Alvin Craig Harper (born July 6, 1967) is a former football wide receiver in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

for the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divi ...

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The cl ...

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

and

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

. He was drafted by the

in the first round of the 1991 NFL Draft. He played college football at the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state ...

. Harper played in Dallas for four years as the Cowboys won Super Bowl XXVII and Super Bowl XXVIII, both against the Buffalo Bills.

Early years

Harper attended Frostproof High School, where he was an outstanding football player, earning ''

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'' high school All-American honors as a senior in 1986. He also excelled in

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

, where he at one time held the Florida High School high jump record and won two state Class A high jumping titles, as well as

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

where he averaged 23 points and 10 rebounds per game.

College career

Harper accepted a football scholarship from the

. As a freshman, he appeared in 12 games as a backup wide receiver, making 15 receptions for 247 yards and one touchdown. He had a 45-yard touchdown reception in the second game against Colorado State University. As a sophomore, he was named a starter at wide receiver. He appeared in 11 games, posting 37 receptions for 487 yards and 5 touchdowns. In his first start in the fifth game against

Washington State University Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant uni ...

, he set a school single-game record with 12 receptions. As a junior, he appeared in 11 games, tallying 13 receptions for 246 yards and 2 touchdowns. As a senior, he earned All-

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

Freshman First-team honors in 1987, and All-Southeastern Conference first-team honors in 1990. He was also the MVP of the 1991

Hula Bowl The Hula Bowl is a post-season college football all-star game held annually, usually in January. From inception through the 2021 playing, it was held in Hawaii; since the 2022 edition, it has been played in Orlando, Florida. The game was first st ...

, and finished his

NCAA football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most o ...

career with 103 receptions for 1,547 yards and 16

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Amer ...

s. He continued to excel in track and field, capturing the 1989 Southeastern Conference indoor high jump championship with a jump of 7 ft 2½in. He also anchored the University of Tennessee 4x100 and 4x400 metres relays.

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Harper was selected by the

in the first round (12th overall) of the 1991 NFL Draft, in order to find a receiving partner for starter

Michael Irvin Michael Jerome Irvin (born March 5, 1966) is an American sports commentator and former professional football wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). In 2007, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fa ...

. As a rookie, he caught 20 passes for 326 yards and one

, helping Dallas finish 11–5, its first winning season since

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

. He missed the seventh game against the Cincinnati Bengals with a neck injury. In 1992, he rushed once for 15 yards and caught 35 passes for 562 yards and four

s. He probably had the signature play of his career during the

NFC Championship The NFC Championship Game is the annual championship game of the National Football Conference (NFC) and one of the two semi-final National Football League playoffs, playoff games of the National Football League (NFL), the largest professional Amer ...

against the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

, catching a slant route for 70 yards, setting up the Cowboys on the 10-yard line and sealing the win. He also caught a 45-yard

from

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

Troy Aikman Troy Kenneth Aikman (born November 21, 1966) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys. After transferring from Oklahoma, he played college football at UCLA, ...

during the 52–17 victory over the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXVII, after which he dunked the ball over the goal post crossbar.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

On March 8,

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

, Harper signed a lucrative

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

contract with the

based on his big play ability and championship experience. Though he had a career-high 46 receptions for 633 yards and 2 touchdowns in his first season in Tampa, he was not able to live up to his free agent billing. He missed the first 3 games of the season because of a left sprained medial collateral and a sprained left ankle he suffered in the first preseason game against the New York Jets. He clinched a 14-6 win in the fourth game against the

with a touchdown reception in the final 6 minutes. His best game came against the Cincinnati Bengals with 6 receptions for 117 yards and no touchdowns. In 1996, he appeared in 12 games with 7 starts, registering 19 receptions for 289 yards and one touchdown. His top receiving game came in the third game against the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

, making 2 receptions for 77 yards and one touchdown. He had 4 receptions for 41 yards and no touchdowns in the fifth game against the Detroit Lions. Harper was replaced with Robb Thomas in the second half of the sixth game against the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...

and would lose his job as the starter at wide receiver. He would start once more in the season finale against the Chicago Bears, in place of an injured Thomas. On June 10,

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

, he was released before the start of the season. During his two years in Tampa he was slowed by injuries and played in only 25 games, where he caught 65 passes for 922 yards and three touchdowns.

Washington Redskins

On June 11,

, the

signed him, gambling that he could flourish again after being reunited with head coach

Norv Turner Norval Turner (born May 17, 1952) is an American football coach in the National Football League (NFL). An offensive assistant for the majority of his coaching career, he came to prominence as the Dallas Cowboys' offensive coordinator during the ...

. Harper was a reserve player in 12 games, in which he caught only 2 receptions for 65 yards in the fourth game against the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team pla ...

. On December 1, he was released after he complained about his playing time, following the Redskins 23-20 loss to the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arr ...

New Orleans Saints

On December 2,

, he was claimed off waiver by the

. He was declared inactive in the last 3 games of the season. He was released on July 24,

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

Dallas Cowboys

On October 14,

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

, he was signed by the

, to provide depth after

suffered a career-ending neck injury in the fourth game against the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...

. His jersey number 80 was used by

Ernie Mills Ernest Lee Mills, III (born October 28, 1968) is an American former American football wide receiver in the National Football League for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Carolina Panthers and Dallas Cowboys. He played college football at the Universit ...

, so he chose to wear number 82. He appeared in 2 games as a reserve player and did not register any statistics. He was released on December 7. Harper finished his eight NFL seasons with 191 receptions for 3,473 yards and 21 touchdowns. He also rushed once for 15 yards, completed a pass for 46 yards, and recorded one

interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team ...

on defense.

Memphis Maniax (XFL)

In 2001, he was signed by the

Memphis Maniax The Memphis Maniax were an American football team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The team was part of the XFL begun by Vince McMahon of World Wrestling Entertainment and by NBC, a major television network in the United States. Home games were playe ...

of the

XFL XFL may refer to: Sports * XFL (2001), a defunct American football league that played its only season in 2001 * XFL (2020), a professional American football league Vehicles * Bell XFL Airabonita, a 1940 U.S. Navy experimental interceptor aircra ...

, reuniting with head coach

Kippy Brown Charles Henry "Kippy" Brown1993 Tennessee Volunteers Football Guide', UTSports.com, p. 26. Accessed November 1, 2015. (born March 6, 1955) is an American football former coach and former player who most recently was the wide receivers coach for ...

, who was his wide receivers coach with the

. Harper was a backup wide receiver and only posted one reception for 8 yards.

NFL statistics

Personal life

In 2004, he was a volunteer wide receivers coach at

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a Private university, private, University charter#Federal, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, classifie ...

. In 2005, he served an NFL coaching internship as the

Rhein Fire Rhein may refer to: Places * Rhine, a major river in Europe (german: Rhein, link=no) * Rhein, a village in the municipality of Morsbach in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany * Rhein (Ostpreussen), a former name of the town Ryn in Poland Ships * SM ...

wide receivers assistant coach in NFL Europe. Harper now resides in

Winter Haven, Florida Winter Haven is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States. It is fifty-one miles east of Tampa. The population was 49,219 at the 2020 census. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2019 estimates, this city had a population of 44,955, making ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harper, Alvin 1967 births Living people American football wide receivers Dallas Cowboys players Memphis Maniax players New Orleans Saints players People from Lake Wales, Florida Players of American football from Florida Rhein Fire coaches Sportspeople from Polk County, Florida Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Tennessee Volunteers football players Washington Redskins players