.JPG) Harris with the New York Jets in 2011 | |||||||||||||||
| No. 52, 45 | |||||||||||||||
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| Position | Linebacker | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born | (1984-01-21)January 21, 1984 (age 41) 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: 2nd round, 47th overall pick | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||
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David Charles Harris (born January 21, 1984) is an American former professionalfootball player who was alinebacker of theNational Football League (NFL). He playedcollege football for theMichigan Wolverines. Harris was selected by theNew York Jets in the second round of the2007 NFL draft.
Harris attendedOttawa Hills High School in Grand Rapids, Michigan where he playedhigh school football. At linebacker, he set a school record with 158tackles as a junior, and earned all-state honors from theDetroit Free Press as a senior, and he also contributed as afullback.
Harris also participated intrack and field, and this combination of size and speed led him to become one of the state's top prospects.[2]
Harris received an athletic scholarship to attend theUniversity of Michigan, where he played for theMichigan Wolverines football team. However, he was forced toredshirt 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 aredshirt freshman and sophomore.
Not until his junior year did Harris become a full-timestarter. 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 earnedAll-Big Ten Conference honors, was Wolverines co-MVP withMike Hart, and was a second-teamAll-America selection by theAssociated Press,Sports Illustrated, andRivals.com.[2]
Harris was projected to go anywhere from the late-second round to the fourth round prior to the2007 NFL draft.
| 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 theNFL Combine.[3] | ||||||||||||
TheNew York Jets selected Harris in the second round (47th overall) of the2007 NFL draft.[4] The Jets traded their second (63rd overall), third (89th overall), and sixth round picks (191st overall) to theGreen 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 millioncontract.[6] Throughout training camp, Harris competed against veteransEric Barton andVictor Hobson for a job as a starting linebacker.[7] Head coachEric 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 inWeek 8 against theBuffalo Bills. Harris started in place of the injuredJonathan Vilma who was placed oninjured reserve after a knee injury. Harris made 24 tackles (20 solo) the following week against theWashington Redskins. In 2007, Harris was named NFL's Defensive Rookie of the Month for November 2007.[9]
For the2007 NFL season, Harris had 127 tackles, 5 sacks, and two forced fumbles despite only starting 9 games, and earned various all-rookie honors.[2]
Harris was named the starter atinside linebacker for the2008 season. Although an injury shortened season limited Harris to just 11 games, he still posted 87 tackles and 1 sack.
Against theHouston 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 aKerry Collins pass, and then followed that drive by sacking him on first down during theTennessee Titans next series. Harris himself had 12 tackles, (ten solo). During the Jets' week six game against theBuffalo 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 theIndianapolis Colts.
On January 16, 2011, Harris recorded his first career postseason interception in which he returned it for 58 yards against theNew England Patriots in the AFC Divisional Round. The Jets won 28–21 to advance to their second straight AFC Championship game. It wasTom 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 thePittsburgh Steelers.
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 theBuffalo 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]
On June 21, 2017, Harris signed a two-year contract with theNew England Patriots worth $5 million.[13] Harris played inSuper Bowl LII, but the Patriots lost 41–33 to thePhiladelphia Eagles.
On February 23, 2018, Harris announced his retirement from the NFL after 11 seasons.[14]
| 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 | |
He currently resides in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He was nicknamedThe Hitman by New York Jets website host Eric Allen.[16][17]
Media related toDavid Harris (American football) at Wikimedia Commons