BULLITT

Vasher's TD, wind made for day Harris will never forget
By Larry Mayer
November 15, 2005

Rookie safety Chris Harris, a sixth-round draft pick from Louisiana-Monroe, shares his thoughts in a weekly diary on ChicagoBears.com:

It was just incredible to actually be out there on the field Sunday for Nathan Vasher's 108-yard touchdown return of a missed field goal. It broke a record for the longest play in NFL history and Nathan's jersey and the ball are going to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.

Bill Smith
Chris Harris (46) joins teammates in celebrating Nathan Vasher's 108-yard TD return Sunday against the 49ers.
Years from now after I retire I can bring out the film of that and you can see me throwing a block. I told all my friends who called me after the game that that was the type of play you have to see to believe. Personally, I've never seen anything like it in my entire life.

As the play developed, I looked back and saw Nate catch the ball. It looked like he was getting ready to take a knee, but when I saw him come out of the end zone I ran over to the sideline and tried to find someone to block. When he spun out and went across the field, I got on my horse.

I think I threw a couple of blocks. I got a hand on the holder and then I blocked one more person down the field. It was a great run, but the whole special teams unit did an excellent job. I don't think there was anybody out there who didn't get at least two blocks on that play.

On film you can see Brian Urlacher leading the way, throwing blocks left and right. Lance Briggs had a couple of huge blocks and, like I said, everybody contributed on the return.

I was so happy for Nate. He was so exhausted that he couldn't say a word after he got into the end zone. I think he may have even missed the first three or four plays of the second half just trying to recover. His hamstrings locked up on him at the end when he jumped in the end zone.

That play was so huge emotionally for the team. It got the crowd into it and that's all we were talking about in the locker room at halftime. Everybody was pumped up and ready to go. We were like, "All right, we've got the lead and we're not going to lose it in the second half."

As far as the weather conditions, I have never ever in my life played in a game where the wind was that bad. I heard someone say that it was gusting up to 47 miles per hour. That's unbelievable. I was out there for a kickoff and a gust came and knocked me off balance.

I've never experienced anything like that before. It made it extremely hard for both teams to pass. When the ball got in the air, you didn't know where it was going to go. If you looked at Robbie Gould's first field goal attempt, it started out straight but landed in the crowd two sections to the right of the goal post! I've never seen anything like that.

On a personal note, my two older sisters, Shaundra and Gail, attended the game. It was Shaundra's birthday on Saturday, so it was a good present for her to come and see us win. My sisters brought two friends with them, Francine and Erica, and I had two friends of mine also come up for the game.