| No. 12 – Detroit Lions | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Safety | ||||||||||||
| Roster status | Active | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Born | (2000-11-05)November 5, 2000 (age 25) Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S. | ||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | ||||||||||||
| Weight | 189 lb (86 kg) | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| High school | Karns (Karns, Tennessee) | ||||||||||||
| College | Oklahoma State (2019–2022) Notre Dame (2023) | ||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 2024: undrafted | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
* Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||||||
| Career NFL statistics as of 2024 | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
Thomas Westley Harper (born November 5, 2000) is an American professionalfootballsafety for theDetroit Lions of theNational Football League (NFL). He playedcollege football for theOklahoma State Cowboys andNotre Dame Fighting Irish.
Harper was born on November 5, 2000, inKnoxville, Tennessee.[1] He grew up playingbasketball before trying out for theKarns High School football team as asophomore.[2] With the Karns football team, he became a topwide receiver anddefensive back.[2] He was an all-district, all-region and teamMVP selection while being the first player in school history with over 1,000 receiving yards.[3]
Harper totaled 1,086 receiving yards and 11touchdowns as ajunior, being named all-state, and then had 1,279 receiving yards and 18 touchdowns as asenior, also ending his high school career with 155tackles, 16passes defended and threeinterceptions.[1] A two-star recruit, he committed to playcollege football for theOklahoma State Cowboys, the onlyPower Five program to give him an offer, which allowed him to join his brother Devin, alinebacker.[4][5]
Harper appeared in 12 games as a truefreshman in 2019, mainly onspecial teams, recording 13 tackles.[1] The following year, he appeared in all 11 games, one as a starter, and recorded 31 tackles while earning second-team Academic All-Big 12 Conference honors.[1] In 2021, he played 12 games and totaled 20 tackles with 1.5 tackles-for-loss (TFLs).[6] He won a starting role in 2022.[7] That year, he made 30 tackles and 1.5 TFLs while appearing in seven games.[1]
In 2023, Harper transferred to theNotre Dame Fighting Irish for his final season of eligibility.[8] With Notre Dame, he appeared in 11 games and posted 39 tackles, six TFLs, three passes defended and twosacks.[9] He opted out of the team's2023 Sun Bowl victory overOregon State due to injury.[10]
| Year | Team | Games | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Total | Solo | Ast | Sack | PD | Int | Yds | TD | FF | FR | TD | ||
| 2019 | Oklahoma State | 12 | 0 | 13 | 9 | 4 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | Oklahoma State | 11 | 1 | 30 | 26 | 4 | 0.0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2021 | Oklahoma State | 12 | 0 | 20 | 12 | 8 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | Oklahoma State | 7 | 7 | 30 | 17 | 13 | 0.0 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | Notre Dame | 11 | 10 | 39 | 25 | 14 | 2.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Career | 53 | 18 | 132 | 89 | 43 | 2.0 | 9 | 2 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | |
| 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 ft10+1⁄8 in (1.78 m) | 189 lb (86 kg) | 29+3⁄8 in (0.75 m) | 8+7⁄8 in (0.23 m) | 4.47 s | 1.50 s | 2.50 s | 4.39 s | 7.11 s | 42 in (1.07 m) | 10 ft 6 in (3.20 m) | 18 reps | |
| All values fromPro Day[11] | ||||||||||||
After going unselected in the2024 NFL draft, Harper signed with theLos Angeles Chargers as anundrafted free agent.[12] He waswaived on August 27, as part of the team's roster cuts.[13]
On August 28, 2024, Harper was claimed off waivers by theLas Vegas Raiders.[14] He was waived on August 28, 2025.[15]
On August 29, 2025, Harper was claimed off waivers by theDetroit Lions.[16]
| Year | Team | Games | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Total | Solo | Ast | Sck | Sfty | PD | Int | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | FF | FR | TD | ||
| 2024 | LV | 15 | 5 | 26 | 13 | 13 | 0.5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 14.0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Career | 15 | 5 | 26 | 13 | 13 | 0.5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 14.0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
Harper was born to his parents Kevin and Alacia. He is the younger brother ofPittsburgh SteelerslinebackerDevin Harper.[17]
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