BROOKSVILLE— The new Xtreme Football League has brought out some former Tampa Bay area stars and one familiar face from Hernando County is back in the professional football ranks.
Former Central High School running back DuJuan Harris has signed to play for the Los Angeles Wildcats of the XFL. Harris is listed fourth on the depth chart for the Wildcats, per the official XFL website. The Wildcats played this past weekend against the New York Guardians and fell 17-14 on the road.
In 38 games played in the NFL, Harris has rushed for 590 yards on 145 carries and scored two touchdowns. He’s currently a free agent and could be picked up sometime during training camp or during the NFL 2018 campaign. Harris’ best season in the NFL was in 2012 when he was with the Packers and rushed for 157 yards on 34 carries and had a solid 4.6 yards per carry average. He scored both of his touchdowns that season as well.
Harris, who in 2006 rushed for 363 yards in a game for the Bears, has been very active throughout the Brooksville community and has visited Central High School several times to speak with players, students and teachers in the past. He had his uniform number retired at halftime of Central’s homecoming game against Lecanto over a couple years ago.
The former Bears’ running back isn’t the only tailback to be currently playing professional football, as former Nature Coast alum Matt Breida played in Super Bowl LIV with the San Francisco 49ers this past season. Breida ended his season with 600 yards rushing in the regular season, but was limited to just a handful of touches when it came to postseason play.
The former Sharks’ running back played exclusively on special teams for San Francisco during the playoffs, and got a lot of snaps during Super Bowl LIV, which was played at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, FL. The 49ers eventually lost 31-20 to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Big reason why Breida fell out of touch in the running back rotation under Kyle Shanahan was the improved play by tailback Raheem Mostert, who rushed for over 300 yards in the postseason. Also rejoining the rotation was free agent acquisition Tevin Coleman, who was limited due to injury. Breida rushed for 19 yards in the playoffs.
Andy Villamarzo can be reached at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @avillamarzo.
