METAIRIE, La. -- Second-year cornerback De'Vante Harris has been the hottest player in New Orleans Saints camp this week. He ended Saturday’s practice with an interception, ended Sunday’s practice with a tackle as time expired and snagged two more interceptions in Monday’s practice.
Harris also might have the most unique ride on the Saints’ 90-man roster -- a camouflage Smart car.
Harris, who made the team as an undrafted rookie from Texas A&M last year, said he drives a Smart car because, well frankly, “I’m cheap.”
But he quickly added, “I couldn’t drive just no regular Smart car.” So he had it wrapped in a camouflage pattern and added his face and a “Ghost Boy Mafia” logo on the back to represent a name used by his friends and family.
“I’m not saying I’m better than that. But if I’m gonna hop in a Smart car, it’s gonna be clean, it’s gonna be live,” Harris said. “So I’m cheap. I paid a little money for the wrap. But 11 dollars, 12 dollars to fill up. Like, who can pass that up?”
When asked if he had ever seen a wrap like that on a car before, Harris said he had seen a Lamborghini wrapped in similar fashion “but I can’t afford a Lamborghini.”
Harris calls his car the “Gidoo-mobile,” based on his nickname, which he said means “heir to the Ghost,” which is his older brother’s nickname. The New Orleans Advocate did a feature story last year on the origins of the “Ghost” theme, which came from Harris’ father, Rod Harris, a former Saints receiver and punt returner.
Harris said the idea behind the Ghost Boy Mafia is to create a network of family and friends who follow and support each other. Ghost stands for “God’s Human Outlaws Striving Together.”
Needless to say, Harris has one of the most dynamic and colorful personalities in the Saints’ locker room. He displayed it again Monday night after his strong practice performance while explaining why he wears a fabric tail hanging from his pants inspired by the show “Dragon Ball Z.”
And while describing how close the Saints’ deep group of defensive backs has become, Harris said, “We talk about [getting better] all the time. We’re not talking about [TV shows] ‘Power’ or ‘Empire’ or something like that.”
Jobs will be hard to come by in the Saints’ cornerback group, which also includes returning starters Delvin Breaux, P.J. Williams, Sterling Moore and Ken Crawley, first-round draft pick Marshon Lattimore, impressive undrafted rookie Arthur Maulet and former fifth-round pick Damian Swann, among others.
But for now, Harris said they’re all feeding off each other.
“We’re talking about getting better, getting great, man, and just continuing to work,” Harris said. “That just goes to the ultimate goal of being that group of guys that this team and this defense can lean on.”