On 1/14/09, in ceremonies at Loudenslager American
Legion Post, McDevitt FB player Steve Harris was honored as the 2008 Fox Chase Town Watch "Hero of the Year"
for his actions in assisting off-duty SEPTA police officer Dan Robbins outside Fox Chase RC three
months earlier. Here are some pics from Mary Oehler , Steve's grandmother. . . Ted's story is below the pics.
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L to R -- Steve Phillips, president of FCTW; Officer Dan Robbins,
Steve, City Councilman Brian O'Neill.
L to R -- John Duffy, legislative aid to
State Representative John Perzel, SEPTA Police Officer John Rodriquez, SEPTA Police Sgt. Ramos (Robbins' supervisor), Robbins, Steve and
Phillips.
L to R -- Phillips, Robbins and his wife and three children, Steve and his
parents.
Steve and Jack Rutter, McDevitt vice principal.
By TED SILARY Philadelphia Daily News
DAN ROBBINS felt a tap on his
shoulder and knew the first punch would be crashing
into his face momentarily.
Instead . . . "It was an
angel, coming out of nowhere."
Steve Harris doesn't have
wings, but he's now basking in the glow of
multipronged appreciation resulting from an act of
heroism he performed last football season. Not on
the field. At his neighborhood recreation center.
Harris, a 6-2, 185-pound
senior wideout at Bishop McDevitt High, is receiving
recruiting interest from schools such as Robert
Morris, Millersville and King's, and there has even
been a recent nibble from Pittsburgh.
Here's hoping those schools
find out what kind of young man they would be
getting.
The date was Oct. 6. Since
it was a Monday, the Lancers only watched film, and
then Harris headed home to Fox Chase. From there, he
made the 5-minute walk to Fox Chase RC and went
inside to lift weights.
A shade after 5 o'clock, he
finished and walked outside, where he noticed some
buddies in one group over here and a larger group of
strangers over there.
He also noticed a man who
was arguing with the strangers, including juveniles
and young adults.
That man turned out to be
Robbins, an off-duty SEPTA officer, who, just a few
hours after receiving distressing medical news, had
come to the rec, in plain clothes, to try to forget
his problem by kicking around a soccer ball with his
10-year-old daughter, Brooke, before later holding
practice for a team he coached.
"This large group of kids
walked past us," Robbins said. "At least 20. Maybe
more. I didn't recognize any of them. One of them
was carrying a stick, like the shaft of a hockey
stick. Another had a belt. I didn't know what was
going on, but I knew they were up to no good. For my
job, I'm underground in the subway. I see bad kids
all day.
"I told my daughter to sit
tight, that I was going to follow them around front
to see what was happening. I identified myself as a
police officer. Told them we didn't want any
trouble. Told them to leave. Several of them were
mouthing off. Cursing. The usual stuff. 'F- you . .
. We'll roll you . . . We don't like cops.' They
were starting to surround me.
"Just then, I felt the tap
on my shoulder. It was Steve Harris; I didn't know
who he was then. He said, 'I'm on your side. I'm
with you .' "
"At first, I was just
looking over there," Harris said. "I was hearing a
lot of negative comments to Officer Robbins, and I
was thinking, 'This is not going to be good. It's
going to get bad.' "
Harris' friends remained
spectators. Not an indictment. Just a fact. He did
not.
"I just felt I should go
over and help," he said. "I don't know if I'd call
it bravery or courage, I just knew what could have
happened."
. . . What could have
happened.
Steve Harris had heard the
stories about Eddie Polec. From a firsthand source,
even.
Everyone of a certain age
remembers Eddie Polec, and how his life ended in
horrible circumstances. On Nov. 11, 1994, in a crime
that drew national attention, Polec, a student at
Cardinal Dougherty, was clubbed to death by
bat-wielding youths from nearby Abington.
Harris' uncle, Bill Oehler,
at that time a La Salle High basketball player, was
one of Eddie's good friends and wound up testifying
at trials.
That tragedy occurred on
the front steps of St. Cecelia Catholic Church, and
that's within footsteps of the rec center where the
gym is named in Eddie's memory. It would not be
repeated Oct. 6.
Yes, there were punches and
kicks, and more, right outside the rec and an
adjacent day-care center. Robbins got tuned up
pretty good. Luckily, an off-duty Philadelphia
police officer happened to notice the melee. An
assist-officer call went out. The troublemakers
scattered, but Robbins and others were able to make
three arrests.
"Two were juveniles,"
Robbins said. "I had to testify. One pleaded guilty
to simple assault, one to aggravated. The adult's
trial is soon. I'll be testifying there, too."
Steve Harris suffered very
little, thankfully.
"I know they pounded my
head. They might have kicked me. Everything happened
so fast," he said. "I guess I had a mild concussion.
Had a ringing headache. Couple bruises. I
missed Tuesday's practice, then got back at it."
Wheels began turning behind
the scenes.
Robbins made efforts to
discover Harris' identity. He then made sure that
Steve Phillips, president of Fox Chase Town Watch,
was informed of Harris' bravery; FCTW was started as
a response to Eddie Polec's death.
Last night, at the
Loudenslager American Legion Post, Steve Harris was
honored by FCTW as the 2008 "Hero of the Year."
Aside from a plaque from that organization, he
received citations from the city and state.
"As we looked into this, we
found out Steve was very humble," Phillips said. "He
almost had to be forced to tell about his
involvement. We're all very proud of him."
Harris and Robbins had not
spoken since the incident. Robbins thought Harris
might have recognized him because his son, Sam, 17,
had played youth basketball at the rec with Steve.
Nope, Harris hadn't recognized him. He'd just
noticed a guy in trouble and did the right thing.
Earlier this week, Dan
Robbins said of Steve Harris: "I can't wait to meet
him, and thank him for what he did. He could have
been severely hurt. He didn't think about that. Only
of trying to keep that from happening to me. He's a
credit to his parents [Michael and Elizabeth Graeff].
He's been raised the right way.
"I just want to tell him,
'I hope my kid's like you.' "
Author
Published
March 5, 2026
Updated
March 5, 2026