'Da Hitman Gets Hitched' (Parts 1-4) - @ChrisHarrisNFL

I'm gone, people! This plane's leaving to Aruba, where I'm gonna go off and marry a girl! Yezzzirrr!!!

Before I go, though, I wanna give you guys an easy way to maneuver through my Da Hitman Gets Hitched mini-series. So look below and get-ta readin'!

"My New Best Friend" (Pt. 1)

EXCERPT: "Kenetria is a down-to-earth, cool, intelligent woman (Vanderbilt grad with a degree in economics), who’s not looking for anything but love. And, in my profession, it’s hard finding a woman who likes you, simply for you. So many of them come after you for your status or your money. But Kenetria... She genuinely likes me -- the person -- not the persona. In fact, before her and I got close, she claimed herself to be "anti-athlete" (as far as dating goes), because she - understandably so - had a bit of a negative perception about how some pro-athletes tend to play around too much. I’m proud to claim that I was able to convert her ;-)"

READ THE FULL POST...

"I Want YOU, Not Your Friends" (Pt. 2)

EXCERPT: "Yes... There really was a period of time when I just wanted to play it friendly with Kenetria, and I maintained that commitment for quite a while - she was just like one of my homeboys. We’d kick it, have fun, and not do the bf/gf-thing. She even tried to hook me up with a bunch of her single friends, but I never bit.

Finally, after about three months of Kenetria suggesting girl after girl, I broke our friendship-code and started to flirt a little by asking her...

"Why don’t you ever mention yourself as someone I should date?""

READ THE FULL POST...

"Will You Marry Me?" (Pt. 3)

EXCERPT: "So when you love someone, you try to keep’em around, right? Well, the only way I knew how to lock her down was to propose to her that she forever be my wife -- So I did. And maaaan (haha)... The way I did it was real player."

READ THE FULL POST...

"My Fiance Shares Her Side of Our Story" (Pt. 4) - By Kenetria Richardson

EXCERPT: "I’ve been reading Chris’ posts about how him and I came together in this relationship, and he’s really made me look like someone who was playing hard to get! The truth of the matter is that I fell in love with him during that first night we went to the basketball game in Charlotte. From the moment we got in the car to go to the arena, to the final moments of the night at his house when we were just talking, drinking wine, and listening to music by his outdoor fireplace, Chris was a perfect gentleman. He completely respected me, and he completely respected my boundaries -- CHRIS. WAS. PERFECT."

READ THE FULL POST...

...And that'll do it! I hope you enjoyed Da Hitman Gets Hitched as much as Kenetria and I enjoyed putting it together.

Now - if you'll excuse me - it's time for me to enjoy some US in Aruuuuubaaa!

Later...

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Da Hitman Gets Hitched: 'My Fiance Shares Her Side of Our Story' (Pt. 4) - @ChrisHarrisNFL

If you need to play catch-up with Da Hitman Gets Hitched series, click the links below...

Part 1: "My New Best Friend"

Part 2: "I Want YOU, Not Your Friends!"

Part 3: "Will You Marry Me?"

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What's up, guys and girls? This is Chris talkin' to ya. I want to introduce all of you to my beautiful bride-to-be, Kenetria Richardson. She's been reading my "Da Hitman Gets Hitched" series and got the urge to join the fun. So take a moment to enjoy her side of our story -- I know I loved every word of it.

I’ve been reading Chris’ posts about how him and I came together in this relationship, and he’s really made me look like someone who was playing hard to get! The truth of the matter is that I fell in love with him during that first night we went to the basketball game in Charlotte. From the moment we got in the car to go to the arena, to the final moments of the night at his house when we were just talking, drinking wine, and listening to music by his outdoor fireplace, Chris was a perfect gentleman. He completely respected me, and he completely respected my boundaries -- CHRIS. WAS. PERFECT. ;-)

During our casual Facebook and hanging-out-days, my main goal was to not mess-up our friendship. I felt that if we took things to a more intimate level, there would be a possibility that our friendship would lose some of its strength. Fortunately though, my fear was proven unnecessary, because our relationship actually got a lot stronger once we became more open and honest about how we truly felt about each other.

For those who have read all of Chris’ previous Da Hitman Gets Hitched posts, you might be asking yourself...

If you liked him so much, why were you always trying to hook him up with your friends?

Seriously, it wasn’t because I was trying to be a tease, or anything -- I sincerely wanted to be a good friend to him. I valued our friendship so much that I wasn’t going to let those complicated emotions relationships so often bring mess-up the good thing we already had going. I absolutely adored being friends with a man as genuine as Chris, so why would I want to let stronger emotions potentially disrupt the cool and casual vibe we were already satisfied with?

Well, guess what? Despite my attempts to suppress those “stronger emotions,’ I let’em loose anyway. I couldn’t help it. That which attracted me to Chris as a friend, wound-up being that which caused me to fall in love with him.

Chris is just so honest about everything! And you don’t find a lot of people out there these days who are able to keep things as real as he does. He’s very open and honest about expressing his flaws -- He’s a “This is who I am - Take me or leave me,” kinda guy, and I love that about him! It’s this incredible level of honesty he has about life that made our union happen. We could be open with each other - from start to finish - about everything, and it’s really refreshing to be able to operate that way in a relationship.

After fighting myself away from something I wanted for so long, I finally gave-in to my feelings for Chris during a trip to visit family in Little Rock. I loved his family -- He loved my family -- All was going well, and then an epiphany suddenly struck me. I was like...

“Oh. My. God. I really like this guy now!”

But I couldn’t tell him! I was still scared of entering a new relationship (especially a relationship with a pro-athlete (I’ve always had a hang-up about dating athletes)), so I kept my feelings to myself. I wanted to see if he felt the same way. Fortunately, he did :-)

In hindsight, I’m soooo glad I didn’t continue trying to hook Chris up with my friends, because I could have lost him. There were so many times during our friendship-period when Chris would be his wonderful-self and fill me in on his feelings for me. I’d recommend another girl for him to date, and he’d just say...

“‘Netria... Please stop doing that. What about yourself? Why can’t YOU be my girl?”

Chris... You don’t have to ask me that anymore. I’m now your girl -- You’re now my man -- We’re Family -- This is forever...

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Da Hitman Gets Hitched: 'Will You Marry Me?' (Pt. 3) - @ChrisHarrisNFL

If you need to play catch-up with Da Hitman Gets Hitched, click the links below...

Part 1: "My New Best Friend"

Part 2: "I Want YOU, Not Your Friends!"

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THREE MONTHS, people! That’s how long it took for Kenetria and I figure out we needed to turn our friendship into something more significant. And once we did, we never looked back. This pair was here to stay.

So when you love someone, you try to keep’em around, right? Well, the only way I knew how to lock her down was to propose to her that she forever be my wife -- So I did. And maaaan (haha)... The way I did it was real player.

Last year, after the Panthers' final preseason game, we headed home to Arkansas. Before the trip, I had called Netria’s mom to let her know that I was going to propose to her that weekend, and man was she happy to hear about that. She also loved my approach as to how I was going to ask her to marry me.

You see, Kenetria and I are both into music - especially live music. Well, on the Arkansas River they had this jazz cruise that was going on during the weekend we’d be spending time at home. So, naturally, I chose it to be the setting of my proposal, and I invited each of our parents and siblings to share the experience with us.

Fortunately, I knew the guy who was going to be playing on the boat the night we’d be on it, so I gave him a call a few days ahead of time, told him my proposal-plan, and requested that he play our song, “The Point of It All,” by Anthony Hamilton. He said he’d be honored to play it for us, and that I needed to be ready to pop the question once he let it loose, because that would be my cue to do my thing.

So, ya know, the night was going on -- the setting was absolutely beautiful -- around 200 other people were on the boat with us -- we were having great time. But, as the cruise went deeper into the night, a certain-something was still missing from it...

Our song.

We were approaching the end of the cruise and my boy still hadn’t played our song yet! I was thinking... “Damnit, maaaaaaaan! Did he forget!?! What’s going on here???”

So I snuck over to him and asked... “What’s up? Where's our song?” He said they had a little break coming up and that he’d play it soon thereafter.

So another hour passed -- Our song still hadn’t been played.

The boat began pulling back to the dock -- Our song still hadn’t been played.

A woman came in instructing us how to exit the boat -- Our song still hadn’t been played!

But, as the lady gave her instructions, she also made a point to say that the party wasn’t over, and that everyone should continue enjoying themselves.

That’s when our song began playing. Immediately, I asked Kenetria to dance.

So there we were -- dancing together in a crowd of another hundred or so couples -- soaking in the moment and enjoying our sentimental song.

I began whispering sweet-nothings in her ear. I told her how much I loved her, appreciated her, and wanted to be with her -- forever. Then I got down on one knee, took her hand, looked up at her, and asked...

“Kenetria... Will you marry me?”

She smiled, said “Yes,” and began to cry.

Tomorrow, on part four of Da Hitman Gets Hitched, my wife-to-be, Kenetria Richardson, tells her side of our story.

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Da Hitman Gets Hitched: 'I Want YOU, Not Your Friends!' (Pt. 2) - @ChrisHarrisNFL

If you need to play catch-up with Da Hitman Gets Hitched, click the link below...

Part 1: “My New Best Friend”

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After some social networkin’ with Kenetria on Facebook and a FRIENDLY weekend of hanging out in Charlotte, my mind started to wander away from my initial intentions, which were to keep myself off the maritial-market. I didn’t want to get involved in a relationship -- I just wanted to chill-out and live in the singles-circuit. But, ya gotta remember... This is Kenetria we’re talking about - a girl who’s too sweet to sit on your sidelines.

Yes... There really was a period of time when I just wanted to play it friendly with Kenetria, and I maintained that commitment for quite a while - she was just like one of my homeboys. We’d kick it, have fun, and not do the bf/gf-thing. She even tried to hook me up with a bunch of her single friends, but I never bit.

Finally, after about three months of Kenetria suggesting girl after girl, I broke our friendship-code and started to flirt a little by asking her...

“Why don’t you ever mention yourself as someone I should date?”

There were times before this question was posed that I joked around and said things like... “You know, you’re gonna be my wife some day.” She’d respond by saying, “Yeah, whatever.” But when I asked her why she never mentioned herself as dating material, that’s when things started to get serious - for me, at least. All she did was laugh at the thought. She continued to stay committed to her pledge to not date anyone, because she had just gotten out of a bad six-year relationship and didn’t feel like chasing any new love yet. ...But, I didn’t let her determination to remain a single lady get in my way -- No sir.

I fought for her, and she presented me with a tough battle. She meant business about her commitment to stay away from a new relationship. She didn’t want to get too close, yet I still tried to reel her in. Sometimes she’d give-in a little and come my way, but then she’d quickly pull off. Then I’d fight some more and she’d come closer, only to - again - eventually pull away.

Obviously - because we’re now getting married - a turning point came along where she completely gave into me. And I think her change of emotions came when she realized how genuine I was. I wasn’t just a guy who was trying to get with her (if you know what I mean). I genuinely felt a connection with her that trumped friendship -- I wanted to BE with her.

- Tomorrow, part three of Da Hitman Gets Hitched... “Will You Marry Me?”

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Da Hitman Gets Hitched: 'My New Best Friend' (Pt. 1) - ChrisHarrisNFL

On Sunday, the twenty-seventh of June, in the year twenty-ten, I’m marrying Kenetria Janelle Richardson, the love of my life. I can’t wait.

Kenetria is a down-to-earth, cool, intelligent woman (Vanderbilt grad with a degree in economics), who’s not looking for anything but love. And, in my profession, it’s hard finding a woman who likes you, simply for you. So many of them come after you for your status or your money. But Kenetria... She genuinely likes me -- the person -- not the persona. In fact, before her and I got close, she claimed herself to be “anti-athlete” (as far as dating goes), because she - understandably so - had a bit of a negative perception about how some pro-athletes tend to play around too much. I’m proud to claim that I was able to convert her ;-)

I first met Kenetria back in high school through her twin sister (who I was good friends with). Her sister and I were tight, but I never really got to know Kenetria until a little website called “Facebook” came along.

...That’s right, Facebook played the part of the matchmaker. That “Friends Suggestions” feature really works - Ha!

A little over a year ago, we randomly sparked-up a conversation on Facebook and realized how much we had common. One of the biggest similarities we shared was our love of music. She’s a very talented musician / singer / writer and I’m pushing her hard to be the next American Idol (yes, that show is a guilty pleasure of ours). She’ll be 28 next year, so she only has one more year of eligibility. Thankfully, one tryout is all it will take for her to win the title.

Finally, after a lot of talking on Facebook, and the realization that more fun could be had with each other in person, we decided that she needed to come visit me in Charlotte. At this point, we were still friends, and neither one of us had any interest in getting into a relationship - she had just gotten out of one and felt that all men were the devil, while I was just wanting to do my thing, chill out, and not have any strong ties to anyone. Yet, even though all I really wanted was a cool girl to relax with, I knew, soon after she arrived, that she was going to be “The One.” I know that probably sounds cliche, but oh well.

That first night she was in town, we went to a basketball game and had a lot of fun. Afterwards, we went back to my house and hung out by the fireplace in the backyard. We just sat out there, listened to music, drank wine, and talked. It was during these late-night hours when I really realized how great she is. I mean, how can you not love an independent woman who has a personality as down-to-earth as hers is? She was quickly becoming one of my new best friends.

Tomorrow... Part 2 of Da Hitman Gets Hitched: "I Want YOU, Not Your Friends!"

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