Wide receiver Duriel Laon Harris was born in Port Arthur and graduated from Stephen F. Austin High School, where he starred in football. An All-Missouri Valley Conference selection as a senior at New Mexico State, he was a "lonesome end" in the Wishbone offense but still caught 89 passes for 1,562 yards (17.5 average) and 13 touchdowns. Harris was drafted by the Miami Dolphins in 1976 and played with the club for nine years. He was voted the team's outstanding receiver by the South Florida press in 1980, 1981, and 1982; and he played a key part in one of the Dolphins' most memorable plays, the 40-yard flea flicker touchdown pass against San Diego in 1981 playoff. Harris caught Don Strock's pass and then lateralled to Tony Nathan who ran the final 25 yards for a touchdown. Following another superb performance, Harris earned the game ball against Philadelphia in 1982, the year the Dolphins went to the Super Bowl against Washington.

Harris had four 100-yard games in 1979, three in 1981 and none in 1982 as the Dolphins won two AFC East titles in 1979 and 1981 and the AFC Championship in 1982. He and Nat Moore set a Dolphin tandem record of a combined 90 receptions for 1,638 yards in 1979. He handled the football 214 times including receptions and kick returns before the first fumble of his career in 1980. 1982 was his sixth fumble-free season, and he established a career record of a 25.3-yard return average on 56 kickoffs. Harris amassed 911 yards on 53 catches in 1981 for the second-best total in Dolphin history. He has career totals of 251 catches for 4,250 yards, second only to Nat Moore in the Dolphin record book. Harris spent one year with the Dallas Cowboys in 1985 before retiring from football. Since that time, he was worked in radio and television broadcasting and has acted in theater, films, and on television.

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