MINNEAPOLIS — Harrison Phillips claims he's been destined to play nose tackle since Jan. 25, 1996, the day he tied a record for the longest baby ever born at Clarkson Hospital in Omaha, Neb.
But his mother, Tammie, a self-described "broad-shouldered German farm girl," says young Harry's NFL destiny actually started in the womb weeks before his birth when his rapidly increasing size raised some medical eyebrows.
"I went to my doctor, and she said, 'Oh my, we have to get him out of there now,' " said Tammie Phillips of the now 6-3, 307-pound behemoth whose Vikings debut comes Sunday against the Packers at U.S. Bank Stadium.
"Thank goodness for C-section," Tammie continued. "The doctor said Harry would have been about 13 pounds if we hadn't gotten him out of there two weeks early."
Phillips was 10.1 pounds and a record-tying 23 3/4 inches long at birth.
"He was 11 pounds when we left the hospital," Tammie said. "Most babies lose a little weight initially. Harry gained weight. I couldn't get him off my boob the entire time we were in the hospital."
Big, fast and relentless. That's exactly what the Vikings were looking for when they signed the 26-year-old Phillips away from Buffalo's top-ranked defense in March to anchor the front of defensive coordinator Ed Donatell's new 3-4 scheme.
"Harrison was really stout against the run for us and from time to time gave us a nice push inside on third down," said Bills defensive coordinator and former Vikings coach Leslie Frazier, whose defense ranked No. 1 in fewest yards and points allowed. "He's great with his hands, has a knack for knowing where plays are going, able to get rid of his blocker, maintain his gap and make plays all over the field."
According to Pro Football Focus, Phillips ranked fifth among interior run stoppers last year. Meanwhile, at the root of former Vikings coach Mike Zimmer's unraveling was an abysmal run defense that ranked 27th and 26th his last two seasons.
"We all miss Harrison," Frazier said. "Besides being a good football player, he's also just a really good dude."
Son of 'Purple Lady' feels 'at home'
Every Vikings player is given a T-shirt to wear when he does volunteer work in the community. Phillips asked for a spare one to keep in his car just in case he comes upon something that isn't on his schedule.
"I like to say my heart is unbiased," he said. "And it's got a lot of love to give."
His foundation, Harrison's Playmakers, works to empower children and young adults with developmental differences and special needs. It's a calling that began when Tammie retired from teaching to run a day care. Harrison and his older sister, Delanie, grew up alongside and befriended the many special needs children Tammie watched in their home.
"Harry did so much volunteer work in Buffalo, he was on a first-name basis with our mayor," Frazier said. "He was ingrained in this community. During the pandemic, he heard some kids didn't have the money for computers for Zoom calls. He helped raise the funds so they did. And that's just one example."
Phillips is a two-time Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year nominee and was a finalist for the NFLPA's Alan Page Community Award.
Phillips couldn't wait to meet Page, the Vikings Hall of Famer. He couldn't wait to have teammates take him to George Floyd Square in Minneapolis. He couldn't wait to get out in the community.
"This whole state is purple," he said. "Those who know my family know I walked into this state and felt like I was at home."
For no particular reason, Phillips' late maternal grandmother, Sandra, loved the color with such vigor people called her "the Purple Lady." She passed that love and the moniker on to Tammie, who took it to another level.
"Our whole house is purple," Harrison said. "Purple walls, purple couches, purple plates. Her whole wardrobe is purple. She's over the top."
Apparently.
"Anything purple, we buy," Tammie said. "Purple flyswatter? We buy. Purple toaster? We buy."
Meanwhile, Phillips' dad, Paul, grew up in Litchfield, Minn. His affection for purple — and his tolerance of the color being on just about everything he owns except the exterior walls of his house — had everything to do with his love for the Vikings. He passed that on to Harrison, who had his own little Vikings locker with his name on it growing up.
"I kind of think it was only fitting that I signed with Minnesota," Harrison said.
'Horrible Harry' a handful
Phillips could walk at 8 months. Typically, it was to the fridge to open the door, point to the milk bottle and then to his mouth.
By first grade or so, he was on a roll of rambunctious behavior.
"There was a stretch in elementary school that I was sent to the principal's office 13 or 14 times in a three-month window," Phillips said.
What for?
"Being a kid, I guess," Phillips said.
How'd the "Purple Lady" handle that?
"Not great," Phillips said. "We had a lecture couch where we'd get yelled at and grounded. It was purple. All our furniture was purple."
He found firecrackers on his way to kindergarten one day. He put them in his backpack. They fell out. Off to the principal's office he went.
"You'd be expelled, and the police would come if that happened today," Phillips said. "They didn't make as big a deal out of it as they could have. So, thank you to my principal for not kicking me out of kindergarten."
Phillips found something else on his way to first grade. A snake. A little one he put in his pocket and brought with him.
"Obviously, I was sent to the principal's office for that one," Phillips said. "A year or so later, we were starting to read more books. We were reading the 'Horrible Harry' books, and it turns out Horrible Harry did the same thing."
And that's why Phillips' Twitter handle is @horribleharry99.
"Harry did a lot of things, but he never went to the principal's office for picking on anyone," Tammie said. "He hated seeing anybody get bullied. Both my kids, when they see an underdog, they are the first to put a hand out to help.
"By the time Harry was in high school, if a fight was about to break out, the principal came and got Harry to take care of it before punches were thrown."
Football waits
Sports were a good release for young Harry, especially wrestling, which he started at age 4 and finished by winning three Nebraska state high school titles.
"I heard about those," said fellow Vikings defensive line starter Dalvin Tomlinson, a three-time state champ in Georgia, the last of which came via a nine-second pin.
"I'm pretty sure I can take him. We talked about one day settling it on the mat though. But not in-season. The team might not like that idea."
Uh, no.
Phillips also played youth soccer and baseball in elementary school.
"I was always getting red cards and thrown out of games," he said. "I wasn't dirty or malicious. I just happened to be a lot bigger and more physical than the other 8-year-olds."
Phillips also got a lot of strange looks from the other sideline before games.
"No one would believe he was the age he was," Tammie said. "Every game he played, we had to bring his birth certificate."
Though Phillips wanted desperately to play football, he had to wait.
"He was so big that they were going to put a big stripe on his helmet — they called it 'being striped' — to signify that he couldn't touch the ball," Tammie said. "We didn't know much about football, but we didn't want him playing until he could play under the same rules as the other kids."
That came in junior high.
"When I started playing football, I realized pretty quick I would be rewarded and celebrated for my physicality," Phillips said. "I fell in love.
"And the wrestling background helped. The hand violence, balance and overall body awareness in space. The core strength. Loving competition, thriving in one-on-one battles. Just the mentality that you're not going to let another man whup you."
Leading the way
The Bills used a third-round draft pick to get Phillips out of Stanford in 2018. It wasn't long before he became a leader in the locker room.
"His integrity, his character, it's infectious," Frazier said. "He has a way of bringing people together and diffusing situations when they get ugly.
"When we were going through what you guys in Minnesota were going through in the aftermath of the George Floyd incident in 2020, Harrison is one of the guys who crossed the table to help keep our team together. There was a lot of hate being spewed everywhere, and we were not immune to that. And then you have a Caucasian guy who is standing up and saying what's going on in Minnesota was not right, and there's nothing right about it. Let's come together and show the NFL, the world we can be different."
Phillips started fast in 2019, but suffered injuries to both knees in the third game of the season. He had surgery to repair the ACL in one knee and the patella tendon in the other.
In 2020, Phillips played 12 games, including his first three career starts. Last year, he played in 14 games with eight starts, performing well enough to earn what he called a life-changing three-year, $19.5 million deal from the Vikings.
"I had tears fall on that contract," he said. "Faith is something I've always leaned on. Signing that contract was coming full circle and having prayers answered.
"Everyone has their own story, so I don't want to make it seem like I've done something way crazy. But I sacrificed a lot to get here. Since I was in sixth grade, always being the last kid off the field. To Buffalo, rehabbing through double knee surgeries after being in a wheelchair."
Sunday will be emotional as well. And, yes, Paul and "The Purple Lady" will be there. In full-blown purple, of course.
"It goes fast," Tammie said. "When he came out of me, Paul looked at him and said, "My, God! He's huge! I honestly said, 'That's not a baby, that's a toddler.' He's such a great kid. With a big heart."
