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Chris Harris Jr., the former Denver Broncos star who made 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 the end of the 2022 season with the New Orleans Saints, he told the Denver Gazette this week, but has since decided to hang up his cleats.
“I realized that everyone was moving forward with the younger players, the younger wave,” Harris said, according to the Gazette. “So I thought it would be great to call it an ending. …I was able to accomplish just about everything. …Getting All-Decade was the most important thing. I feel…blessed, especially in coming in as undrafted I’ve had to fight throughout my career, and to be able to overcome that, that’s something I’m really happy about.”
Harris leaves the NFL as one of the most accomplished undrafted players in league history. The Broncos initially signed him in July 2011, three months after his name went uncalled despite a four-year college career at Kansas. He quickly established himself as a mainstay in Denver’s secondary, recording three straight seasons with at least three interceptions from 2012 to 2014. Widely considered one of the league’s best 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 2010 All-Decade team, he played two seasons for the rival Los Angeles Chargers from 2020 to 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.
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