Arizona State’s N’Keal Harry: St. Vincent Island family ‘just now starting to really get into football’

Former Arizona State standout receiver N’Keal Harry is about to enter the NFL, and knows there are plenty of people back home on St. Vincent Island who still aren’t familiar with the sport he plays.

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SiriusXM Editor
April 23, 2019

N’Keal Harry, a highly regarded receiver prospect, will be in Arizona during the NFL Draft.

The former Arizona State star is going to be with family. When he was four years old, he moved from St. Vincent Island to Arizona to live with his grandmother.

‘I’m pretty sure half of them do probably think I’m crazy for even going there and playing the sport that I’m playing’

However, as Harry explained to Jim Miller and Pat Kirwan on Movin’ The Chains, there are others in his native home who are “just now starting to really get into football.”

“Football is not a sport that is played on an island, so I’m pretty sure half of them do probably think I’m crazy for even going out there and playing the sport that I’m playing,” Harry said. “But I know a lot of people are extremely proud of me. I know my family members are extremely proud of me.

“The biggest thing for them is they’re more proud of the man I’m becoming than the player I’m becoming.”

‘Just doing everything I can to become better every day’

“But the biggest thing for them is they’re more proud of the man I’m becoming than the player I’m becoming. And that’s what I’m striving to be the best at — just keep moving forward and keep progressing as a man and just doing everything I can to become better every day.”

Harry said he owes plenty to his grandmother for “setting a great example” and showing him the importance of hard work. But she, too, has had her reservations about her grandson playing football.

‘She used to hate the sound of helmets clashing’

“She definitely didn’t like it, especially when I was younger,” Harry said. “She used to hate the sound of helmets clashing. She still doesn’t like it too much, I don’t think. But at this point she’s learned to accept it. She’s learned to accept that this is a sport I love to play, this is what I have a passion for. So she’s always been supportive of it, even though it’s a little bit more rough than she would like.”



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