David Harris (American football)

David Harris

No. 52     New York Jets
Inside linebacker
Personal information
Date of birth: January 21, 1984 (1984-01-21) (age 27)
Place of birth: Grand Rapids, Michigan
Height: 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	Weight: 250 lb (113 kg)
Career information
College: Michigan
NFL Draft: 2007 / Round: 2 / Pick: 47
Debuted in 2007 for the New York Jets
Career history
New York Jets (2007–present)
Roster status: Active
Career highlights and awards
1× All-Pro selection (2009) Ed Block Courage Award (2009)
Career NFL statistics as of Week 10, 2011
Tackles	470
Sacks	16.5
Interceptions	4
Passes defensed	14
Forced fumbles	5
Touchdowns	1
Stats at NFL.com

David Charles Harris (born January 21, 1984) is an American football linebacker for the New York Jets. He was selected in the second round of the 2007 NFL Draft by the Jets. He played college football at Michigan.

High school

Harris attended Ottawa Hills High School in Grand Rapids, Michigan where he excelled at football. At linebacker, he set a school record with 158 tackles as a junior, and earned all-state honors from the Detroit Free Press as a senior, and he also contributed as a fullback.

Harris also participated in track and field, and this combination of size and speed led him to become one of the states top prospects.^[1]

College career

Harris earned a scholarship with the University of Michigan Wolverines after his impressive high school career. However, he was forced to redshirt as a freshman due to a knee injury which nearly derailed his career. It would take nearly two years for Harris to fully recover, and only played sparingly as a redshirt freshman and sophomore.

It wouldn't be until his junior year that Harris finally became a full-time starter. He began to show signs of a future in the National Football League when he led the Wolverines in 2005 with 88 tackles, and 103 tackles as a senior. In 2006, he earned All-Big Ten honors, was Wolverines co-MVP with Mike Hart, and was a second team All-America selection by the Associated Press, Sports Illustrated, and Rivals.com.^[1]

National awards

• 2006 Dick Butkus Award semifinalist

Conference honors

• 2006 All-Big Ten Conference First Team (coaches) and Second Team (media)

Team awards

• 2006 Michigan football team co-MVP with Mike Hart
• 2005 & 2006 Roger Zatkoff Award

Professional career

NFL Combine

Pre-draft

Pre-draft measureables

Ht	Wt	40-yd dash	10-yd split	20-yd split	20-ss	3-cone	Vert	Broad	BP
6 ft 2 in	243 lb	4.59 s	1.53 s	2.59 s	4.29 s	7.25 s	33 in	8 ft 11 in	23 rep
All values from the NFL Combine.[2]

2007 NFL Draft

Harris was projected to go anywhere from the late-second round to the fourth round prior to the 2007 NFL Draft. However, he impressed scouts when he ran a 4.59 40 yard dash at the NFL Combine. He drew interest from the New York Jets, due partially to new linebackers coach Jim Herrmann who had previously been defensive coordinator for Harris' Michigan Wolverines.

Harris was drafted in the 2nd round (47th overall) of the 2007 NFL Draft by the New York Jets. The Jets sent their 2nd, 3rd, and 6th picks that year to the Green Bay Packers in exchange for the Packers 2nd rounder to select Harris.^[1]

2007 season

On Sunday, October 28, 2007, Harris recorded his first NFL start, making 17 tackles (10 solo) and 1 sack in Week 8 against the Buffalo Bills. Harris started in place of injured LB Jonathan Vilma who was placed on injured reserve after a knee injury. Harris made 24 tackles (20 solo) the following week against the Washington Redskins.

For the 2007 NFL season, Harris had 127 tackles, 5 sacks, and two forced fumbles despite only starting 9 games, and earned various all-rookie honors.^[1]

2008 season

In late February, the Jets traded MLB Jonathan Vilma to the New Orleans Saints, and Harris was named the starter at Inside linebacker for the 2008 season. Although an injury shortened season limited Harris to just 11 games, he still posted 87 tackles and 1 sack.

2009 season

After Jets' general manager, Mike Tannenbaum revamped his team's mediocre defense from a season ago with much improved players and coaches, Harris was supposed to be one of their key contributors that propelled them to football's apex. With a defensive scheme better known as "Organized chaos", Harris knew new head coach, Rex Ryan would rely heavily on him in his blitz packages. His duties were much more significant. Each game, Harris was counted on to chase down running backs in the open field on more than a few occasions, consistently pressure the opposing quarterbacks during third down and longs and be left stranded covering tight ends in man-to-man coverage. Against the Houston 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.^[3] He also won AFC Defensive Player of the Week for his play. In week three, as his team was only up seven points, he intercepted a Kerry Collins pass, and then followed that drive by sacking him on first down during the Tennessee Titans next series. The following week, his group took on an unbeaten New Orleans Saints team. That dominant Jets' defense allowed only ten points to the NFL's top rated offense and kept Drew Brees under 200 passing yards with zero touchdowns. Harris himself had 12 tackles, (ten solo). During the Jets' week six game against the Buffalo 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.

Throughout the Jets' playoff run, he had good performances in every game. For instance, against the Colts in the AFC Championship game, he recorded two sacks against Peyton Manning. 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.

2010 season

On January 16, 2011, Harris recorded his first career postseason interception in which he returned it for 58 yards against the New England Patriots in the AFC Divisional Round. Jets won 28-21 to advance to their second straight AFC Championship game. It was Tom Brady's first Interception in 11 games (340 pass attempts whithout an interception).

Personal Life

He currently resides in Parsippany, New Jersey. He is nicknamed The Hitman by New York Jets fans and media for his dominant play and hard-hitting tackles.^[4]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} Rank, Adam. "Jets LB Harris Makes the Most Out of His Opportunity". NFL.com. http://www.nfl.com/draft/story?id=09000d5d807d3e7e&template=without-video&confirm=true. Retrieved 2009-09-13. 
2. ^ "2007 ILB Draft Prospects", CBSSports.com (CBS Sports), 2007, archived from the original on November 6, 2010, http://www.webcitation.org/5u2t7olvN, retrieved November 6, 2010 
3. ^ http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/boxscore;_ylt=AjlhdkbT9WYEBP7zR28bNNoisLYF?gid=20090913034
4. ^ {| url = http://www.newyorkjets.com/photos-and-videos/videos/Hitman-Harris-%E2%80%9CWe-executed-our-plan%E2%80%9D/f1a3dbab-3989-4616-96d6-c7ea885f8135

External links

• New York Jets bio