Trevor Harman trying to make it with Arizona Cardinals, play for uncle, Bruce Arians

TEMPE, Ariz. — Trevor Harman is just like every other undrafted rookie free agent trying to earn a spot on the Arizona Cardinals’ roster.

Except he isn’t.

Harman, a receiver from Shippensburg, has a relative on the coaching staff.

Uncle Bruce, as it is.

“I had no idea this was going to happen, to be completely honest,” he said of playing for the Cardinals and his uncle, Bruce Arians. “There were some other teams that were calling a lot before the draft, during the draft, all that good stuff. And actually I thought I was going to go somewhere else, but they were the first ones to call so I was ready to get that whole process over and start the new chapter.”

Make no mistake, Harman was not brought in as any kind of family favor.

A 6-foot-3, 205-pound wideout, Harman set 17 school records in four college seasons, and finished his career with 321 catches for 4,249 yards and 61 touchdowns. He is one of 10 wideouts currently with the team, and is understanding of the odds he faces to make the roster.

But he’s in Arizona for a reason.

“His production in college speaks for itself, and he’s a big, physical receiver,” Arians said. “So he’s got an opportunity.”

The coach added though Harman is his nephew, he will not be treated any different, which is just fine for the receiver. Harman said he spent some time in the offseason working out with Cardinals QB Carson Palmer, but never told him about the connection with Arians.

“He found out somehow,” Harman said, with a sigh. “I didn’t want anybody to know. But he found out. We would just talk every day, and then, probably, I think it was my very last week he found out when I was training, and I thought, ‘Man, that stinks,’ then I had to own up to it. But that’s alright.”

Palmer said Harman hasn’t received too much grief from his teammates because of his relationship with Arians because bloodline doesn’t matter.

“He’s not going to be on the team because he’s related to anybody,” he said. “The best 53 are going to make this roster and that’s very well understood by this entire team.”

Harman disputed Palmer’s claim about the team laying off — at least in part — saying at first he got some flak, but that since everyone’s gotten back on the field, things have been rather normal. The only thing he has to keep in mind now is that whatever happens in the classroom between players stays between players.

“Maybe they could see I could do something,” Harman said of the change.

Palmer echoed that sentiment, saying Harman has shown he belongs on the field with the team.

Ultimately that’s all that matters because family or not, Arians will not keep him on the roster unless he makes the team better.

Harman understands that, and said his family does, too. He said his grandpa and father have not really checked in much to see how Arians is treating him, because they know what the atmosphere is like.

“They know what goes on right now and this wasn’t a gift, and I have to come out here and earn every single step,” he said. “If I get cut, I get cut. Bloodlines don’t really mean anything; this is a business when it comes down to it, so him and I being related really doesn’t mean anything.”