Cincinnati Football player attacked by opponent with seconds left in game
At 28 years old, Aubrey Harris has been well on his way to fulfilling a dream.
He's a receiver for the Covington Heist, a team in the American 7's Professional Football League.
"With the A7, I feel it's getting so many eyes, and so many people want to invest in it that you have the opportunity to possibly take it to another level," Harris said.
That's been Harris' goal, but now he's worried a hit may have sidelined him forever. It wasn't a typical hit, but video of the incident shows it was an attack from behind by an opposing player.
"When I rewatched the video, the kid that started all of the problems ran from probably ten feet away and punched me with like all his full strength," Harris said.
It happened Sunday night while playing at Lasalle High School's stadium.
The matchup was Covington Heist versus Queen City Crush.
"This team, from the start of the game, was pretty aggressive," Harris said.
With 15 seconds left, there was a scuffle on the field.
"A small altercation. No punches were thrown or anything between one of our players, one of their players," Harris said.
Until Harris was attacked, leaving him with multiple injuries to his face.
"I just remember being really worried about my eyesight because I could feel that my bone that's supposed to be here, it's not there," Harris said. "Cheek was broken. My eye socket was fractured."
Harris was rushed to UC Medical Center.
"You don't really see any scarring on the outside, like cuts, because they went through my mouth, between my lip and my teeth to put a metal plate to try to re-fix my bone structure in my face, and then they went through my eyelid so they could fix the orbit bone without really damaging or cutting up my face," Harris said.
Green township police said the attacker -- who they identified as Devonte Martin of Cincinnati -- took off after the hit.
He's been charged with felonious assault, and as of Wednesday evening, he had not been arrested.
"I don't think he had any anger directed at any specific person. I think that he just saw someone that wasn't paying attention and took advantage of it," Harris said. "He had the opportunity to hit anyone, but he hit the person that was paying no attention, and that was walking away from the altercation and the drama that was going on."
Harris said he walked away from the situation because he was thinking of his future.
"If I do want to go to another country or try to get into the XFL or the Canadian Football League, I don't want them to be able to, like, point back at film and be like, 'Weren't you involved in this throwing punches or anything?' So, I do what I always do, and I kind of just walk back," Harris said.
Harris doesn't know when or if he will return to the field, but said he will be on the sidelines cheering on the Covington Heist.
"Even if I can't be out there on the field with them, at least be in the stands trying to support," Harris said.
Anyone who would like to support Harris and help with medical expenses can do so, by clicking the link.