Chris Harris Released By Chicago Bears

Less than one week ago Chicago Bears safety Chris Harris requested a trade and now he has been officially released by the Chicago Bears.

A former starter for the club Harris told “The Waddle & Silvy Show” on ESPN 1000:

“This caught me as a surprise and it didn’t catch me as a surprise.”

Harris went on to explain:

“It caught me as a surprise coming off a start and then going into the office on Thursday and being told I’m being released.

“But then again it doesn’t catch me as a surprise because in the seven years I’ve been in the league I’ve experienced the highs and lows. I’ve been traded and things of that nature. I’ve been benched. I’ve come to realize that in this business nothing is for certain.”

Harris, a second-team All-Pro last season started in the Bears season-opening victory over the Atlanta Falcons but pulled a hamstring towards the end of that game, forcing him to miss the next three weeks while he recovered. Returning to play during his teams Oct. 10 loss to the Detroit Lions Harris was beat deep by Calvin Johnson for a 73-years touchdown pass.

Speaking about the recent decision to release his player Lovie Smith said after Thursday’s practice:

“We’re trying to win a championship … The guys we’re keeping here I feel like give us our best chance to do it.”

This outing with the Bears was Harris’ second after a trade with Carolina last year returned him to the team.

The split doesn’t seem to be bitter for Harris who said after learning of his release:

“They made changes at the positions they felt they could make changes at,” Harris said. “You can’t make changes at every single position on the team. It’s just not possible due to depth and things of that nature. I’ll kind of leave that one at that. Safety was one of the positions we had depth at and that was a position they felt they wanted to change.”

It’s nice to see a split happen so amicably and Harris will likely end up with another team in the future, getting the new location he wanted even if it doesn’t happen in the most straight forward way.