, but I was diagnosed with dyslexia when I was young and school was something that wasn’t easy,” Harbor says. “And now to be in the Kelley School of Business on the NFLPA Scholarship … when I finish, that’s going to be something that I’m very proud of, right up there with getting drafted.
“I know how difficult school is for me, how much harder it is. Some people are good at school, some people are good at football. I was good at football. But if you are consistent, if you work at it, you’re going to get better and improve, and that will just be a story of perseverance for me to finish that.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
