Leading Mississippi State to its first and only SEC West Championship, four-year letterwinner Walt Harris is the third member of the 2017 Hall of Fame Class.
2017 MSU Sports Hall of Fame Class: Walt Harris Honored
November 01, 2017 | Football, HailStateBEAT
Bob Carskadon, HailStateBEAT
Note: Every day this week, we will recognize a member of the 2017 Mississippi State Sports Hall of Fame Class. The class will be formally inducted at a gala Friday night at the Palmeiro Center's Bryce Griffis Boardroom and recognized during the MSU-UMass game Saturday in Davis Wade Stadium. Festivities get underway at 5:30 p.m. Friday and will include a cocktail reception, private autograph signing, seated dinner and awards ceremony. Tickets are available for purchase at msumclub.org for $100 per person. Proceeds benefit the MSU M-Club Alumni Association.
Some of the most important people in a program's history often get the least amount of credit. Too many times, it can seem the teams that reach the top receive all the glamor and praise, while those that laid the foundation are looked over.
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Walt Harris is often referred to when discussing the greats in the history of Mississippi State football, and deservedly so, but perhaps even more important to his school is the tremendous role he played in the resurgence of MSU football under Jackie Sherrill in the '90s. A four-year starter at cornerback from 1992-95, Harris was one of the catalysts for a coaching tenure that saw record numbers of wins, an influx of talent, a steady production of NFL players, and what remains MSU's first and only SEC West Championship.
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The Bulldogs could never have been "Best in the West" in the late '90s were it not for what Harris and his teammates did in the early '90s, and Sherrill could never have become the school's all-time winningest coach if not for the early groups that believed in him. Harris, out of LaGrange, Georgia, signed with MSU in 1992, Sherrill's first full class of his own, the first set of young men who believed in his vision and wanted to help make it a reality.
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So it is not just for his athletic achievement, but also for what he represents, that Harris is being inducted into the MSU Sports Hall of Fame this week. Of course, the athletic achievement is outstanding, even on its own. Exceedingly so, in fact.
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Harris became a starter during his freshman year, and once the young cornerback earned that role, he kept it through his final game in the Maroon and White. After moving up the depth chart as a freshman, Harris followed up his opening act not only by keeping his position, but by becoming a second-team All-SEC player as a sophomore and tying a school record with six interceptions that season.
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By the end of his junior campaign, Harris was a consensus first-team All-SEC cornerback, having recorded another six interceptions, good for fifth in the nation. Electing to return for his final year at MSU, Harris had become such an imposing defensive force that opposing quarterbacks actively avoided his side of the field. He went on to be named All-SEC yet again and also earned an invitation to the Senior Bowl to close out his college career as MSU's all-time leader in interceptions with 16, a mark he shares today with Johnthan Banks.
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Of course, Harris's great football career didn't end there. After such an impressive collegiate run, Harris was drafted 13th overall by the Chicago Bears in the 1996 NFL Draft, becoming the first Bulldog to be selected in the first round since 1983. Harris went on to spend 13 years in the NFL, one of the league's premier defensive backs for over a decade. Perhaps his most impressive professional achievement came in 2006 when, a full 10 years after being drafted, Harris led the San Francisco 49ers with a career-high eight interceptions, earning the longtime vet an invitation to the NFL Pro Bowl.
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So yes, when the name Walt Harris came up during the Hall of Fame selection committee's discussions this year, M-Club president Tyson Lee said it was an easy call.
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Note: Every day this week, we will recognize a member of the 2017 Mississippi State Sports Hall of Fame Class. The class will be formally inducted at a gala Friday night at the Palmeiro Center's Bryce Griffis Boardroom and recognized during the MSU-UMass game Saturday in Davis Wade Stadium. Festivities get underway at 5:30 p.m. Friday and will include a cocktail reception, private autograph signing, seated dinner and awards ceremony. Tickets are available for purchase at msumclub.org for $100 per person. Proceeds benefit the MSU M-Club Alumni Association.
Some of the most important people in a program's history often get the least amount of credit. Too many times, it can seem the teams that reach the top receive all the glamor and praise, while those that laid the foundation are looked over.
Â
Walt Harris is often referred to when discussing the greats in the history of Mississippi State football, and deservedly so, but perhaps even more important to his school is the tremendous role he played in the resurgence of MSU football under Jackie Sherrill in the '90s. A four-year starter at cornerback from 1992-95, Harris was one of the catalysts for a coaching tenure that saw record numbers of wins, an influx of talent, a steady production of NFL players, and what remains MSU's first and only SEC West Championship.
Â
The Bulldogs could never have been "Best in the West" in the late '90s were it not for what Harris and his teammates did in the early '90s, and Sherrill could never have become the school's all-time winningest coach if not for the early groups that believed in him. Harris, out of LaGrange, Georgia, signed with MSU in 1992, Sherrill's first full class of his own, the first set of young men who believed in his vision and wanted to help make it a reality.
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Â"He is one of those guys," MSU Athletic Director John Cohen said of Harris, "one of those pioneers who is responsible for the resurgence of Mississippi State football under Coach Sherrill."
So it is not just for his athletic achievement, but also for what he represents, that Harris is being inducted into the MSU Sports Hall of Fame this week. Of course, the athletic achievement is outstanding, even on its own. Exceedingly so, in fact.
Â
Harris became a starter during his freshman year, and once the young cornerback earned that role, he kept it through his final game in the Maroon and White. After moving up the depth chart as a freshman, Harris followed up his opening act not only by keeping his position, but by becoming a second-team All-SEC player as a sophomore and tying a school record with six interceptions that season.
Â
By the end of his junior campaign, Harris was a consensus first-team All-SEC cornerback, having recorded another six interceptions, good for fifth in the nation. Electing to return for his final year at MSU, Harris had become such an imposing defensive force that opposing quarterbacks actively avoided his side of the field. He went on to be named All-SEC yet again and also earned an invitation to the Senior Bowl to close out his college career as MSU's all-time leader in interceptions with 16, a mark he shares today with Johnthan Banks.
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Â"It was really fun to watch that guy play," Cohen confirmed.
Of course, Harris's great football career didn't end there. After such an impressive collegiate run, Harris was drafted 13th overall by the Chicago Bears in the 1996 NFL Draft, becoming the first Bulldog to be selected in the first round since 1983. Harris went on to spend 13 years in the NFL, one of the league's premier defensive backs for over a decade. Perhaps his most impressive professional achievement came in 2006 when, a full 10 years after being drafted, Harris led the San Francisco 49ers with a career-high eight interceptions, earning the longtime vet an invitation to the NFL Pro Bowl.
Â
So yes, when the name Walt Harris came up during the Hall of Fame selection committee's discussions this year, M-Club president Tyson Lee said it was an easy call.
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"You start looking at his statistics and what he did for Mississippi State while he was here," Lee said, "very few people have done that. That alone separates him. Then you have a guy who was able to stay in the league as long as he did. That's just another factor when you're looking at success and Hall of Fame worthiness. He's one of those guys. He was a staple Mississippi State guy."
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