Vincentian N’Keal Harry gets NFL pick in United States

Vincentian N’Keal Harry was drafted to the National Football League (NFL) in the United States last Thursday, surrounded by family members from St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) who travelled to the United States to be with him.

Harry, an Arizona State wide receiver was picked as the 32nd and final selection of the first round by reigning world champions the New England Patriots.

The 22-year-old was filmed as he received the call from coach Bill Belichick, who, before Harry, had never drafted a wide receiver in the first round.

The wide receiver was soon embraced by his emotional grandmother Felna Harry, with whom he migrated to the United States when he was three years old.

Before N’keal migrated, he lived in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) as a baby at Lowmans Hill with his mother, Vincentian Naudine Harry, an employee at the St Vincent Electricity Services Limited (VINLEC). This was after he and his mother returned home from Canada, where N’keal was born.

In an Instagram post, the wide receiver shared a photo with his 132,000 followers of him and his family sitting on a flight of steps, with the caption “The day is finally here. The part that makes it so special is the fact that my family is able to be with me. Still missing some of my brothers, sisters, aunties & uncles, but it’s a blessing nonetheless to be able to get the amount of family members we did over from the island to share this moment with me.”

N’Keal Harry (at left in 3rd row) with family members. At right (front row) is grandmother Felna Harry and at right (2nd last row) is mother Naudine Harry.

He ended his short note with the hashtags, “#Vincy [Vincy flag emoji] #NFLDraft2019.”

N’keal told the sports features and podcast website “TheFootballGirl” that his family had applied for US visas before but they had been turned down. They only received their 10-year visas recently after they gave as their reason for wanting to travel to the United States, their desire to be with N’keal while he was being drafted.

Therefore, they joined the wide receiver with the 50-60 other close friends who shared his moment.

In a one on one interview posted to the New England Patriots site, Harry described the reason why he shed tears after receiving the call of success.

“You know I told myself for the longest I wasn’t gonna cry on draft day, but once I hugged my grandmother and heard her crying, it kinda just started for me,” he explained, continuing, “Her getting this moment and having her with me, and being able to share it with me are real special to me so I couldn’t help it.”

He described himself as a passionate player, and stated “when that ball is in the air I’ll do anything to go get it.”

The Patriots, on their site, said Harry is “…one of the best wide receivers to enter the draft this year. His size and athletic skills help make up for some of his minor shortcomings, and made him a productive player at Arizona State: in his three years playing for the Sun Devils, Harry averages 71 catches, 963 receiving yards and 7.3 touchdowns per season.”

Harry also told “TheFootballGirl” that he is considering starting a Sports Academy on SVG to help kids develop their sports talent there instead of having to go abroad.

Harry had announced last November, when he was a student at the Arizona State University (ASU), that he would forgo his senior season at ASU and enter the NFL Draft.

Also last November, his mom Naudine, while commenting on her son’s success at football said, “I am really very proud of him. He has really worked hard for this and it is something that he has always dreamed about and I am happy and excited.”

The proud mom said when N’keal chose football above all other sports, the family was a bit worried because of the rough nature of the sport, but N’Keal was born to play football.

“He had a choice with Basketball and other sports because he was always athletic but he stuck to American football,” said Naudine who added that N’Keal’s sister Rheanna is also very proud of him.

Before N’keal, Stefan Charles, Canadian-born son of Vincentian Thelma Charles of Arnos Vale, played in the NFL from 2013 onwards, his most recent team being the San Antonio Commanders.