ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Surprisingly, growing up in Milwaukee offered two choices of NFL teams.
At least in Shelby Harris’ home there were options.
“I grew up in a split household,’’ Harris, the Broncos’ starting defensive tackle, said in a sit-down interview with 9News this week. “My mom was a Bears’ fan and my older brother was a Bears’ fan. Milwaukee is not too far from Chicago. But me and my grandma were Packer fans.
“It came on every week – I grew up into a diehard Packer fan. All the way through college – I was a sophomore in college when we won that Super Bowl with Aaron Rodgers. Everyone going crazy.’’
It’s home week in a sense for Harris. He didn’t grew up in Green Bay, but Milwaukee is close enough at less than a 2-hour drive. His mom, grandma, brothers and friends will be at Lambeau Field today to watch Shelby Harris play against the Packers, his former favorite team.
“I went there once,’’ Harris said. “My rookie year when I was in Oakland for a preseason game. But now to go there as a starter and get some serious playing time and play against the Packers at home, it’s something special.”
Childhood sentimentality must be quickly pushed aside. Harris and the Broncos desperately need a win. The Broncos are 0-2 while the Packers are 2-0.
“Yeah, 0-2, but there’s still a lot of things to be encouraged about,’’ Harris said. “It’s not like we’re getting whupped every week. We’re in there, we’re competing every week. We’re playing hard. I remember K-Jack (Kareem Jackson) was telling me: We just need to make two or three more plays every game to win the game. And so 0-2, the record may not look good but we’re a lot more encouraged than our record.’’
The Broncos are a 7.5-point underdog. They will pull off the upset if … ?
“We get constant pressure and our defense is the best defense on the field that day,” Harris said.
About that Denver defense. It holds the dubious distinction of becoming just the fourth defensive unit in the last 50 years to have zero sacks and zero takeaways through two games.
Harris found solace while glancing at a stat provided by 9News this week.
“We’ve had more runs (57) this year than passes (53), which is kind of unusual,’’ Harris said. “But we’ve got to stick the course and not get too antsy about not having sacks or turnovers because they’re coming.
“I remember seeing something about the Cowboys one year, Wade Phillips defense, they started the season with zero sacks and zero turnovers and they wound up seventh in the league. So they’re going to come. There’s nothing to be worried about. We’re going to go out there and we’re going to make plays.”
Harris was 5 years old when the Packers won Super Bowl XXXI to cap the 1996 season. We all know what happened in the following year’s Super Bowl when Harris was 6 years old.
“The one I remember even more is when they lost to the Broncos,’’ he said. “I remember Elway doing the little helicopter and it broke my heart.’’
Harris’ favorite player growing up was the same as grandma’s. Brett Favre.
“Just the mentality of the gunslinger,’’ Harris said. “It’s a contagious mentality. Everyone loved him in Green Bay, and that was my favorite one growing up was Brett Favre and Sterling Sharpe. So me and grandma we had a lot in common about that.”
Grandma and the rest of Shelby Harris’ relatives will have a new favorite player, and favorite team, at Lambeau Field today. They’ll be cheering on the team that’s not supposed to win.
“We always like to be underdogs,’’ Harris said. “You always want to feel like you have something to prove. We’ll take the challenge.”
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