[img_r]http://media.jsonline.com/images/199*154/ap-pro-bowl-football.jpg[/img_r]Alshinard Harris Jr. was almost 2 when his father began his NFL career in 1997.
He wouldn't remember his father rising from Tampa Bay's practice squad and moving on to become a reliable nickel back and emerging starter in Philadelphia.
But he certainly saw Al Harris become the starter and respected shutdown cornerback in Green Bay in 2003. That season he watched his father intercept Seattle's Matt Hasselbeck in an NFC playoff game and return it for the game-winning touchdown in overtime.
And near the end of the 2007 season, at long last, the 12-year-old shared the joy as his dad was named to his first Pro Bowl.
It was just one of the bonds between the two - the love of football.
Though Harris lived in Florida with his wife and younger son, he said he always had been very close with his older boy, Al Jr., who lived in Atlanta with his mother. A football player himself, Al Jr. looked forward to the beaches, the sightseeing and maybe getting to meet the other big NFL stars.
But soon after they arrived in Honolulu, Al Jr. became very ill. His stomach was upset, he was dropping weight and he was losing blood through his stool. It made his father ache to see him lying in bed when they should have been together enjoying the moment.
"We just thought he had an upset stomach," Harris said. "I was (worried) because you know, he doesn't complain much. The fact that he was saying he was hurt, I knew something wasn't right.
"Me and him do a lot together and that time is our time to bond and have fun. I just told him to rest up, everything is cool, we'll take it slow."
The doctors said it was probably just a sour stomach. Harris knew his son was tough like him - Harris had played in 175 straight NFL games at one point. Harris kept an eye on his son while he played and tried to enjoy his first Pro Bowl.
By the time Al Jr. got home to Atlanta, the symptoms were back. Al flew up to be by his son's side in the hospital and watched the doctors and nurses pump two units of blood into his child.
What he didn't have yet was an answer.
"They actually misdiagnosed him twice," Harris said. In Atlanta, Harris got the same theory he had heard in Hawaii. "They just thought he had an upset stomach. They gave him Pepto-Bismol, which is the worst thing you can give," Harris said.
It would take two weeks in that hospital to get Al Jr. back to reasonable health. After a restrictive diet at first, medication and theories that the child had irritable bowl syndrome or some kind of colitis, Al Jr. gained back some weight.
And when Al Harris wasn't playing video games or watching TV next to his son in the hospital bed, he was on the computer, researching these health issues.
The doctors had a name for his son's ailment: Crohn's disease.
The Mayo Clinic said it was an inflammatory bowel disease that causes inflammation of the lining of the digestive tract, which can lead to abdominal pain, severe diarrhea and even malnutrition. Crohn's disease can be both painful and debilitating and sometimes can lead to life-threatening complications. There is no cure.
Harris flew into action.
"I talked to David Garrard and just started on the Internet, finding the best people in his area and we got him to the right place," Harris said. "David gave me the names of specialists. I had a lot of resources, and I just wanted to find him the best care possible."
Garrard is the starting quarterback for the Jacksonville Jaguars. In April 2004 he was diagnosed with Crohn's after he lost 35 pounds. Medication wasn't enough.
"Basically my intestines were scarred too bad to live normally," he said.
He had a 12-inch portion of his intestines removed. He recovered to start the final seven games of the 2004 season for the injured Byron Leftwich, but he said it wasn't until he took the disease seriously that he began to get well.
"It gave me a gut check - literally - but I could not let Crohn's run my life," said Garrard.
Garrard has appeared in television commercials to raise awareness about Crohn's (they're on YouTube) and has spoken to children at the Painted Turtle Camp, a camp for children in California who are terminally or chronically ill. The camps have included kids living with Crohn's disease.
In the Harris family, there is no history of Crohn's. This was a crash course on the disease.
Al Jr. will turn 14 on Thursday. His medication works - the dosage has even been reduced - and it has meant no dietary or activity restrictions.
He is much like his father, built long and lean, like a sprinter with a long stride. And of course, Al Jr. plays cornerback as well.
He played a full season of football and is headed for Florida prep powerhouse St. Thomas Aquinas in Fort Lauderdale. According to the Miami Herald, the school heads into the 5A state playoffs as the overwhelming favorite to win a third straight championship and stands to bring home another national championship.
The move is, in part, so he can play football there and in part because Al Harris admits he wants his son closer to his home in Pompano Beach.
Harris knows something of fighting back to play football. He came back last year after a lacerated spleen, the only injury that could end a streak of 83 straight as a Green Bay Packer.
"He's a tough guy," defensive coordinator Dom Capers. "I think Al's a tough guy. I'll tell you one thing for Al, too, is he's a good practice player. He comes out and practices hard, which I think is very important."
Though Harris was busy this season, adjusting to Capers' new 3-4 scheme, he was motivated by his son to start his own foundation, The Harris Family Foundation. It had its first small gathering recently; look for more information in the future at Harris' Web site, www.3irty1.com.
The foundation has been around only about three months, but Harris wants to support camps such as Painted Turtle and raise further awareness of Crohn's.
"It's pretty common; a lot of people get it," Harris said. "I started looking it up, and I saw there wasn't a cure for it. Sometimes, people will not grow out of it but it just gets better.
"Our goal is to raise money for the research. They have camps for kids that have Crohn's or colitis. We'll dispense the money wherever it's needed."