Posted on Jan. 10th, 2004, Green Bay Press Gazette
Packer Fan Tours Customer Receives Football from Game Winning Interception (1/4/04)
Harris' ball now in N.Y. state
By Andy Nelesen
Al Harris's game-winning ball is safe and sound in the hands of a die-hard Green Bay Packers fan - in Lyons, N.Y.
Harris, the Packers' starting cornerback, helped the Packers win the NFC wild-card playoff game on Sunday when he jumped a pass route in overtime and swiped a ball thrown by Seattle Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck.
After cruising into the end zone, Harris sauntered up to the stadium wall and handed the intercepted ball to a fan - Dan Dennis of Lyons, sitting in Section 105, Row 1.
"He started running down the field and I was banging on the padding there . I was hoping he would leap," Dennis said. "He came straight through the end zone and pranced through the reporters there and handed the ball right up to me.
"I just pulled it in. Actually it's funny, my wife got pretty mad at me. She said I tried to hit her. I didn't realize it. I just grabbed it and I just pulled it in and held on because I felt all these hands and stuff. Not that I don't trust anybody, but I was just ecstatic and I was just hanging on."
Dennis, a lifelong fan and Packers shareholder, said he waited around after the game to see if Harris wanted the ball back.
"I stuck around for a little bit and I talked to one of the security officers, and he said 'Ah, he's got enough balls. You keep it.'"
Harris, however, has reconsidered.
"Actually, I was hoping I could get that ball back," Harris said after Thursday's practice in preparation for the Philadelphia Eagles. "That particular ball is pretty special to me, so I'd love to have it back."
So why'd he give it away in the first place?
"I always like to do that because the game is about the fans," Harris said. "They make the game what it is, so it's just a way to pay them back."
Incidentally, Harris received the game ball from Coach Mike Sherman in the locker room after the game.
Dennis, a nurse and emergency medical technician, said selling the ball - or putting it on eBay - never crossed his mind.
"I have it down in my office," Dennis said. "It's not really about the money. This is something to hang on to for our family. I have a little girl that I am raising as a Packers fan. So it's not something that I would sell."
(NOTE: Dan Dennis purchased his seats in section 105, row 1 from Packer Fan Tours, The Official Tour Company of the Green Bay Packers)