Marcell Harris of the 49ers, two seasons after his final year at Florida, is greeted by fans earlier this week in Miami for Super Bowl LIV. (Photo: Peter Casey/USA TODAY Sports)
Former Gators Teammates, Now Super Bowl Rivals
Thursday, January 30, 2020 | Football, Scott Carter
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By: Scott Carter, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – They didn't know each other when they arrived on the UF campus in 2013 as fresh-faced newcomers. That would soon change.
Marcell Harris grew up in Orlando, a bone-rattling defensive back whose roots to the Gators traced back to his father, former UF linebacker Mike Harris. As Harris recovered from a knee injury that cost him the final five games of his senior season at Dr. Phillips High, he watched a young receiver from Carrollton, Ga., crack the lineup for the Gators.
Lean, lanky and unpolished, Demarcus Robinson caught only five passes that season, but by the second game of his second season, Robinson was in the school record books with a 15-catch, 216-yard, two-touchdown performance in a triple-overtime win over Kentucky on a wild Saturday night in the Swamp. By that time, Harris and Robinson had become acquainted as competitors on opposite sides during Florida practices.
They are opponents on a much grander stage Sunday: Super Bowl LIV in Miami.
Former Gators receiver Demarcus Robinson caught a career-high 32 passes for 449 yards and four touchdowns for AFC Champion Kansas City this season. (Photo: Denny Medley/USA TODAY Sports)
Harris is in his second season with the San Francisco 49ers, a reserve strong safety who emerged late in the season when injuries began to take their toll on the 49ers' defense. In his fourth season with Kansas City, Robinson hauled in a career-high 32 passes this season from Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
If they get matched up Sunday, an audience of 100 million will be watching instead of just their coaches and teammates like days gone by at UF's Sanders Practice Fields.
"It's pretty weird. It's a good feeling to be in the Super Bowl and have a [former] teammate you played with to have the same experience,'' Robinson said. "He was mostly safety, so I didn't get a chance to get at him too much, but when we did get a chance, we definitely gave each other a lot of good work. We're going to do the same thing Sunday."
Robinson spent three seasons at UF and declared for the NFL Draft following his junior season, selected by the Chiefs in the fourth round in 2016. Meanwhile, Harris made his debut on the field in 2014 at Florida and for the next three seasons asserted himself, first, as a top reserve in the secondary, and then as a starter in 2016. However, prior to what would have been his redshirt senior season in 2017, Harris suffered a torn Achilles tendon in preseason camp and missed the season.
Instead of pursuing an additional year of eligibility, he entered the draft, where the 49ers used a sixth-round pick on him. He played in eight games as a rookie but prior to this season, Harris was cut in training camp and placed on the practice squad.
He refused to be denied.
"Having to go through all that always makes or breaks you,'' Harris said. "That's how I think of it with everything I do in life. I never let adversity stop me from my goals. And I didn't do that. I didn't waver from hearing that I was waived or on the practice team. I always continued to go hard and strived to be the best I can be. And that led me to where I am today."
Harris played a pivotal role down the stretch when strong safety Jaquiski Tartt injured his ribs against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 13, Harris took over and immediately stripped NFL MVP favorite Lamar Jackson. He started the final four games of the regular season and finished with a career-high 40 tackles and three forced fumbles.
This week in Miami, Harris reflected on how far he's come to be playing in the Super Bowl in his home state.
"I've got a book that I wrote to my grandmother back when I was little, and at the end of it, I told her I wanted to be in the NFL,'' Harris said. "Super Bowl champion or Super Bowl [participant] never came to mind."
Harris and Robinson are as different as their positions. Harris is somewhat of a football junkie, having grown up around the game and in the city. Robinson spent his youth in rural areas and watches Chiefs film during the week, but that's about it. The first Super Bowl he plans to watch is the one he is playing in.
"I'm not a TV guy. I never watched football growing up until I was in eighth grade, and I didn't watch it much then,'' he said. "I just remember playing in my own Super Bowl in the park. And now I'm doing it in real life."
Robinson's role in Kansas City's offense is that of secondary receiver behind star tight end Travis Kelce and veteran receivers Tyreek Hill and Sammy Watkins. He has become close with Hill, who is also from rural Georgia and is Kansas City's big-play threat.
Hill has watched Robinson get better each season, going from special-teams player as a rookie to a regular in the receivers rotation the past three years.
"He busted his butt all offseason,'' Hill said. "He came in with the mindset that he's not going to be denied this year. You couldn't ask for more from him."
Robinson and Harris are keeping an impressive streak alive for the Gators. UF has had at least one player in each of the past 18 Super Bowls, and regardless of the outcome Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium, a former UF player will be on the winning team for the 22nd time in Super Bowl history. Former Gators Teez Tabor and Chris Thompson won't play Sunday but are on San Francisco's 10-player practice squad.
This year, it will happen at the same place the Gators closed their season a month ago with a victory over Virginia in the Capital One Orange Bowl. Florida's return to prominence under head coach Dan Mullen hasn't gone unnoticed by Harris or Robinson, whose first season ended 4-8 and kicked off five years of highs and lows for the program.
"It's awesome. I'm always supporting my team,'' Harris said. "They send me gear every now and then. I've still got a couple of guys on the team that I was close with that were freshmen when I was there. To see them have a good coach in there that's doing the right things for the program, man, it's lovely to see."
Harris and Robinson stay connected with their former Gators teammates through social media mostly these days. They caught up briefly earlier this season before a preseason game and don't expect to see each other until kickoff Sunday.
For now, both are trying to further establish themselves in the NFL and carve out long careers. But first, they have the biggest game of their lives ahead.
"This is an amazing opportunity for everybody to be on this stage and show what they can do to the whole world,'' Robinson said.
-- Miami-based correspondent Steve Gorten contributed to this report.
