Broncos’ tackle Ryan Harris had Joe Mauer’s back in high school

Ryan Harris (left) blocked for Joe Mauer in high school. Now he's blocking for Peyton Manning in the Super Bowl. (APl) Denver Broncos’ left tackle Ryan Harris will have a tough assignment during Super Bowl 50 on Sunday. He’ll be charged with protecting the blindside of Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning against a ferocious Carolina Panthers’ pass rush led by Jared Allen.

But don’t think Harris won’t be up to the task. The 30-year-old veteran started all 16 games for the Broncos this past regular season, and has started 70 games overall during his nine-year career. He’s experienced, he’s savvy, and at 6-foot-5, 300 pounds, he’s capable of swallowing up and pushing around defenders all afternoon long.

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Don’t think he’s not familiar with the extra pressure that comes with protecting a legend, either. Harris was already doing that during his high school football days, when he was tasked with protecting a prized baseball prospect. That prospect’s name was Joe Mauer, who we now know as the face of the Minnesota Twins franchise.

Harris and Mauer both attended Cretin-Derham Hall High School in St. Paul, Minn. The school also produced current Twins manager and baseball Hall of Famer Paul Molitor, long-time Minnesota Vikings lineman Matt Birk, current Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Michael Floyd and former two-sport star Chris Weinke. That’s a pretty rich sports history, but a high point certainly came when Harris and Mauer were together.

Harris recently reflected on those days while speaking to MLB.com and had nothing but praise for Mauer. In fact, he called Mauer one of the best quarterbacks he’s seen.

While football was Harris’ main sport, he also participated in wrestling and, yes, even baseball. Harris describes himself as a hard-working and good-fielding first baseman who couldn’t hit a curveball.

Join the club on that one, Ryan.

Knowing football was his true calling, Harris only stuck with baseball through his ninth grade year. But just because he left the game behind doesn’t mean he left behind his baseball teammate’s work ethic. In fact, he used that work ethic to help him prepare for his more physically demanding sports ventures.

“All the guys I know that played baseball and were successful spent hours drilling and in practices, doing winter baseball, getting in the cages every day — I did that for football, getting in the gym, and wrestling as well,” Harris said.

Work ethic aside, Harris made one other pretty interesting comparison between football and baseball, noting what he believes is a similar mindset between offensive tackles and pitchers.

“It’s been great, the little bit of experience I have in baseball and being a fan of baseball. I really like pitchers — pitchers and offensive tackles have similar mindsets,” said Harris, who played collegiate ball at Notre Dame. “You can’t go in and throw your best pitch and you can’t throw your best block every time. You’ve got to change it up, use your count, use your knowledge of your down and distance in football. There are a lot of similarities.

“That’s why I love watching some of my favorite pitchers — CC Sabathia, Yordano Ventura for the Royals.”

That’s a really interesting way to approach things. The one notable difference is that unlike baseball, where a catcher and a pitching coach will help a pitcher set up a game, Harris is out there fending on his own. Sure, his position coach might make a suggestion. The offensive coordinator may even call a certain scheme that tells him where he needs to be. But it’s up to him to read the defender and get a feel for what’s coming and what’s working.

If you’re a baseball fan looking for something to focus on during Sunday’s battle at Levi’s Stadium, watching the many ways Ryan Harris attempts to protect Manning’s blindside might be a good one.

Here’s another interesting thing to consider about Ryan Harris. We can bring his high football and NFL career full circle in seven steps.

1. Ryan Harris and Joe Mauer were teammates in high school.

2. Joe Mauer and Michael Cuddyer were teammates with the Minnesota Twins.

3. Michael Cuddyer and Todd Helton were teammates with the Colorado Rockies.

4. Todd Helton and Seth Smith were teammates on the Rockies lone World Series team in 2007. (The Todd Helton-Peyton Manning connection is just too easy.)

5. Seth Smith was Eli Manning’s backup quarterback at Ole Miss.

6. Eli Manning and Peyton Manning are brothers.

7. Peyton Manning and Ryan Harris hope to be Super Bowl champion teammates in Denver.

And now we can bring a smile to your face with ten simple words.

Football ends tomorrow. Spring training begins in two short weeks!

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