Bruce S. Harper (born June 20, 1955) is an American former professional football running back and return specialist who played for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Kutztown Golden Bears and was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Jets after the 1977 NFL draft.
| No. 42 | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Position: | Running back Return specialist | ||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||
| Born: | June 20, 1955 Englewood, New Jersey, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Height: | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Weight: | 174 lb (79 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||||||
| High school: | Dwight Morrow (Englewood, New Jersey) | ||||||||||||||||||
| College: | Kutztown | ||||||||||||||||||
| Undrafted: | 1977 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||||||
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Early life
editHarper played high school football at Dwight Morrow High School in Englewood, New Jersey.[1]
College career
editHarper attended the Kutztown State College—now Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, where he became the school's first 1,000 yards rusher.[citation needed]
Professional career
editHarper is the all-time kick returner leader in New York Jets history with 5,407 yards in kickoff returns. He also served as the Jets punt returner from 1977 to 1982, totalling 1,784 punt return yards and one touchdown.
His total yards are 11,429: 1,829 rushing, 2,409 receiving, 1,784 punt return and 5,407 kickoff return yards.[2]
Harper's no. 42 jersey is the jersey worn by diehard Jets fan Fireman Ed.[3]
NFL career statistics
edit| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Bold | Career high |
Regular season
edit| Year | Team | Games | Rushing | Receiving | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | ||
| 1977 | NYJ | 14 | 1 | 44 | 198 | 4.5 | 18 | 0 | 21 | 209 | 10.0 | 55 | 1 |
| 1978 | NYJ | 16 | 0 | 58 | 303 | 5.2 | 32 | 2 | 13 | 196 | 15.1 | 44 | 2 |
| 1979 | NYJ | 16 | 0 | 65 | 282 | 4.3 | 31 | 0 | 17 | 250 | 14.7 | 72 | 2 |
| 1980 | NYJ | 15 | 1 | 45 | 126 | 2.8 | 22 | 0 | 50 | 634 | 12.7 | 52 | 3 |
| 1981 | NYJ | 16 | 7 | 81 | 393 | 4.9 | 29 | 4 | 52 | 459 | 8.8 | 24 | 1 |
| 1982 | NYJ | 9 | 0 | 20 | 125 | 6.3 | 40 | 0 | 14 | 177 | 12.6 | 39 | 1 |
| 1983 | NYJ | 9 | 2 | 51 | 354 | 6.9 | 78 | 1 | 48 | 413 | 8.6 | 33 | 2 |
| 1984 | NYJ | 4 | 0 | 10 | 48 | 4.8 | 16 | 1 | 5 | 71 | 14.2 | 28 | 0 |
| 99 | 11 | 374 | 1,829 | 4.9 | 78 | 8 | 220 | 2,409 | 11.0 | 72 | 12 | ||
Playoffs
edit| Year | Team | Games | Rushing | Receiving | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | ||
| 1981 | NYJ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 4.0 | 4 | 0 |
| 1982 | NYJ | 2 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 4.5 | 9 | 0 | 6 | 49 | 8.2 | 19 | 0 |
| 3 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 4.5 | 9 | 0 | 7 | 53 | 7.6 | 19 | 0 | ||
Personal life
editHarper was a longtime resident of Norwood, New Jersey,[1] but now lives in Closter, New Jersey.[4]
Harper is founder and director of the non-for-profit organization Heroes & Cool Kids, established in 1998.[5] Based in school systems throughout New Jersey, the mentoring program reaches out to elementary and middle-school kids by high school athletes and students of the same district. The high school students are trained through the Heroes and Cool Kids' curriculum and by former professional athletes, such as former NFL player, Keith Elias, former Los Angeles Lakers player, John Celestand, and former New Jersey Nets player, Tim Bassett.[4]
References
edit- ^ a b Rondinaro, Gene. "Picturesque, Affluent West of Palisades", The New York Times, November 3, 1996. Accessed July 26, 2011. "A SHORT distance west of the Palisades and bordering the Boy Scouts' Camp Alpine is the picturesque and affluent Bergen County Borough of Norwood, just 10 miles northwest of the George Washington Bridge.... A FORMER football standout at Dwight Morrow High School in Englewood, Mr. Harper was interested in finding a small, diverse community to live and raise a family in away from the media hype of New York's sports world.... Like Mr. Harper, other sports figures such as Don Mattingly, Gene Michael, Craig Nettles, Jim (Catfish) Hunter and Kenny Anderson have at one time or another called the borough home."
- ^ "Bruce Harper Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft, College". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
- ^ Anderson, Dave. "Sports of The Times; Empty Seats, No Noise, But Look Who's Talking", The New York Times, November 24, 2003. Accessed July 26, 2011. "You got that right, especially with the way the Giants and the Jets have played this season, but the Jets were even worse than usual this game. And their fans were so quiet. Fireman Ed in the white fireman's helmet and the Bruce Harper 42 jersey didn't even yell 'J-E-T-S -- Jets, Jets, Jets!' until the fourth quarter was about the start."
- ^ a b Spelling, Ian. "Hero Worship: Former Jets star Bruce Harper inspires sportsmanship and good character" Archived January 29, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, (201) magazine, August 1, 2009. Accessed July 26, 2011. "Likewise, Harper is a Bergen lifer. He was born in Englewood, lived for a time in Fort Lee, bought a house in Englewood, moved to Norwood, and currently resides in Closter with his wife, Nancy."
- ^ Gehman, Jim (February 28, 2019). "Where Are They Now: Bruce Harper". New York Jets. Retrieved March 29, 2020.