Wikipedia

David Harris (American football)

David Charles Harris (born January 21, 1984) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Michigan Wolverines. Harris was selected by the New York Jets in the second round of the 2007 NFL draft.

David Harris
refer to caption
Harris with the Jets in 2011.
No. 52, 45
Position:Linebacker
Personal information
Born: (1984-01-21) January 21, 1984 (age 40)
Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S.
Height:6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight:250 lb (113 kg)
Career information
High school:Ottawa Hills (Grand Rapids)
College:Michigan
NFL draft:2007 / round: 2 / pick: 47
Career history
Career highlights and awards
NFL records
  • Most solo tackles in a game (20)[1]
Career NFL statistics
Total tackles:1,110
Sacks:37.0
Forced fumbles:11
Fumble recoveries:4
Interceptions:6
Defensive touchdowns:1
Stats at Pro Football Reference

Early life

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Harris attended Ottawa Hills High School in Grand Rapids, Michigan where he played high school football. At linebacker, he set a school record with 158 tackles as a junior, and earned all-state honors from the Detroit Free Press as a senior, and he also contributed as a fullback.

Harris also participated in track and field, and this combination of size and speed led him to become one of the state's top prospects.[2]

College career

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Harris received an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Michigan, where he played for the Michigan Wolverines football team. However, he was forced to redshirt as a freshman due to a knee injury which nearly derailed his career. It took nearly two years for Harris to fully recover, and he only played sparingly as a redshirt freshman and sophomore.

Not until his junior year did Harris become a full-time starter. He began to show signs of a future in the NFL when he led the Wolverines in 2005 with 88 tackles, and 103 tackles as a senior. In 2006, he earned All-Big Ten Conference honors, was Wolverines co-MVP with Mike Hart, and was a second-team All-America selection by the Associated Press, Sports Illustrated, and Rivals.com.[2]

National awards

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Conference honors

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  • 2006 All-Big Ten Conference First-team (coaches) and Second-team (media)

Team awards

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Professional career

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Pre-draft

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Harris was projected to go anywhere from the late-second round to the fourth round prior to the 2007 NFL draft.

Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight Arm length Hand span 40-yard dash 10-yard split 20-yard split 20-yard shuttle Three-cone drill Vertical jump Broad jump Bench press
6 ft 2 in
(1.88 m) 		243 lb
(110 kg) 		303⁄4 91⁄8 4.59 s 1.53 s 2.59 s 4.29 s 7.25 s 33 in
(0.84 m)		 8 ft 11 in
(2.72 m)		 23 reps
All values from the NFL Combine.[3]

New York Jets

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2007

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The New York Jets selected Harris in the second round (47th overall) of the 2007 NFL draft.[4] The Jets traded their second (63rd overall), third (89th overall), and sixth round picks (191st overall) to the Green Bay Packers and received the Packers' second round pick (47th overall), which they used to select Harris.[5]

On July 26, 2007, the Jets signed Harris to a four-year, $3.46 million contract.[6] Throughout training camp, Harris competed against veterans Eric Barton and Victor Hobson for a job as a starting linebacker.[7] Head coach Eric Mangini named Harris a backup inside linebacker to begin the regular season, behind Eric Barton and Victor Hobson.[8]

On October 28, 2007, Harris recorded his first NFL start, making 17 tackles (10 solo) and 1 sack in Week 8 against the Buffalo Bills. Harris started in place of the injured Jonathan Vilma who was placed on injured reserve after a knee injury. Harris made 24 tackles (20 solo) the following week against the Washington Redskins. In 2007, Harris was named NFL's Defensive Rookie of the Month for November 2007.[9]

For the 2007 NFL season, Harris had 127 tackles, 5 sacks, and two forced fumbles despite only starting 9 games, and earned various all-rookie honors.[2]

2008

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Harris was named the starter at inside linebacker for the 2008 season. Although an injury shortened season limited Harris to just 11 games, he still posted 87 tackles and 1 sack.

2009

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Against the Houston Texans in the first week of the season, Harris finished with 11 tackles (six solo), one sack, and a deflected pass as the defense pitched a shutout.[10] Harris also won AFC Defensive Player of the Week for his play. In week three, as his team was only up seven points, he intercepted a Kerry Collins pass, and then followed that drive by sacking him on first down during the Tennessee Titans next series. Harris himself had 12 tackles, (ten solo). During the Jets' week six game against the Buffalo Bills, Harris recorded 17 tackles. In week 11 against division rivals, Harris recorded 13 tackles (ten solo) as he earned defensive play caller for the Jets that week.

Harris finished his season as the leading tackler on football's number one defense with 127 tackles. He also chipped in with five and a half sacks and two interceptions. In addition, he made second-team all-pro.

The Jets finished the season with a 9–7 record, barely clinching a wild card spot. The team made it to the AFC Championship for the first time since 1998 until losing to the Indianapolis Colts.

2010

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On January 16, 2011, Harris recorded his first career postseason interception in which he returned it for 58 yards against the New England Patriots in the AFC Divisional Round. The Jets won 28–21 to advance to their second straight AFC Championship game. It was Tom Brady's first Interception in 11 games (340 pass attempts without an interception). The Jets finished the season 11–5, clinching another wild card spot, and made it to the AFC Championship for the 2nd year in a row, but lost 19–24 against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

2011–2016

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Harris recorded 86 tackles, 5 sacks along with 4 interceptions in the 2011 season. On November 9, 2011, he was named AFC's Defensive Player of the Week for his performance against the Buffalo Bills.[9]

In 2012, he recorded 123 combined tackles, 3 sacks, 3 passes defended and one forced fumble.

Harris finished the 2013 season with 124 combined tackles, 2 sacks, one passes defended and one forced fumble.

He finished the 2014 season with 123 combined tackles along with five and half sacks and two forced fumbles.

On March 6, 2015, the Jets re-signed Harris to a three-year, $21.5 million contract with $15 million guaranteed.[11] In 16 starts, he made 108 tackles with 4.5 sacks, 4 passes defended, and 2 forced fumbles. He finished the season with 95 combined tackles, half a sack and two passes defensed.

On June 6, 2017, in a surprising move, Harris was released by the Jets after 10 seasons.[12]

New England Patriots

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On June 21, 2017, Harris signed a two-year contract with the New England Patriots worth $5 million.[13] Harris played in Super Bowl LII, but the Patriots lost 41–33 to the Philadelphia Eagles.

Retirement

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On February 23, 2018, Harris announced his retirement from the NFL after 11 seasons.[14]

Career awards and highlights

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NFL career statistics

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Year Team GP Tackles Fumbles Interceptions Stuff
Comb Solo Ast Sack FF FR Yds Int Yds Avg Lng TD PD Stuff Yds
2007 NYJ 16 127 90 37 5.0 2 1 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 3 4 8
2008 NYJ 11 75 52 23 1.0 0 1 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 1 1 1
2009 NYJ 16 127 82 45 5.5 2 0 0 2 24 12.0 14 0 3 0 0
2010 NYJ 16 99 69 30 3.0 1 1 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 3 3 16
2011 NYJ 16 86 65 21 5.0 0 0 0 4 55 13.8 35 1 8 4 12
2012 NYJ 16 123 79 44 3.0 1 1 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 3 2 7
2013 NYJ 16 124 70 54 2.0 1 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 1 8 18
2014 NYJ 16 123 71 52 5.5 2 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 1 5 10
2015 NYJ 16 108 67 41 4.5 2 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 4 0 0
2016 NYJ 15 95 63 32 0.5 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 2 5 12
2017 NE 10 22 15 7 1.5 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 1 0 0
Career[15] 164 1,109 723 386 36.5 11 4 0 6 79 13.2 35 1 32 39 101

Personal life

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He currently resides in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He was nicknamed The Hitman by New York Jets website host Eric Allen.[16][17]

References

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  1. ^ "Most Solo Tackles In A Game". StatMuse. Retrieved October 2, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c Rank, Adam. "Jets LB Harris Makes the Most Out of His Opportunity". NFL.com. Archived from the original on November 7, 2012. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
  3. ^ "2007 ILB Draft Prospects", CBSSports.com, CBS Sports, 2007, archived from the original on October 16, 2012, retrieved November 6, 2010
  4. ^ "2007 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved May 11, 2023.
  5. ^ Crouse, Karen (April 29, 2007). "Jets Trade Up to Draft Revis With 14th Pick". New York Times. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
  6. ^ "Spotrac.com: David Harris contract". Spotrac.com. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
  7. ^ "Jets address needs, add depth through draft". triblive.com. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  8. ^ "Ourlads.com: New York Jets Depth Chart: 09/02/2007". Ourlads.com. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  9. ^ a b "LB David Harris the AFC Defensive Player of the Week". jetsgab.com. Retrieved November 9, 2011.
  10. ^ https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/boxscore;_ylt=AjlhdkbT9WYEBP7zR28bNNoisLYF?gid=20090913034 [dead link]
  11. ^ Patra, Kevin (March 7, 2015). "Jets re-sign David Harris to 3-year, $21.5 million deal". NFL.com. Retrieved March 8, 2015.
  12. ^ Davis, Nate (June 6, 2017). "Jets release longtime starting LB David Harris in 'abrupt' move". USA Today. Retrieved September 7, 2017.
  13. ^ Patra, Kevin (June 21, 2017). "Patriots sign ex-Jets linebacker David Harris". NFL.com.
  14. ^ Bergman, Jeremy (February 23, 2018). "Former Jets LB David Harris retiring after 11 seasons". NFL.com.
  15. ^ "David Harris Stats". ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved September 3, 2014.
  16. ^ Hitman Harris: "We executed our plan". Archived from the original on August 20, 2012. Retrieved August 20, 2011.
  17. ^ "Jets' David Harris shuns spotlight but still racks up tackles as reluctant yet consistent star". foxnews.com. Retrieved September 19, 2014.
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