Lindenwood alumni Pierre Desir and Connor Harris were awarded to the D2Football.com All-Decade team for their careers with the Lions, earlier in the week.

Both players began their Lindenwood careers the same year, back in 2012. Harris came in as a freshman linebacker from Lee’s Summit, Missouri, while Desir transferred as a junior cornerback from St. Charles, Missouri.  They played together as teammates for two seasons, from 2012-13.

With Desir and Harris leading the way, the Lions went 8-4 overall in 2012, which earned Lindenwood a spot in the Mineral Water Bowl against Winona State (a game the Lions lost 41-21). In 2013, the year when Harris red-shirted due to an injury, they would go 3-6 overall on the season.

Connor Harris

Harris’ career at Lindenwood would continue until 2016, serving as one of the anchors of the Lions’ defense. As a freshman, he was an honorable mention for the all-MIAA team with 126 total tackles (most in the conference). He led the MIAA in tackles in every year of his career except his senior year in 2016, when he finished fourth. 

The star linebacker finished as the NCAA All-Division tackles leader at the end of his career, with 633. Harris was MIAA co-defensive player of the year in 2015, and national defensive player of the year in 2016, earning him an invite to the Senior Bowl and NFL Draft Combine. 

In 2017, Harris had been signed and then waived by three different NFL teams. First, he signed as an undrafted free agent with the New York Jets in May, then was waived in September.

 The Arizona Cardinals picked him up in early October of that year for the practice squad, but was released near the end of November. Harris’ final destination was with the Cincinnati Bengals, who he signed with in late December of 2017. He was released in April of 2018.

Pierre Desir 

Individually, Desir had first attended Washburn for three years, where he tallied 12 interceptions, third most all-time in the school’s history for a career. When he came to Lindenwood, Desir became the first Lion to be an All-American (second team) at the Division II level. The corner was also first team all-MIAA, as he was second in the country in interceptions (nine) and first in passes defended (18).

Over his career, Desir set the Lindenwood single-season record in interceptions, while also becoming the sixth player in the history of the MIAA to compile over 20 interceptions in a single player’s career. 

For Desir, he was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the fourth round (127th overall) of the 2014 NFL Draft. He’d remain with the Browns until September 3, 2016 when he was waived by the team. Desir would go to San Diego and then Seattle before finding a home in Indianapolis in September of 2017. 

Desir would remain a Colt for the next few seasons, signing a three-year, $22.5 million deal with Indianapolis on March 13, 2019. Nearly a year later, he would be released by the Colts. Soon after, the Jets picked Desir up on a one-year, $5.5 million contract, which is the team the Lindenwood alum is with now.