Over the Cliff?

If this ends up being the last play Cliff Harris makes for the season, it's perfectly appropriate. It shows his amazing Willie Mays-like physical ability to twist around and catch a punt over his shoulder, equaled only with his absolutely stupid brain activity that made him believe doing so was a good idea.

I know what I said in a post just two weeks ago (To get more wins, we'll need more CASH) about letting Cliff Harris out of the box and allowing him to be a little of his old self again. But now I'm thinking of the adage, "Be careful what you ask for, you just might get it."

I'm wondering if we've seen the last of Cliff Harris in a Duck uniform at least for the season. If you didn't hear, he screwed up again (Oregonian article: Chip Kelly calls Cliff Harris situation 'very disappointing'). After serving up a safety last Saturday to give Colorado their only two points, he got stopped by the cops in downtown Eugene.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing on the news. There was a policeman talking to Harris, making him tow the line, etc. The TV sound happened to be turned down so my instant thought was this was a replay from last summer.

But no. It's fresh footage. Once more with feeling: Driving without a seatbelt. Driving without a license. Driving without insurance. Driving without a clue. Driving without a brain.

And now he's driving without permission to step foot near any Oregon athletic facilities. That's a harsher suspension than what Kelly had given him in the past. It's a worse sanction than even for reporters; and we know how Kelly feels about reporters.

Coach Kelly says Harris fails to listen in practice. He fails to follow basic routes; to stay disciplined in his defensive assignments. Yet he has made some of the most beautiful defensive plays anyone has ever seen.

Why does Cliff Harris do what he does? Why does he catch the punt that carries him into the endzone? Why does he drive illegally? Why does he trash talk Colorado during warmups to earn the team a 15-yard penalty on the opening kickoff? Why does he hear people tell him what he should not do, and he agrees; then when backs are turned, he does it?!?!?!

He's got the talent. But to borrow a line from Bull Durham, he's got a million dollar body and a ten cent head. I won't leave these questions of "Why" as rhetorical. I think I have an answer.

Cliff Harris is the ultimate quintessential, eternal optimist.

If he blew off one of his fingers while playing with fireworks, he would look at the other nine fingers he still had, and smile at all the fireworks still left in the box.

He's not happy-go-stupid. Just stupid. He sees the trouble he gets himself into, says "Ah oh," but then just thinks about the next play, the next day, the next car ride -- all without examining his decisions that led to the "Ah oh".

Somehow in his mind, he thinks he has it all figured out. He's in control. Life is good. It's OK for him to take these risks and do the dumb things that people told him, begged him, ordered him not to do. But he'll do them anyway because now is now and he really wants to do it now.  So he'll just do it and things will work out.

And if they don't work out . . . . . . . . . ."Ah oh." But it's OK because things will still work out later, somehow. He can fix it. He's in control.

Guys like him could outlive us all. If someone made a movie about a person like Cliff Harris, it would be a dark comedy. And he would one day end up being king of the world. But as he turned around to view his domain, the camera would show a land of desolation. Destruction that he caused, unintentional consequences of his stupid actions.

He'll say, "Ah oh. But hey, it's OK. I'm in control. Let's move on. There will be another day, another play, another place for me."

It just may never be Autzen again.

The following is a song that I believe is the soundtrack running through his mind. Whether he's sitting on the bench serving a suspension, or sitting in a car waiting for the policeman to walk up, this song keeps him looking forward, believing it's OK, he's got it all figured out.

It's called Clint Eastwood, though it has nothing to do with the actor. I prefer to call it Cliff Harris.


--KB