Derrick Todd Harmon (born April 26, 1963) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who played

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

for the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the 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 ...

from 1984 to 1986. Harmon played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

, where he still holds numerous records. He was a two-time Academic All-American, a member of the Associated Press Division I-AA All-America second-team, and a two-time member of the All-Ivy first-team. He received the Asa Bushnell Award as the

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference of eight Private university, private Research university, research universities in the Northeastern United States. It participates in the National Collegia ...

Player of the Year, and was named Cornell's first ever Sophomore of the Year in 1981 (now renamed Rookie of the Year). Harmon was the fourth person in

history to go over 1,000 yards in one season, running 1,056 yards in seven Ivy games in 1983, with his leading blocker, David Menapace. He was voted the team's Most Valuable Player and was named the Athlete of the Year of by ''

The Cornell Daily Sun ''The Cornell Daily Sun'' is an independent newspaper at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. It is published twice weekly by Cornell University students and hired employees. Founded in 1880, ''The Sun'' is the oldest continuously independent ...

'' and ''

The Ithaca Journal ''The Ithaca Journal'' is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper published in Ithaca, New York. It is locally edited and printed in Johnson City, New York, and publishes Monday through Saturday. It has been owned by Gannett since 1912. Publication ...

''. Harmon graduated as an engineering physics major in 1984 and was a member of the

Quill and Dagger Quill and Dagger is a senior honor society at Cornell University, founded in 1893. In 1929, ''The New York Times'' stated that election into Quill and Dagger and similar societies constituted "the highest non-scholastic honor within reach of unde ...

society. In 1984, Harmon was drafted to the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

in the ninth round by the

. It was not until 1997 that another Cornellian was drafted by the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

. He played in the

Super Bowl XIX Super Bowl XIX was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Miami Dolphins and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...

win against the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...

in 1985 and was the first alumnus of

to win a

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...

ring. Harmon was inducted into the

Athletic Hall of Fame in 1989.Cornell University Athletic Hall of Fame
/ref> He is the brother of

players

Ronnie Harmon Ronnie Keith Harmon (born May 7, 1964) is an American former professional football player who was a running back for 12 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) from 1986 to 1997. Early life and college Harmon was born in Queens, New Yor ...

and Kevin Harmon. Derrick was an engineering student and later pursued a career in academics.

References

https://www.nytimes.com/1984/12/27/sports/players-from-bayside-high-to-49ers.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Harmon, Derrick 1963 births Living people Cornell Big Red football players San Francisco 49ers players Cornell University College of Engineering alumni Bayside High School (Queens) alumni 20th-century American sportsmen