Pro Bowler Chris Harris Jr.’s draft party turned into bust

9:43 AM ET

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — A player’s draft day is supposed to be a party — relatives are called, food is cooked, the extra chairs are out and a celebration simmers, ready to boil over at the right moment.

But then things don’t always go that way in a complicated, inexact and sometimes maddening process for all involved. Which is why you’ll have to excuse Denver Broncos cornerback Chris Harris Jr. if he doesn’t get all warm and fuzzy about his entrance into professional football.

“Man, you don’t get picked, you don’t hear your name and your whole family, everybody is sitting there, watching it all happen on TV,’’ Harris said. “They don’t really know what to say to you, if they want to stand up, sit down, move around, leave, stay, whatever. They don’t know. I just remember all those names and none of them were mine.’’

After all Chris Harris has accomplished in the NFL, it’s hard to believe he never heard his name on draft day. Scott Cunningham/Getty Images

Now it seems like a big mistake or gag gone bad as Harris has been sized for a Super Bowl ring, been named to two Pro Bowls and is considered to be among the best at what he does in the NFL. But Harris was not selected in the 2011 draft — the year of the NFL lockout.

Fifty-three defensive backs were selected in that draft as 254 players were selected overall by the time the Houston Texans selected Rice defensive end Cheta Ozougwu to close the seventh round. And Harris, who believed he …

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