CANARYVILLE — Darvell Harris was in fourth grade when he decided he wanted to be a professional football player.
On Saturday, a decade after playing starting quarterback for the Canaryville Lions, Harris signed an undrafted free agent contract with the Seattle Seahawks.
“I’ve been waiting my whole life for this,” Harris said.
Harris played cornerback for the University of North Alabama Lions. During the 2015 season, he had three interceptions for 54 yards, helping the Lions finish the season 9-3.
Before his career at North Alabama, Harris played at Dodge City Community College in Kansas.
But Harris got his first taste of football glory in Canaryville.
“He’s one of the smartest football players I ever coached,” Canaryville Lions Varsity Coach Danny Lamb said.
Harris, who grew up in the housing projects at 24th and State, was Lamb’s starting quarterback for three years.
In almost two decades of coaching, Lamb has worked with a lot of talented kids on the gridiron, but Harris set himself apart with his intelligence: “He’s the only quarterback I let change the play at the line of scrimmage.”
Harris, a graduate of Dunbar High School, is the first player from the Canaryville Lions football program to sign with a professional football team.
“This is a triumph,” said Adam Campbell Jr., who started the Lions program in 1994.
Karen McDonagh taught Harris in fourth, seventh and eighth grades at Graham Elementary School.
Watching Harris grow up, the 41-year-old teacher sensed there was something special about him.
“He told me he was going to play in the NFL,” McDonagh said. “In 17 years I can’t tell you how many students told me they wanted to be a professional baseball player or football player. … When Darvell said it, I just knew he could do it.”
After the news Harris signed with the Seahawks spread through the South Side — Harris’ mother texted everyone — the future NFL player’s phone started to ring.
McDonagh was one of the first to call.
“Hey, ma,” Harris said. “We did it.”
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