Big 12 Football: 50 best players of all-time
By Randy Gurzi
player. 815. . DT. Sooners . Tommie Harris. 45
Big 12 Football best players of all-time: 45. Tommie Harris, DL, Oklahoma football
Our first defensive tackle in this ranking comes in here at No. 46 with Tommie Harris, the former stud from Oklahoma. Born in Germany and raised in Texas, Harris would end up becoming one of the more heavily recruited defensive linemen in 2001. He was so advanced for his age that the former track and field star was not only on the field for every game as a true freshman, he actually started every time he suited up for them as well.
At the time, this wasn’t the norm for Bob Stoops, who had always recruited such strong classes that freshmen often had to pay their dues. That wasn’t the case for Harris as he came into Norman as a dominant force.
Harris wasn’t just any player on the field for them that season either as he locked up his first of three All-Big 12 First-Team honors while taking home the Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year award as well. For good measure, he then went on to add two All-American seasons to his name.
From there, Harris was the No. 14 overall pick in 2004 and went on to have a seven-year career with the Chicago Bears before spending his last NFL season with the San Diego Chargers. He was a three-time NFL Pro Bowler and helped the Bears make it to Super Bowl XLI. Harris was simply a stud and still stands out as one of the best Oklahoma has ever had on their D-line.