Packers.com posted 06/20/2007

The Green Bay Packers Wednesday signed TE Clark Harris, the final player they selected in the 2007 NFL Draft. Executive Vice President, General Manager and Director of Football Operations Ted Thompson made the announcement.

Harris, a 6-foot-5, 256-pound choice from Rutgers, was the first tight end selected by Green Bay since David Martin in 2001. Despite playing in a run-oriented college offense, Harris caught 143 career passes for 2,015 yards and 11 touchdowns. He helped turn around a Rutgers program that went 1-11 in 2002 and finished 11-2 with a second straight bowl appearance in 2006.

by Mike Spofford, Packers.com
posted 04/29/2007

Clark Harris is willing to handle just about any role a tight end can.

The Packers’ 11th and final selection in the 2007 NFL Draft, a seventh-round pick at 243rd overall out of Rutgers, Harris became one of his team’s primary pass-catchers as a sophomore when injuries hit the wide receiver position. He caught 53 balls for 725 yards and five touchdowns in 2004.

“I like him,” said General Manager Ted Thompson. “He’s a good pass-catcher, he’s got pretty good route-running ability. He’s a big fellow… I was surprised he was still there.”

He also took over as the Rutgers’ long snapper when an injury knocked the incumbent out of the lineup.

Then he became more of a blocker as a junior and senior, when Rutgers reverted to a more ground-oriented attack behind standouts Ray Rice and Brian Leonard. And Harris continued to handle the long-snapping duties as his collegiate career concluded.

So to ask him whether he’s concerned his receiving numbers dropped, to 38 and 34 catches his final two years, or whether he’d be willing to become a long-snapper in the NFL, you’ll get nothing but the true team player answer from Harris.

“The running game definitely picked up more my junior year, but then come senior year the main focus was to get Leonard and Rice the ball,” Harris said. “We had a great season, and I told people I’d rather have more wins with less yards than more yards with less wins.”

And the long-snapping?

“I love to snap,” he said. “It’s something I take pride in, and I practice it as much as I would catching the ball or anything else. Hopefully I can come in and be able to do that here.”

He just might be able to, with veteran long-snapper Rob Davis nearing the end of his career. General Manager Ted Thompson said he could see Harris being an emergency long-snapper if something were to happen to Davis, and he’s a potential long-term replacement there provided he can be an NFL-caliber tight end at 6-5 1/2 and 261 pounds.

“I like him,” Thompson said. “He’s a good pass-catcher, he’s got pretty good route-running ability. He’s a big fellow and probably needs to improve his blocking a little bit, but we thought that was a good value pick where we picked him. I was surprised he was still there.”

Former Rutgers tight end Clark Harris is taking part in the NFL Combine in Indianapolis. While there, he will file a diary.

It wasn’t bad yesterday. I just did some psychological tests, a little bit of interviews and then the bench press. Other than that, it was pretty much just sitting around and hanging out for a while.

I did most of the psychological tests at the Senior Bowl, but I had to make one up today because the information one of the teams collected got messed up. And I had to take another quick one for the Steelers. They had a list of 75 attributes and I had to check off the ones that I felt best described me: respectful, honest, a leader and attractive. Well, actually I didn’t check that last one.

<> Another one of the tests was just matching patterns up to each other. It was a little more complex than the tests we used to take in elementary school, but it wasn’t that bad.Then, it was time for the bench press yesterday afternoon. I did 21 reps of 225 pounds and a long half of a 22nd one. The official count was 21, though. I had tested a couple of times leading up to the combine and every time I was within 20-23, so 21 was a pretty good number for me. It was near the top of what most of the tight ends did. I just hope I impressed the strength guys with my bench and showed the coaches I have long arms and explosion that is good for blocking.

I haven’t met with all 32 teams yet, but I’m pretty close. I’m in the lower 20s right now and I still have a few meetings left to go. By the time it’s all said and done, I’ll probably have met with about 29 teams. But you know what that means — one of the other three will probably draft me. That’s the way it happens sometimes.

Today, I’m scheduled to do the running and jumping drills for the coaches. I’ve never gotten nervous before games and I haven’t been nervous all week, so I don’t expect to be when I get out there. I hope it stays that way. And as far as my broken toe is concerned, it’s pretty much healed, so I don’t think it’s going to affect my performance. I’m pretty sure I’m going to have a good showing.