In an instant, time stopped for sophomore tight end Jalen Harris. Nothing else mattered.
“Man, this is it. I can’t go out like this, this is crazy,” Harris thought. "This could have been the end."
It was October 4, 2015. Just a day earlier, Auburn was celebrating a 35-21 win over San Jose State. Harris ventured home to Montgomery that Sunday to be with his family. But on his return trip, tragedy struck.
“I was coming back to Auburn, and I was coming down Chantilly Parkway, and there was just a little bit of traffic,” Harris described. “I was driving and I saw that two other cars had gotten in a wreck on the other side of the road. So this car pulled out of the gas station, and it collided with a van, and the van swerved into the other lane and hit me. I really didn’t have anywhere to go, and I flipped four or five times into a ditch on the side of the road."
Harris’ Chevrolet Tahoe was totaled. His life was now in question.
“The car finally stopped, and thankfully I had my seatbelt on so I unbuckled it,” Harris recalled. “My back window was open and I saw just a little bit of light back there so I crawled out of the back of the car. I saw all these people looking at me down in the ditch, and they couldn’t really believe I had made it out of the car.
“The back window wasn’t busted, it was just open. That was God, I really believe that was God.”
Harris walked away nearly unscathed physically. His mentality was a different story.
“Everyone just kept asking me what happened and I kept telling the story,” Harris said. “I really couldn’t stop thinking about it. One day in class I was thinking about it, and I just felt like I was about to throw up. I couldn’t even stay in math class.”
Harris went to Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn and explained everything that was going on. Malzahn gave Harris the week off. Auburn was on their bye week, so Harris returned home to gather himself.
“I went home and got to talk to my pastor, my parents, and one of the team therapists,” Harris said. “After that week I was completely back to normal.”
Harris rejoined the team and was a contributor on special teams along with being one of the better performers academically on the Auburn roster last year. Harris was listed as a starter as a freshman, but this year, he has seen his role increase significantly.
“It means a lot more to be a starter this year,” Harris said. “Everyone on the team has a role, but as my role has increased, I feel a lot more accomplished. It feels good to get a lot of reps and know I have an impact on the outcome of the game.”
Malzahn noted Harris’ significant improvement last week leading up to the Mississippi State game.
“He is getting better every week,” Malzahn said. “[He] played very well last week [against Louisiana Monroe]. It is starting to click for him. He is very physical.”
Harris has started to get handfuls of snaps at tight end for the Tigers, a position that has been underutilized in the past. He has improved his blocking, which led to the increase in his playing time. However, his perspective on not just football, but life, has changed completely since a year ago.
“I learned that your time on earth isn’t promised,” the sophomore said. “You can be here one day and gone the next, so you have to live your life to the fullest with no regrets. On the football field, it really taught me to play each snap 110 percent because you never know when your last snap is going to be.
“I know God has a plan for everyone, and He has a great one for me, whatever it may be. I know that I am blessed to be here, blessed to be at Auburn, to be apart of one of the best schools in the country, playing the game I love and doing what I love to do every day.”
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