September 19, 2023 • 5 mins
Wayne Larrivee sits down with former Green Bay Packers linebacker Tim Harris to discuss the defense of the 1989 team (0:44) and how his play style flourished under Forrest Gregg (3:54).
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
For more than a century, the Green Bay Packers have
been a benchmark for football excellence. Thousands of players have
helped pave the way, and we're here to tell you
their stories. I'm Wayne Laravie. This is the Packers alumni.
Spot White linebacker Tim Harris was a fourth round draft
(00:27):
pick by the Packers in nineteen eighty six. He led
the team in sacks with eight as a rookie. In
nineteen eighty nine. He put the word sack into the
Cardiac Packers, who won ten games that season.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
It's a great player that defense of the people like
Robert Brown and by Noble, all.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
That stuff of that.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
But we were just trying to keep the ship up uploat,
you know, like you know, so whenever we used to
tell the guys sometime man, if you get twenty one
points that think we can get this baby, you know,
all times open and we could stop. Other teams are
scoring that. So we're trying our best to the best
of we could.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Yeah, the big rivalry was with the Bears and that
game in lambeau Field late in the nineteen eighty nine season,
the Don Mkowski Instant replay game. Give me your recollections
of that day that game in general, in that play, I.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Just pretty much remember, you know, him just going out
and throwing the ball anyway, because usually when the office
is on the field, I try to keep my mother's
out of it, so I try to get away from it.
Or i'd go sit down at the other air for
me and wait to put them to reach me. And
then when they reached past me and some of that,
I go to the other day and that's my little
my Uh wait, everything I put myself into in the
player they have, you know, that way they play, and
(01:40):
they reached me in the way at least that move
in the ball and everything else. Once he got that touchdown,
and just could it still count?
Speaker 3 (01:47):
So yeah, no matter what anybody says, it still counts.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Well, you know that had to be a special feeling
for that team because the Bears had dominated the Packers
in that decade, right, I mean that was that was huge?
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Uh yeah, pretty much that. Yeah, they got us pretty
good all the years. Yeah, especially back in the early
and back in the eighty six eighty seven too, when
he used to run William Perry so many times too.
But after we hit his big except a couple of
times he stopped them after a while. We made a
fum with them all too after the while.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
So yeah, we'll talk a little bit about you. You
had a unique situation after a game in eighty seven
a Soldier field. You got into it with some fans
in the stands.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
What happened there was, Oh, I think I recall because
we were I'm a I'm a talker.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
So I like to talk. You know.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Everybody rolled up and everything like that. So that was
the day the Bears won the war, but we won
the battle because we were beating the pretty bad on defense.
But uh, they just happened and they just having to
get us in the end of the game and all that,
and all the fans at the end of the game,
they all have to tay parents and they all waved.
That was pretty Uh, I was pretty proud that. I'm
just glad I got them at least all them involved
in the game.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
You know you had ah, you had a signature sack celebration.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Yeah, shoot, us sixty knocked somebody's that off.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
You know, what was it?
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Like?
Speaker 3 (03:02):
What did you do something like that?
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Yes, it was just like this my guys, like that,
my imaginary six years and all that.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Well, this is back in the era when the NFL
was very testy about celebrations.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
Now they were very testy about that. But at least
you can knock the snut out of people back that,
so nowadays you can knock the snut out anybody anymore. So.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
Lost amid the exploits of quarterback Don Mkowski and All
Pro wide receiver Sterling Sharp, Harris's team record nineteen and
a half sacks in nineteen eighty nine remained the single
season standard in green Bay. He led the team, matter
of fact, in sacks in each of his five seasons
in Green Bay. Harris went on to play for the
(03:46):
San Francisco forty nine Ers, where he became a world champion.
But Green Bay is where he is a Hall of Famer.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
I love my time playing here. Those very That's how
from the best ideas in my life, playing football, because
they he me back and stought me how to play
football and let me play with all the anticity that
I wanted to and just let me go out and
do my thing. And I love that about being here.
But I played football at that because I was able
to express myself and just play as rough as I
wanted to be, you know, especially under for As Grant.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
When that guy here with Forrest, greg old school coach.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
So he was. He was wonderful Cord you know, so
him and Digmo ti Leski the football Let you know,
I'll let you play as rough as you can.
Speaker 3 (04:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
When Forrest got here, he was trying to establish a
physical edge with this football team, basically to combat the Bears,
who were the big boys on the block at that time.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
Right, Yeah, that's that's true.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
I remember, if if we can score in the in
if we can score in the red zone of the
game before some of that. The next week on Friday,
we would be out in four baths, full go line
scrimmage and we would go at each other pretty rough.
So yeah, that was that was old school football back
in the day. Ye so, but uh uh, it would
beat you up pretty bad, sometimes stupid. You know, it
was getting us point of costs to make sure.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
That we scored.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
But Tim, with all that hitting in practice, how much
did you guys have left for the game.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
Oh, we beat each other, not too much. It was
it was not It was not the smartest thing to do,
but we did it because you know, as far as
wanted to do, we were still we would still do those
legendary up downs that we would have to do all
the way till the end of the season. Was one.
After a while, you gotta do a shape sometime eventually,
you know.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
So yeah,
For more than a century, the Green Bay Packers have
been a benchmark for football excellence. Thousands of players have
helped pave the way, and we're here to tell you
their stories. I'm Wayne Laravie. This is the Packers alumni.
Spot White linebacker Tim Harris was a fourth round draft
(00:27):
pick by the Packers in nineteen eighty six. He led
the team in sacks with eight as a rookie. In
nineteen eighty nine. He put the word sack into the
Cardiac Packers, who won ten games that season.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
It's a great player that defense of the people like
Robert Brown and by Noble, all.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
That stuff of that.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
But we were just trying to keep the ship up uploat,
you know, like you know, so whenever we used to
tell the guys sometime man, if you get twenty one
points that think we can get this baby, you know,
all times open and we could stop. Other teams are
scoring that. So we're trying our best to the best
of we could.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Yeah, the big rivalry was with the Bears and that
game in lambeau Field late in the nineteen eighty nine season,
the Don Mkowski Instant replay game. Give me your recollections
of that day that game in general, in that play, I.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Just pretty much remember, you know, him just going out
and throwing the ball anyway, because usually when the office
is on the field, I try to keep my mother's
out of it, so I try to get away from it.
Or i'd go sit down at the other air for
me and wait to put them to reach me. And
then when they reached past me and some of that,
I go to the other day and that's my little
my Uh wait, everything I put myself into in the
player they have, you know, that way they play, and
(01:40):
they reached me in the way at least that move
in the ball and everything else. Once he got that touchdown,
and just could it still count?
Speaker 3 (01:47):
So yeah, no matter what anybody says, it still counts.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Well, you know that had to be a special feeling
for that team because the Bears had dominated the Packers
in that decade, right, I mean that was that was huge?
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Uh yeah, pretty much that. Yeah, they got us pretty
good all the years. Yeah, especially back in the early
and back in the eighty six eighty seven too, when
he used to run William Perry so many times too.
But after we hit his big except a couple of
times he stopped them after a while. We made a
fum with them all too after the while.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
So yeah, we'll talk a little bit about you. You
had a unique situation after a game in eighty seven
a Soldier field. You got into it with some fans
in the stands.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
What happened there was, Oh, I think I recall because
we were I'm a I'm a talker.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
So I like to talk. You know.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Everybody rolled up and everything like that. So that was
the day the Bears won the war, but we won
the battle because we were beating the pretty bad on defense.
But uh, they just happened and they just having to
get us in the end of the game and all that,
and all the fans at the end of the game,
they all have to tay parents and they all waved.
That was pretty Uh, I was pretty proud that. I'm
just glad I got them at least all them involved
in the game.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
You know you had ah, you had a signature sack celebration.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Yeah, shoot, us sixty knocked somebody's that off.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
You know, what was it?
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Like?
Speaker 3 (03:02):
What did you do something like that?
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Yes, it was just like this my guys, like that,
my imaginary six years and all that.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Well, this is back in the era when the NFL
was very testy about celebrations.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
Now they were very testy about that. But at least
you can knock the snut out of people back that,
so nowadays you can knock the snut out anybody anymore. So.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
Lost amid the exploits of quarterback Don Mkowski and All
Pro wide receiver Sterling Sharp, Harris's team record nineteen and
a half sacks in nineteen eighty nine remained the single
season standard in green Bay. He led the team, matter
of fact, in sacks in each of his five seasons
in Green Bay. Harris went on to play for the
(03:46):
San Francisco forty nine Ers, where he became a world champion.
But Green Bay is where he is a Hall of Famer.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
I love my time playing here. Those very That's how
from the best ideas in my life, playing football, because
they he me back and stought me how to play
football and let me play with all the anticity that
I wanted to and just let me go out and
do my thing. And I love that about being here.
But I played football at that because I was able
to express myself and just play as rough as I
wanted to be, you know, especially under for As Grant.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
When that guy here with Forrest, greg old school coach.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
So he was. He was wonderful Cord you know, so
him and Digmo ti Leski the football Let you know,
I'll let you play as rough as you can.
Speaker 3 (04:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
When Forrest got here, he was trying to establish a
physical edge with this football team, basically to combat the Bears,
who were the big boys on the block at that time.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
Right, Yeah, that's that's true.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
I remember, if if we can score in the in
if we can score in the red zone of the
game before some of that. The next week on Friday,
we would be out in four baths, full go line
scrimmage and we would go at each other pretty rough.
So yeah, that was that was old school football back
in the day. Ye so, but uh uh, it would
beat you up pretty bad, sometimes stupid. You know, it
was getting us point of costs to make sure.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
That we scored.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
But Tim, with all that hitting in practice, how much
did you guys have left for the game.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
Oh, we beat each other, not too much. It was
it was not It was not the smartest thing to do,
but we did it because you know, as far as
wanted to do, we were still we would still do those
legendary up downs that we would have to do all
the way till the end of the season. Was one.
After a while, you gotta do a shape sometime eventually,
you know.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
So yeah,
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