“I’d say it was about the same feeling, that the coaches and players believed in me enough to be the captain,” Harrah said. “And the players (around the league) voted, at the time, for us to go to the Pro Bowl. That was sort of the same deal, in my opinion. Both were an honor and I was blessed to have those honors. I was absolutely blessed.”
Blessed to be able to play 13 seasons, 1975-87, with the Rams, Harrah’s fondest memories are of the camaraderie he shared with his teammates.
What makes him most proud of his stellar career?
“Well, a couple of those are some real personable things. We held out on strike (in 1987), and that was a tough time,” Harrah said. “I knew it was my last year. I knew I was done. My back was bad. I had a herniated disc. But I just decided that I did not want to cross the picket line. I wanted to be the captain that I would wish somebody else would be.
“We were trying to get a better retirement and, of course, they got free agency at the time. And the rest is history. It went from salaries to… It’s just gone. The money is crazy right now. It was a tough year, my last year. I retired and basically got very little out of it as far as the strikemyself. It was just supporting the cause we were fighting for.”
A leader as a player on and off the field, it’s much the same now as Harrah, the father of two sons: Tanner and Blake; and grandfather of two: Maxine and Auda; makes his home in Paso Robles, CA, with his wife, Teresa.
“I do some work with Central Coast Home Health and Hospice. Basically, I go into nursing homes and talk to the seniors about physical fitness and being positive about their lives. I just tell them Dennis Harrah stories and try to get them to smile and laugh,” Harrah said.
“It’s been a great time for me as far as being able to go into different assisted living areas and just talk to them about some of the struggles that I’ve been through. I know that they’re going through struggles, and I try to smile every day. I try to be positive every day no matter what struggles we’re dealing with physically and mentally. It’s just been very rewarding, very rewarding.”
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at News…