.jpg) Harrison in 2021 | |||||||||||||||||
| No. 37 | |||||||||||||||||
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| Position | Safety | ||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1972-12-15)December 15, 1972 (age 52) Markham, Illinois, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 220 lb (100 kg) | ||||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||||
| High school | Marian Catholic (Chicago Heights, Illinois) | ||||||||||||||||
| College | Western Illinois | ||||||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 1994: 5th round, 145th overall pick | ||||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||||
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Rodney Scott Harrison (born December 15, 1972) is an American former professionalfootballsafety who played in theNational Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons with theSan Diego Chargers andNew England Patriots. He was selected in the fifth round of the1994 NFL draft by the Chargers, where he spent his first nine seasons, and was a member of the Patriots in his last six. Since retiring from the NFL in 2009, he has served as a commentator forNBC'sFootball Night in America.
During his career, Harrison received twoPro Bowl and two first-teamAll-Pro selections. He holds the defensive back record for sacks and was the first NFL player to obtain 30 sacks and 30 interceptions. Harrison participated in fourSuper Bowls, winning two with the Patriots inSuper Bowl XXXVIII andSuper Bowl XXXIX.[1][2][3] In recognition of his accomplishments in San Diego and New England, he was named to the 50th Anniversary Teams of both the Chargers and Patriots. He was also inducted to thePatriots Hall of Fame in 2019 and Inducted to the Chargers Hall of Fame in 2025
Harrison went to high school atMarian Catholic High School inChicago Heights, Illinois. In March 2006, Marian Catholic retired Harrison's No. 37 jersey,[4] although Harrison never actually wore No. 37 while in high school. His varsity numbers were No. 26 as a sophomore, No. 11 as a junior and No. 3 as a senior.[citation needed] He graduated from high school in 1991.
Harrison playedcollege football atWestern Illinois University from 1991 to 1993. He is the school's record-holder for tackles in a career (345) and tackles in a game (28). As a freshman, Harrison was a second-team All-Gateway Football Conference before being named a first-team All-Gateway pick as a sophomore and junior. TheAssociated Press also named him a second-teamAll-American as a sophomore and a first-team All-American as a junior. Harrison was suspended from the team and elected to enter the NFL draft.
Harrison was selected in the fifth round of the1994 draft, (145th overall) by theSan Diego Chargers, the same year they made their onlySuper Bowl (XXIX) to date, which they lost to theSan Francisco 49ers.[5] Harrison became a starting member of the Chargers'1996 defense, going to two Pro Bowls with the Chargers in1998 and2001. He set then-career highs with the Chargers in 2000 with 127 tackles and six interceptions; in 2002 he started 13 games and recorded 88 tackles in his final season with the Chargers.[6]
Following the2002 season, on February 27, 2003, Harrison was released by the Chargers. Two weeks later, on March 13, Harrison landed with the Patriots, signing a six-year deal. At the time, the Patriots had both Harrison and fellow Pro Bowl safetyLawyer Milloy under contract. Throughout the offseason, though, the Patriots and Milloy were involved in contract negotiations, with the Patriots requesting Milloy take a pay cut or be released. Milloy did not comply, and on September 2, he was released.
Prior to the2003 season, Harrison was named a defensive captain in his first year with the Patriots by the coaching staff after Lawyer Milloy was released.
On January 10, 2004, in thedivisional playoff game against theTennessee Titans, he interceptedSteve McNair, which set upAntowain Smith's touchdown, as New England would hold on for a 17–14 win. In theAFC Championship Game the next week against theIndianapolis Colts, Harrison interceptedPeyton Manning in the end zone and forced aMarvin Harrison fumble, recovered by teammateTyrone Poole. Harrison then went on to help theNew England Patriots win their second title in three years, against theCarolina Panthers inSuper Bowl XXXVIII, 32–29. He fractured his right arm late in the game, but aTom Brady-led drive andAdam Vinatieri field goal secured the Patriots' victory. In his 10th year in the league, Harrison earned his first Super Bowl ring.
Harrison was also named to the Associated Press' All-Pro team following a 140-tackle (a 2003 NFL best for adefensive back) and three-sack season in which he started all 16 regular season games.
The2004 season produced a similar performance. Harrison helped New England's defense finish second in the NFL in scoring for 2004. For the second straight season, Harrison's 138 tackles led all defensive backs in the NFL. Harrison also started all sixteen regular season games for the sixth time in his career, holding together a Patriots secondary that was withoutTy Law and Tyrone Poole for the majority of the season.
In the Patriots'divisional playoff game against theColts, Harrison interceptedPeyton Manning late in the game to end the Colts' last chance. The next week in the AFC Championship, Harrison jumped aBen Roethlisberger pass and took it 87 yards for a touchdown, helping the Patriots defeat thePittsburgh Steelers, 41–27. During the week leading up to the Super Bowl, Harrison got into a verbal feud withPhiladelphia Eagles receiverFreddie Mitchell after Mitchell claimed he "had something for Harrison" and did not know the names of the New England secondary.[7] Harrison, inSuper Bowl XXXIX, would record seven tackles, a sack, and two interceptions of quarterbackDonovan McNabb, despite missing almost an entire quarter due to an injury sustained during the game. The second interception, with ten seconds remaining in the game, preserved a 24–21 Patriot win, ensuring a third championship in four years.
The2005 season began a string of multiple injuries for the 12th-year safety, with Harrison's season coming to an end on September 25 against thePittsburgh Steelers, when he was hit in the knee by a fallingCedrick Wilson and tore theanterior cruciate,medial collateral, andposterior cruciate ligaments in his left knee. Harrison was subsequently placed on theinjured reserve list, ending his season.
Slightly over 10 months after his season-ending injury, Harrison returned to Patriots' practice for the first time on August 7, 2006.[8] After sporadic playing time in the preseason, Harrison started the first seven of the Patriots' games in2006, totaling 23 tackles and one sack. However, while making a tackle on Marvin Harrison against the Colts on November 5, Rodney Harrison injured his right shoulder and missed the next six weeks of the season. He returned to the Patriots in week 16, but his season was ended the following week in Tennessee after a low block fromBobby Wade injured his right knee.
Harrison was suspended for the first four games of the 2007 regular season for admitting to federal investigators that he knowingly obtained and usedhuman growth hormone (HGH).[9] Harrison stated to the media that he used "a banned substance" for "accelerating the healing process from injuries [he] sustained playing football," and "never to gain a competitive edge."[10] In addition, according to federal agents and Harrison himself, Harrison received a shipment of HGH, with his name on it, just days beforeSuper Bowl XXXVIII in February 2004.[11] Later, he expressed regret over his decision to use the substance calling it "a black cloud over my career." "I played 15 years and that doesn't feel good. That's embarrassing...It wasn't smart. I put a foreign substance in my body and don't know the long-term effects," he said onFootball Night in America.[12]
In Super Bowl XLII, which concluded the 2007 season, Rodney Harrison was the player over whomDavid Tyree made his famousHelmet Catch, leading theNew York Giants to victory 17–14 and handing the Patriots their first loss of the year, preventing a perfect season. In the play, a long forward third down pass byEli Manning over midfield, Harrison was both attempting to block reception and tackle at the same time. Harrison was able to disengage one of Tyree's hands from the ball, but not both.
Harrison's2008 season ended early when, in an October 20 game against theDenver Broncos, Harrison tore his rightquadriceps femoris muscle on a play, was carted off the field, and placed on injured reserve.[13]
On June 3, 2009, Harrison announced his retirement from football to become an analyst forNBC Sports'Football Night in America.[14] Patriots head coachBill Belichick soon after called Harrison one of the best players he had ever coached.[15]
Harrison was voted the "dirtiest player" in the NFL by his peers according to a 2004 poll conducted bySports Illustrated. In 2006, Harrison once again topped the "dirtiest player" voting by 361 other NFL players.[16] In 2008, NFL coaches awarded the title to Harrison in an anonymous poll conducted by ESPN.[17] He has also been fined and suspended multiple times, and as of 2002, had racked up over $200,000 in fines by the NFL. A notable suspension occurred in 2002 after a helmet-to-helmet hit on theOakland Raiders'Jerry Rice. Harrison was the player during a preseason game against the thenSt. Louis Rams who hit Rams QBTrent Green low, resulting in a season-ending knee injury for Green, thrusting back-up and then relatively unknown QBKurt Warner into the starting position. The Rams went on to win theSuper Bowl that year and Warner was namedNFL MVP and has been inducted into thePro Football Hall of Fame.
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Won theSuper Bowl | |
| Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | GP | Tackles | Fumbles | Interceptions | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cmb | Solo | Ast | Sck | FF | FR | Int | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | PD | |||
| 1994 | SD | 15 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1995 | SD | 11 | 25 | 21 | 4 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 22 | 4.4 | 17 | 0 | 5 |
| 1996 | SD | 16 | 124 | 104 | 20 | 1.0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 56 | 11.2 | 29 | 0 | 13 |
| 1997 | SD | 16 | 131 | 95 | 36 | 4.0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 75 | 37.5 | 75 | 1 | 8 |
| 1998 | SD | 16 | 113 | 87 | 26 | 4.0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 42 | 14.0 | 21 | 0 | 11 |
| 1999 | SD | 6 | 41 | 30 | 11 | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 2000 | SD | 14 | 107 | 90 | 17 | 3.5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 51 | 25.5 | 22 | 0 | 13 |
| 2001 | SD | 16 | 126 | 100 | 26 | 6.0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 97 | 16.2 | 63 | 1 | 17 |
| 2002 | SD | 13 | 86 | 67 | 19 | 2.0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1.0 | 2 | 0 | 7 |
| 2003 | NE | 16 | 126 | 92 | 34 | 3.0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0.0 | 2 | 0 | 11 |
| 2004 | NE | 16 | 138 | 94 | 44 | 3.0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 6.0 | 12 | 0 | 8 |
| 2005 | NE | 3 | 15 | 11 | 4 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2006 | NE | 10 | 50 | 35 | 15 | 1.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2.0 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 2007 | NE | 12 | 68 | 54 | 14 | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2.0 | 2 | 0 | 7 |
| 2008 | NE | 6 | 45 | 27 | 18 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Career[19] | 186 | 1,198 | 907 | 291 | 30.5 | 16 | 6 | 34 | 361 | 10.6 | 75 | 2 | 114 | |
