Penn State basketball alum John Harrar set to try hand in NFL
Before the start of forward John Harrar’s fifth and final season at Penn State, he connected with a football player in a pick-up game.
An unnamed freshman, Harrar recalled his interaction with the player.
“He was coming up to me, saying how he was a hooper. And he’s big, like 6-foot-7,” Harrar said. “He was hooping and I was telling him I played football. And he’s like, ‘Yeah man, it’s a grind! I wish I was hooping!’ And there you go.”
More than five years after his decision to pursue basketball, Harrar is headed back to the gridiron.
In a decision announced on Twitter by NFL agent Blake Fromang, Harrar has been invited to participate in the Philadelphia Eagles’ rookie minicamp this weekend. Harrar will give it a go as a tight end, the agent said.
John Harrar’s football background
At 6-foot-9, 240 pounds, Harrar isn’t unfamiliar with the position, having starred as a tight end and defensive end in high school at Strath Haven. While there, Harrar earned multiple offers to play Division I football, even committing to play for Army.
Not yet signed to continue at the collegiate level in football, though, Harrar had a change of heart once starting his senior season on the hardwood.
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According to Harrar at the time, he said he realized his heart was more invested in basketball.
“I thought (football) was my path, but after playing my senior year in basketball, I wanted to play basketball,” said Harrar. “I love playing basketball, everything that goes into it. And I love being in the practice gym, I want to play basketball at the next level.”
Harrar would spend five years at Penn State working toward those aims.
Taking advantage of the NCAA’s bonus season of eligibility thanks to the impact of COVID-19 on the 2020 season, Harrar left Penn State atop the program chart for career games played with 146. His 854 career rebounds are fifth all-time, his career field goal percentage of 59.6 is second all-time, and he is one of only six Nittany Lions to finish their careers with both 800 points and 800 rebounds.
Proud of his skill development on the hardwood, Harrar suggested outstanding athleticism is needed in football. Still, he said, it can be picked up.
This weekend, Harrar will get his first opportunity to find out. In the process, he’ll attempt to follow in the footsteps of fellow Penn State basketball alumnus Ross Travis.
Travis, a 6-foot-7, 235 pounder, also appeared as a tight end in the NFL. In 29 career games over five seasons of action, Travis reeled in 14 receptions for 142 yards.
