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Like many Green Bay Packers fans, the veteran cornerback sort-of knew who Tory Humphrey was — tight end, No. 84 — but wondered why the team was keeping him around. After all, in three years, Humphrey has yet to catch a single regular-season NFL pass.
But then Harris showed up for last week’s organized team activity practices — after missing the first two weeks of OTAs — and saw Humphrey again.
“That dude is good,” said Harris, whose debut coincided with Humphrey being medically cleared for drills. “No joke.”
Harris’ endorsement helps explain why the Packers have been so patient with Humphrey, who spent last season on injured reserve after breaking his left ankle a little more than an hour into the first practice of training camp.
After seeing what Humphrey did as part of the offseason conditioning program and in last year’s OTAs and minicamp practices general manager Ted Thompson and coach Mike McCarthy felt it was worth the wait for Humphrey to get healthy.
“We felt like he’d had a very, very good offseason last year. And then dadgum it if it wasn’t the first day of practice he got hurt,” Thompson said Thursday, following the team’s final OTA practice. “Quite frankly, he shows a lot of skill for the position. We think his injuries have been unfortunate. When he’s out there, he looks good. We’re hoping to start anew with him — a new lease on life where he stays injury-free.
“I think it could be a win-win for everybody. But we’ll see. We have a long way to go.”
No one knows that better than Humphrey, who has been trying to make it in the NFL since entering the league with Indianapolis as an undrafted free agent out of Central Michigan in 2005. An underused four-year starter (68 catches for 862 yards for his career), Humphrey spent about a month with the Colts before being released. The Packers brought him to training camp but cut him after 26 days.
He went home to Michigan — his high-school sweetheart wife, Ebony, was finishing her nursing degree at Michigan State — and waited not-so-patiently for another chance. He was on the verge of taking a job at UPS when the Packers called in November and signed him to the practice squad. He spent six weeks there before being promoted to the 53-man roster for the season finale.
Humphrey spent the following spring playing in NFL Europe, then made the roster coming out of training camp, seeing action in seven of the first nine games of 2006. But he suffered a season-ending hamstring injury in November and finished the year on injured reserve. Then came the training-camp injury that shelved him for all of last season and required surgery.
“When I first got hurt, it was like, ’Here we go again.’ I mean, I knew at some point I would be back, but it was like, ’I can’t believe it happened again,’ ” said the 6-foot-2, 250-pound Humphrey, who first was on crutches, then had to use an awkward scooter to get around before finally running again in December. “Everyone has injuries at some point. Mine have been more serious than most. But it’s just something I have to fight through.”
After Thursday’s practice, when Humphrey learned of Harris’ assessment, he was genuinely touched.
“Al Harris said that?” said Humphrey, who got extra reps Thursday with rookie third-round pick Jermichael Finley out with a bruised knee. “That’s a pretty nice compliment. That’s the highest compliment you can get from a teammate.
“I’m just glad (the Packers) still like me, they still believe in me. When I’m walking in the building sometimes, I get taken aback that I’m here, after all I’ve been through.”
