Yikes!

Above is a photo of Nat Moore catching a 47-yard touchdown from Bob Griese in an early season game in 1976 against the Rams. He beat Pro Bowl corner Rod Perry on a perfect post pattern. Griese's pass was textbook: accurate, strong, spiraling bomb that hit Moore in stride at the goal line. It might concern some folks that I still remember that play in detail, but forget birthdays and anniversaries and even some I might have been intimate with. The Dolphins blew a 21-7 lead and eventually lost the game on a last second Tom Dempsey field goal, 31-28. For a 12-year old, watching my favourite team lose a 2nd half lead was traumatic. The impact of that game and a 17-16 Monday night loss to Colts later that season stayed with me for quite a while.

30 years later, trauma is defined in much different terms and Dolphin losses rarely hurt anymore. Not that one does not care, but one learns about proportions and priorities.

Today, I remember that game differently. James "Shack" Harris passed for over 400 yards and led an impressive comeback and game-winning drive. Harris, now virtually forgotten, outdueled an all-pro QB (Bob Griese) on his home turf, and went on to lead the NFC in passing. The next season, he was traded to San Diego (and, ironically led the Chargers to a 14-13 victory in Miami by rolling to the right, then running over a Dolphin defender on a 4th down play as time expired - yes, as a 13-year old, I was traumatized again by Harris' 4th quarter heroics, but I digress). As for the Rams, they chose to go with some guy named Namath who could barely walk anymore and eventually benched him permanently for Pat Haden.

Harris' fate in San Diego? Played most of the season while Dan Fouts held out. When Fouts returned, Harris went to the bench and his career was pretty much finished.

Now, Griese, Namath, and Fouts are all proud members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Yet, I can't help wondering where James Harris would be if he had been afforded the same opportunites as they were given. I watched enough games he played to remember that he was rarely the lesser of the two starting QBs.