Kei Harris doesn't remember much of his childhood.
"Probably because of the situation," he said. "It wasn't much of a memorable childhood."
Disregarding his hardships, Harris maintained a strong character, which has earned him national recognition as a Rudy Award semifinalist.
"You'd never know he had the background he has," said Jamie Simms, who was La Joya Community High School's head football coach in 2009.
Here is the background the La Joya senior tries not to recall. Around age 9, Harris and his two siblings, an older sister and younger brother, where abused by their stepfather, he said.
"Physical abuse," the 18-year-old said. "With objects, paddles, extension cords ..."
The list goes on; Harris doesn't.
"It happened often," he said.
The stepfather was a drinker, though he was not always drunk while abusing them, said Harris, whose first name is pronounced "key."
Harris saved his siblings from their abusive life by telling staff at his school.
The children were removed from the home and have since lived in and out of group/foster homes. Harris has lost touch with his sister, "I don't know where she is at," but has always remained with his 16-year-old brother, James Harris, a junior at Avondale's La Joya.
The brothers are two of six children being raised by one woman in Avondale. Two of the six are the foster parent's own children, Harris said.
"She is a good parent," he said.
And he would know, as Harris has been with a lot of foster parents through the years.
His biological mother is out of the picture, as she is legally prohibited from seeing them, Harris said.
"She knew," is all he said about her, and as far as the abusive stepfather, he did "a little time but is now out."
What does a child do with such a life?
"I just kept my head up," he said. "I never wanted to do bad stuff like other people; I wanted to do something with my life."
Football proves his worth
For a while, the Harris children lived with their uncle.
"I've always been a fan of football and I always wanted to play it," Harris said. "I tried to get my uncle to put me in Pop Warner; he didn't think I was good enough. He didn't want to waste his money, he said."
No one stopped Harris from playing football as a freshman at Tempe High School where he made the junior varsity squad. As a sophomore, he played varsity.
"I was a running back for Tempe," he said.
Harris then moved to Avondale with his foster family. Once at La Joya, his responsibilities on the football field grew his junior and senior years.
"Some games, I didn't get a breather," Harris recalled, as he played both on offense and defense.
"We had to find reasons to get him off the field," Simms said. "He is a great athlete and he led by example.
"And his example was, 'I'm going to play and I'm going to play the best I had.'"
His best landed him as the team's No. 2 rusher on offense, and its No. 2 tackler on defense.
"Kei between the tackles rushed for over 760 yards on 120 carries," said La Joya receiver and defensive line coach Mike Harris, no relation to Kei. "That's greater than 6 yards a carry straight up the middle. He would get hit - and hit hard - and still go another 3 yards on every play."
On defense, Harris began the year in the secondary, but was moved to linebacker because "we needed his presence in the middle," Simms said.
"I'm just glad I got to play," Harris said of his high school football career. "I'd like to get to the next level; I'm just trying to make it up there."
"I'm certain he will play at the next level," coach Harris said, "If not Division I, then Division II."
Rudy award
Simms and staff at La Joya are doing all they can to help Harris make it to the collegiate level.
Currently, Oklahoma State is reviewing game film of the 6-foot-2, 200-pound senior, coach Harris said.
One way Simms helped get his name out was by nominating Harris for the first ever High School Football Rudy Award.
The Rudy Award is named after Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger, who overcame many obstacles to fulfill his dream of playing football at Notre Dame. His only collegiate playing time came in 1975 versus Georgia Tech in the final minute of the final home game of the season. Ruettiger sacked the quarterback, prompting teammates to carry him off the field. He was the first player in school history to be carried off.
Harris was one of 396 students nominated for the Rudy Award between September and November 2009, and staff at Trusted Sports, the Oregon-based company behind the award in partnership with the Rudy Foundation, narrowed that list down to 30 semifinalists, of which Harris was one.
"Our mission is keeping kids in the game and one way is inspiration, and that is how we came up with the Rudy awards," said CJ Edmonds, Trusted Sports' president and CEO. "These awards are to measure the size of the kid's heart, not their stats. We were looking for stories about kids that really should have been out of the game, but they have driven themselves to make sure they stay in the game."
Harris fits that protocol, as he works out in the weight room daily and is constantly trying to improve his grades.
"I'm getting A's, B's and C's," he said of his 3.2 grade point average. "I still have to pick them up. I don't miss days of school."
Nor does he miss days of practice.
"He is one of the first kids at practice and one of the last leaving," coach Harris said. "He is doing everything he can to improve himself."
During the football team's summer program, Kei walked two miles to school just so he could participate, and then walked home afterward.
"And he didn't miss a day," the coach said. "When colleges ask about Kei, we tell them about his fantastic speed, his size and his character.
"He is an outstanding young man. He tells me he'd like to major in engineering, so he is thinking more than just football."
And when given the opportunity, Harris demonstrates he is thinking about more than just himself, too.
"I try to talk people out of doing bad things," he said. "I never did drugs; I was never interested in anything bad like that."
Now he is interested in winning the Rudy Award, which comes with a $10,000 academic scholarship. Two runners-up will receive $5,000 scholarships. The remaining 27 semifinalists will receive a "Rudy" No. 45 jersey.
The public can vote for Harris through Jan. 31 at highschoolrudyawards.com. Public voting counts as 1/8 of the final tally, as a seven-member celebrity selection committee will each have one vote. The winners will be announced on the Web site Feb. 3.
"I think it is pretty awesome," Harris said of being one of the 30 semifinalists. "I just hope I win."
"He wants to go to school and get a college education," Simms said. "He wants to do what is right. I hope he can continue to reach for his dreams."
"The quality of the stories we uncovered is simple amazing," Edmonds said. "Hopefully, stories such as Kei's can inspire other kids to keep playing."
Rich Ott can be reached by e-mail
at rott@westvalleyview.com.
