NFL players being iffy on serving as a mentor for their possible replacement has been an interesting discussion as of late.
Not in Cincinnati Bengals land.
Clark Harris, the long-snapper heading into his 16th pro season and 13th on the NFL’s most games played list (201), says he has no issues being a mentor to undrafted free agent Cal Adomitis.
“I’m not going to be a (jerk) about it. Like ‘Figure it out yourself,'” Harris said, according to Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com. “I’ve been here 16 years. If someone is going to be better than me … It’s not like it would be a waste of time and it was like ‘There’s no helping this guy.'”
That’s a great thing for the Bengals — Cal Adomitis was one of the team’s most-hyped undrafted free agents.
Harris says the most he’ll play is two more seasons. He also views Adomitis as a guy capable of replacing him. The only problem is whether other teams will let it happen — he’ll presumably land on the practice squad at best with Harris still around, so other teams could attempt to claim him if he isn’t protected.
Either way, Harris is yet another example of the leadership-based locker room culture the Bengals have worked hard to create.