| No. 31, 33, 22 | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Running back | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Born: | (1964-05-07)May 7, 1964 (age 60) Queens, New York, U.S. | ||||||||||||
| Height: | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||||||||||||
| Weight: | 200 lb (91 kg) | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| High school: | Bayside (Queens) | ||||||||||||
| College: | Iowa | ||||||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1986: 1st round, 16th pick | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
Ronnie Keith Harmon (born May 7, 1964) is an American former professionalfootball player who was arunning back for 12 seasons in theNational Football League (NFL) from 1986 to 1997.
Harmon was born inQueens, New York and played scholastically atBayside High School in Queens, where he was a consensus all-city selection.[1]
He playedcollege football for theIowa Hawkeyes, twice earning first-teamall-conference honors in theBig Ten. As a senior, he was selected as a second-teamAll-American by theNewspaper Enterprise Association.[2]
Harmon was better known for his receiving rather than his rushing capabilities, a reputation he earned after committing four fumbles, all of which resulted in turnovers, in a 45–28 loss forIowa againstUCLA in the1986 Rose Bowl Game. It was a disappointing end to an otherwise superb season for Harmon, who rushed for 1,111 yards, caught 49 passes for 597 yards, and scored 10 touchdowns. Harmon finished his four seasons at Iowa with 4,028 yards from scrimmage, 126 receptions, 30 touchdowns, and 626 return yards on special teams.[3]
Ronnie's brother Kevin replaced him at running back after his graduation from Iowa.
A 6 foot tall, 220-lb. running back, Harmon was selected by theBuffalo Bills in the first round (16th overall) of the1986 NFL draft.[4]
Harmon played four seasons with the Buffalo Bills. In his final game with Buffalo, a1989 AFC Divisional Playoff game at theCleveland Browns, Harmon dropped a potential game-winning touchdown pass fromJim Kelly with :09 left in the fourth quarter.[5] Harmon publicly stated that his failure was Kelly's fault because the QB didn't throw the ball early enough. Probably not coincidentally, Harmon was not re-signed by Buffalo before the 1990 season.
Harmon also played inSuper Bowl XXIX for theSan Diego Chargers in their 49–26 loss against the49ers, a game in which he led his team in receiving with 8 receptions for 68 yards. Ronnie's brothersKevin andDerrick also played in the NFL.
Harmon is the only player in NFL history to average 4.5 yards per carry on 600 rushing attempts AND 10 yards per catch on 550 receptions. He is also one of only five running backs to ever gain over 10,000 all-purpose yards and have fewer than 20 fumbles, the other four players beingCharlie Garner,Brian Westbrook,Priest Holmes andDeAngelo Williams.
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | Games | Rushing | Receiving | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | ||
| 1986 | BUF | 14 | 2 | 54 | 172 | 3.2 | 38 | 0 | 22 | 185 | 8.4 | 27 | 1 |
| 1987 | BUF | 12 | 10 | 116 | 485 | 4.2 | 21 | 2 | 56 | 477 | 8.5 | 42 | 2 |
| 1988 | BUF | 16 | 1 | 57 | 212 | 3.7 | 32 | 1 | 37 | 427 | 11.5 | 36 | 3 |
| 1989 | BUF | 15 | 2 | 17 | 99 | 5.8 | 24 | 0 | 29 | 363 | 12.5 | 42 | 4 |
| 1990 | SDG | 16 | 2 | 66 | 363 | 5.5 | 41 | 0 | 46 | 511 | 11.1 | 36 | 2 |
| 1991 | SDG | 16 | 0 | 89 | 544 | 6.1 | 33 | 1 | 59 | 555 | 9.4 | 36 | 1 |
| 1992 | SDG | 16 | 2 | 55 | 235 | 4.3 | 33 | 3 | 79 | 914 | 11.6 | 55 | 1 |
| 1993 | SDG | 16 | 1 | 46 | 216 | 4.7 | 19 | 0 | 73 | 671 | 9.2 | 37 | 2 |
| 1994 | SDG | 16 | 0 | 25 | 94 | 3.8 | 15 | 1 | 58 | 615 | 10.6 | 35 | 1 |
| 1995 | SDG | 16 | 1 | 51 | 187 | 3.7 | 48 | 1 | 63 | 673 | 10.7 | 44 | 5 |
| 1996 | HOU | 16 | 6 | 29 | 131 | 4.5 | 25 | 1 | 42 | 488 | 11.6 | 43 | 2 |
| 1997 | TEN | 11 | 0 | 8 | 30 | 3.8 | 14 | 0 | 16 | 189 | 11.8 | 27 | 0 |
| CHI | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 3.0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 4.0 | 6 | 0 | |
| 181 | 27 | 615 | 2,774 | 4.5 | 48 | 10 | 582 | 6,076 | 10.4 | 55 | 24 | ||
| Year | Team | Games | Rushing | Receiving | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | ||
| 1988 | BUF | 2 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 4.0 | 7 | 0 | 8 | 76 | 9.5 | 17 | 0 |
| 1989 | BUF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 50 | 12.5 | 22 | 0 |
| 1992 | SDG | 2 | 0 | 8 | 36 | 4.5 | 10 | 0 | 13 | 94 | 7.2 | 18 | 0 |
| 1994 | SDG | 3 | 0 | 5 | 22 | 4.4 | 10 | 0 | 16 | 117 | 7.3 | 20 | 0 |
| 1995 | SDG | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | -1.0 | -1 | 0 | 10 | 133 | 13.3 | 24 | 0 |
| 9 | 0 | 16 | 65 | 4.1 | 10 | 0 | 51 | 470 | 9.2 | 24 | 0 | ||