71 Days to Miami football: Dennis Harrah All-American offensive lineman

Dennis Harrah was an All-American offensive tackle with the Miami football team in 1974 who went on to an All-Pro career with the Los Angeles Rams in the NFL.

Offensive lineman Dennis Harrah was a consensus All-American for the Miami football team in 1974. Harrah was named an All-American by among others, the Sporting News and Time Magazine. The Sporting News continues to recognize Miami players.

Redshirt sophomore defensive end Greg Rousseau was named first-team preseason All-American on Wednesday. Graduate transfer DE Quincy Roche and junior tight end Brevin Jordan were named second-team Sporting News Preseason All-Americans. Harrah was the third Miami offensive lineman named All-American.

An exceptional athlete as an offensive lineman, Harrah was recorded running the 40-yard dash in 4.8 seconds. Harrah is a native of Charleston, West Virginia where he attended Stonewall Jackson High School which closed in 1989 to become a middle school. Charleston is the biggest city in West Virginia with over 51,000 residents.

Harrah played at Miami at 6’5, 259 pounds, good size in the 1970s, but extremely small by current standards. Following his Miami football career, Harrah was the 11th pick in the 1975 NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Rams. Harrah played his entire NFL career in Los Angeles. In 1986, Harrah was named first-team All-Pro.

Harrah was selected for six Pro-Bowls. Harrah was selected as an All-Pro in 1986 during his penultimate season in the NFL. Harrah played his final NFL game in the 1988 Pro Bowl following the 1987 season. Harrah started all 16 playoff games he played in during his NFL career.

The Rams made 10 playoff appearances in the 13 seasons with Harrah anchoring the offensive line. Harrah played in the Rams 31-19 Superbowl XIV loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Los Angeles played in the 1975, ’76, ’78 and ’86 NFC Championship games during the Harrah tenure. Harrah played against former Miami DT Gary Dunn in SBXIV.