Yep, that’s exactly what the Boston College football program needs at this point in time.
Coming off an injury-stunted 2011 campaign in which he still managed to become the school’s all-time leading rusher, running back Montel Harris has unexpectedly been permanently dismissed from the Eagles. BC announced the stunning development via a press release, and attributed the dismissal to a repeated violation of team rules.
“We are grateful for his contributions the past four seasons and will support him in completing his degree requirements and in his future pursuits,” a portion of head coach Frank Spaziani‘s statement read.
Suffice to say, the release did not specify what team rules Harris repeatedly violated.
Harris missed the 2010 regular season finale and BC’s bowl loss to Nevada with a knee injury, then missed the first three games of the 2011 season after undergoing surgery in August. He returned for two games, breaking the school’s career rushing mark in an early October loss to Wake Forest.
He missed the remaining seven games of his senior season last year, but in December was granted a medical hardship waiver that gave him another season of eligibility.
After being initially cleared to participate in spring practice this year, he was shut down for the remainder of the sessions when he complained of soreness following the first practice.
It’s unclear what kind of football future Harris may have, although attempting to make himself available for the NFL’s July supplemental draft is certainly a possibility.
Derrick Knight had held the school record of 3,725 yards since 2003 before Harris’ 108 yards in what turned out to be his final game as an Eagle gave him 3,735 for his career. Harris was 868 yards shy of breaking the ACC’s all-time rushing standard set by North Carolina State’s Ted Brown in the late 70s.