Harry Douglas
 Douglas in November 2008 | |||||||
| Atlanta Falcons | |||||||
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| Personal information | |||||||
| Born: | September 16, 1984 Jonesboro, Georgia | ||||||
| Career information | |||||||
| College: | Louisville | ||||||
| NFL draft: | 2008 / Round: 3 / Pick: 84 | ||||||
| Career history | |||||||
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| Roster status: | Active | ||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||
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| Career NFL statistics as of Week 17, 2009 | |||||||
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Harry Douglas, IV (born September 16, 1984) is an American football wide receiver for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Falcons in the third round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He played college football at Louisville.
Early years
Douglas attended Jonesboro High School. Douglas was a basketball star in high school, averaging 20.5 points, 3 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 3 steals as a senior. On the gridiron, he was also exceptional, accumulating 80 catches for 1,539 yards and 14 TD's over his 3-year career. He was rated 3-stars by Rivals.com and accepted a scholarship to Louisville in 2003, picking the Cardinals over Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and Missouri.
He is the brother of Toney Douglas, who plays point guard for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Harry and Toney are the sixth pair of brothers to play in the NFL and NBA, respectively.[1]
College career
Douglas saw no action in 2003, red shirting, and spending the entire year on the scout team.
In his first year of action, Douglas played in 12 games as a wideout and caught 5 passes for 43 yards. He played a valuable role on special teams as well. His highlight of the year was a 65-yard touchdown run on a reverse in the 2004 AutoZone Liberty Bowl in Memphis that propelled the Cardinals to a 44–40 victory and a #6 final AP ranking in the team's last year as a member of Conference USA.
Douglas saw an increased role in 2005 with the departure of J.R. Russell. His first career receiving TD came in a 3 catch, 91 yard performance against Oregon State in which the Cardinals won, 63–27. Against arch-rival Cincinnati, he had a (then) career-high 5 catches for 87 yards and a TD in a 46–22 victory. Douglas finished the year with 27 catches for 457 yards.
As a junior, he would be counted on even more with the graduations of Montrell Jones and Joshua Tinch. He started off the year with a 26 yard run off a reverse against Kentucky that set up a 48 yard score by Michael Bush in a 59–28 win. Against Miami, despite scoring no touchdowns, he had a big game catching 4 passes for 94 yards on his birthday. He caught a TD pass from Hunter Cantwell the next week at Kansas State in a 24–6 win, and went on to catch 5 more, 2 in the season finale against Connecticut. In the 2007 Orange Bowl, he registered a personal best and an Orange Bowl best 10 catches for 165 yards in a 24–13 Cardinals win. He and fellow teammate Mario Urrutia proved to be one of the best receiving tandems in the entire nation.
Douglas started off 2007 with a bang, catching 5 balls for 151 yards and 2 scores in an easy win over Murray State. He caught a TD pass in each of his team's next 3 games against MTSU, Kentucky, and Syracuse before suffering an injury. He returned on October 13 against Cincinnati, catching 7 passes for 118 yards, none of which was more important than a 51-yard reception that set up a game winning TD by Anthony Allen in a 28–24 win. To close out the year, he caught a TD in a 24–17 win over Pitt and came up with a great performance despite a 55–17 loss at South Florida, recording 8 receptions for 136 yards and 1 touchdown. After the year, he was invited to the Under Armor Senior Bowl in Mobile, AL along with fellow teammate Brian Brohm.
Awards and honors
Atlanta Falcons
2008
He was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the third round of the 2008 NFL Draft. Douglas scored his first 2 career touchdowns in a Week 12 meeting against the Carolina Panthers. He first found the end zone on a seven-yard end around in the first quarter to give the Falcons a 10–0 lead. Douglas then became the 10th player in Falcons history to return a punt for a touchdown and the first since 2004 when Allen Rossum returned a punt 61 yards in the fourth quarter. Douglas return was the longest in his career, topping the previous mark of 33 yards against New Orleans Saints in Week 10. Along with a 61-yard punt return, Douglas totaled career-highs in offensive touches with six , two rushing, four receiving and all purpose yards 188 which included three rushing, 92 receiving and 93 yards on punt returns , He finished the game with 92 receiving yards, which led the team and fell four yards short of his career-high (96 vs. Chicago, October 12). Douglas was named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week for his performance against the Panthers. Douglas finished his rookie season with 19 returns for 226 yards and a touchdown, he also caught 23 passes for 329 yards and a touchdown.
2009
During the fifth day of the Falcons' training camp, Douglas was taken off the field after injuring his left knee while working in a one-on-one drill.[2] The Falcons confirmed the next day that Douglas will be out for the 2009 season and placed on injured reserve.[3][4]
Additional Uses
A Harry Douglas is also a drink containing two parts Maker's Mark and one part Ginger Ale created by Jon Weitzel at the famous Pearl Bar in Houston, Texas. The drink was named after the football player, Harry Douglas, after his debut punt-return touchdown.
References
- ^ Abrams, Jonathan (2009-07-20). "Sibling rivalry benefits Knicks' Douglas". The New York Times. p. D2. Retrieved 2009-08-07.
- ^ Receiver Douglas goes down with knee injury
- ^ Confirmed: Douglas Out for Season
- ^ Atlantic Falcons' transactions, Aug. 6, 2009