BOSTON — Alumni Stadium on the campus of Boston College is worlds apart from Memorial Stadium in Great Falls. For starters, Alumni Stadium holds close to 40,000 more fans.
But former Great Falls High star Reed Harris, a freshman wide receiver at BC, is comfortable anywhere there’s a field with painted lines. He’s settling into his new home even if his old home is never far from his mind.
“I’ve been texting a lot with my mom and my friends and everybody else in my family, and they've been keeping me going,” Harris told MTN Sports after a recent practice. “I haven't really gotten as homesick as I thought I would, which is good. But it's still good to keep in touch with them as much as I can.”
But Harris really doesn’t have time to get homesick. Two weeks into his first fall camp with the Eagles, his days are pretty full. And classes haven’t even started yet.
“My average day with football is 5:15 a.m. wake up and I've got about a 20-minute walk to the facility, two-hour practice, and then we get a lunch break and then we come back for meetings for about two or three hours,” Harris said. “And then we get a dinner break and then we go to walk through and that's it. We finish at about 8:15 p.m.”
Harris was Mr. Everything at Great Falls High. He played quarterback, receiver, linebacker, safety and special teams throughout his career with the Bison. But now he’s a freshman, working with the scout team and trying to get noticed by fourth-year BC head coach Jeff Hafley and his staff.
It’s a transition, but certainly not a surprise.
“I was prepared for this. Coming out of the small town where there really isn't that much competition, I didn't know how I was going to fit into the Division I level, but adjusting really hasn't been that hard,” Harris said.
During a recent 11-on-11 drill Harris caught a deep pass in coverage that earned the praise of teammates, coaches and assembled media members. It's all part of the process for Harris.
It’s too early to tell whether Harris will play as a true freshman or spend this season as a redshirt. But he’s making the most of each opportunity he has at practice to make his team better.
“I've had good reps, I've had bad reps. And the coaches are always watching all the film, so they're going to see everything. You have to catch every ball there is or else they're just not going to look at you in the way that you want them to,” he said.
But outside of football, Harris has embraced the New England lifestyle. MTN Sports asked what was his favorite part is about living in Boston, Harris didn’t hesitate.
“I had my first lobster when I came here and it was good. I had my first seafood boil too,” Harris said. “There’s a place about a 20-minute train ride away. You can get a big garbage bag filled with like potatoes and shrimp and crawfish. It's all good.”
The worst part?
“The freshman dorms. There’s no air conditioning in there,” Harris said. “You have to keep the fans running all of the time.”
What does he miss the most about Montana?
“The calmness,” he said. “In the big city everything is fast paced. But in Montana it’s slowed down. I’ve still got friends here that make me feel at home.”
Harris is the only player from Montana on the Eagles roster. In fact, he’s the only Montanan in the entire Atlantic Coast Conference. He's just one of very few Montanans on an FBS roster, and that’s a source of pride for the quiet, confident freshman.
“I think being a role model for people showing them that even though you're from a small place, you can go and do big things,” Harris said. “But you have to work hard for it or else it’ll never happen.”
By stepping out of his comfort zone, Harris is making things happen.
