June 19, 2004 -- They are police officers and financial consultants and husbands and fathers. But for a few hours a week, they turn into football players.

They call it semipro ball, specifically, the North American Football League. If you didn't know, Kansas City is one of about 20 markets with two teams ? the Shockers and Jazz even play each other at 7:30 tonight at Harmon High.

Some of the guys still hold hope of making it to the "next level." When you're playing in the NAFL (nobody's paid; even the best players just receive free equipment), the "next level" is just about anything. Arena Football League, arena2, Canadian League, the National Indoor Football League.

"I know I have the tools," said Roger Hawkins, a Jazz cornerback/receiver in his early 30s. "It's just a matter of catching that break. This is the best vehicle to keep me in shape. As far as getting there, I know I gotta do more than this."

The NAFL is a huge operation, in sheer numbers if not in popularity. The league stretches from Hawaii to Delaware to Florida. Nearly 6,000 players make up the 105 teams on the league's Web site, split into 27 divisions and eight regions ? though the Central Coast Barnstormers are the only team listed in the South Bay Division and Pacific Region.

Crowds range from just a few family and friends to as many as 6,000 for some teams during the 10-week, four-month season that opens for both Kansas City teams tonight.

Todd Allen, NAFL senior vice president, said his league has put more than 300 players into pro ball during the last few decades. Some join the NAFL straight out of high school, either to stay in shape before going to college in the fall or to gain strength and skill for a few years while waiting for a chance to play in college.

Others don't take the league as seriously, skipping road games or practices.

"Ninety-nine percent of our players are playing for the love of the game," Allen said. "They'll never play a down at any level higher than this. But there are some who move on, and we do our best to help them."

Allen's day job is as a landscape contractor. Like all NAFL employees, his work is strictly voluntary. Just about everyone's response to the why-do-you-do-this question includes some variation of "for the love of the game," which also serves as the league's official slogan.

It's tempting to dismiss the NAFL as a junk league, but it should be given credit for lasting more than 20 years.

Sam Adams, the former Buffalo Bills defensive lineman, is commissioner. Tom Hall is an NFL agent and the NAFL's legal counsel. Connections like those ensure the NAFL's brightest stars won't be ignored by higher leagues.

Hawkins, 5 feet 11 and 190 pounds, has worked out in front of professional scouts. He said he ran a 4.4-second 40-yard dash and earned an NFL-caliber rating on physical agility drills.

"I'm going the non-conventional route and that's probably the biggest knock on me," Hawkins said. "I didn't play in college and I'm not a guy who got drafted or released by the NFL. A lot of times those are the guys the AFL and Canadian league look at first."

Eric Hoskins has been there. He spent four years in the Arena League, and also played in Europe and Canada. He was cut by the Chiefs before training camp in 1991. He's 40 now, newly married and in the process of having a house built. He has no delusions that playing receiver for the Shockers will help him break back into professional football.

No, this is just something he does for fun. He's a bit of a health freak: two recreational basketball leagues, four days a week of weight lifting, 20 miles a week of jogging.

Hoskins works in the Kansas City police department's gang squad, meaning he's not home until 4 a.m. some nights. He said staying active keeps him young. The NAFL is his favorite.

"The desire is the same in all of us, but most of the guys know their abilities and how far they can go," Hoskins said. "Guys like me, we're just having fun. I just love the game of football."

There's that phrase again.

By Sam Mellinger, The Kansas City Star

June 16, 2004: On Saturday, Michael and Marcus Harris took me back to a familiar habit.

I followed the now-23-year-old twins to the stadium in Excelsior Springs to watch them play as starters during the season opener of the Kansas City Shockers. Their new, semi-professional football team trounced the Tri-County Buccaneers 35-6.

It was great to see the Harrises living what they called their dream. We had met at Washington High School to talk about that before the game and before school ended for the summer. But first they wanted to see Alice Bennett.

It was in Bennett's English class that I met the twins in their freshman year in 1995. Because of her, I studied for four years with the class of 1999 to learn what it was like to be a teen and teacher.

The muscular former wrestlers and award-winning football players at the high school hugged Bennett and told her about their dream. Then they shared the details with me.

The twins, whom teachers called the "dynamic duo," were picked for the Shockers' 53-man roster. Robert Webb is the owner and head coach of the North American Football League expansion team based in Excelsior Springs.

The Harrises said making the team was about second chances. Each had played football all four years at Washington High. After graduation, Marcus Harris went to St. Mary College, where he played football and majored in elementary education. Michael Harris went to Kansas City Kansas Community College and majored in secondary education.

Financial problems forced each to leave college for jobs. A friend recently alerted them to the Shockers. They tried out in April and made the team. Michael Harris called me with the news.

By staying in touch with the class of 1999 I get to enjoy their excitement. The twins are still young enough, strong enough and energetic enough to live their dream.

"They come with a positive attitude," Webb said. "They're willing to do what it takes."

What it takes is practicing three times a week while maintaining their day jobs. People in this game have to love football because they don't get paid. Michael Harris is an outside linebacker. Marcus Harris is a fullback or running back. Neither is gigantic, but each wants to succeed.

"My dream had always been to play football," said Marcus Harris, who works for High Life Sales Co.

Michael Harris, who works for a lawn service and moving business, said they want to play in the NFL. The twins, who've played football since age 5, said their other dream was to earn enough to buy their grandmother, Luvenia Lasley, her dream home with a white picket fence in Kansas City, Kan.

But their grandmother died at age 72 in 1997. She inspired them to always do their best. She kept the family bonded. The twins now want to buy that dream home for their mother, Sandra Harris, who watched with pride Saturday with other family members as her sons played on the winning team.

Football, however, isn't about the money or the limelight.

"You learn about life's lessons," Marcus Harris said. "You learn about teamwork. You learn to work with others."

Michael added, "The most important part is teamwork and how to trust one another."

But it's not been without sacrifice and pain.

"You basically have men vs. men not boys vs. boys," Marcus Harris said of the hits they endure and deliver.

"The hits hurt more," Michael Harris added. "You're at a level now where everybody is more solid. They're more muscular than they were in high school."

But the payoff awaits. "The glory is in knowing that we did what we set out to do, and that was to play football," Michael Harris said.

At Washington High School, I asked the twins to show me the trophy case by the gym with the "Most Valuable Athlete Award" plaque. It lists their names and their classmates Keasha Cannon, Aaron Holloway and Marcus Cage.

Webb said his goal was to work with each of his players to help them achieve their dream of either going back to college or going on to play pro football whether in the NFL, World League, Canadian League, Arena Football or NFL Europe.

Playing for the Kansas City Chiefs remains the twins' biggest dream. I hope Webb helps them achieve it. That would make them standouts for all times as graduates of Washington High School.

Lewis W. Diuguid is a member of The Star's Editorial Board. To reach him, call (816) 234-4723 or send e-mail to Ldiuguid@kcstar.com.