Josh Harper (born December 1, 1991) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

wide receiver for the

Oakland Panthers The Bay Area Panthers are a professional indoor football team based in San Jose, California. They are a member of the Indoor Football League (IFL) and were to begin play in 2020 at Oakland Arena as the Oakland Panthers. Due the onset of the COV ...

of the

Indoor Football League The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a professional indoor American football league created in 2008 out of the merger between the Intense Football League and United Indoor Football. It has one of the largest number of currently active teams am ...

. He played college football with

Fresno State California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bachelo ...

Early years

Harper attended St. Mary's High School in Stockton, California, where he played football, basketball and ran track. He played numerous positions including wide receiver,

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly di ...

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 handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. The ...

punt returner A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another positio ...

and

kick returner A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another position ...

for the St. Mary's Rams football team. He finished his high school career with 164 receptions for 2,669 yards and 28 receiving

touchdowns 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 Americ ...

. In

track & 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 ...

, Harper competed as a sprinter, recording personal-best times of 12.04 seconds in the

100-meter dash The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contest ...

and 24.22 seconds in the

200-meter dash The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightly ...

. Harper was ranked by ''

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heck ...

'' as a three-star recruit. He was recruited by Cal, Arizona, Arizona State, Nevada, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, UCLA, Washington and Washington State.

College career

Harper was

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

as a freshman at

Fresno State University California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bac ...

in 2010. As redshirt freshman in 2011, he played in 11 games with three starts and recorded 35 receptions for 497 yards and five touchdowns. As a sophomore in 2012, Harper played in only five games due to injuries. He finished the season with 24 receptions for 333 yards and four touchdowns. As a junior in 2013, he had 79 receptions for 1,011 yards and 13 touchdowns in 11 games. Harper entered his senior season in 2014 as a starter.

Professional career

Oakland Raiders

After going undrafted in the

2015 NFL Draft The 2015 NFL Draft was the 80th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. It took place in Chicago at the Auditorium Theatre and in Grant Park, from April 30 to May 2. The previo ...

, Harper signed with the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Ra ...

on May 8, 2015. On September 1, 2015, he was waived by the Raiders.

Calgary Stampeders

On June 13, 2016, Harper signed with the

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium and are the third ...

. On June 19, 2016, he was released by the Stampeders.

Oakland Panthers

On November 4, 2019, Harper signed with the

Personal life

He is the youngest of nine children born to

Willie Harper Willie Miles Harper (born July 30, 1950) is a former American football linebacker who played for the San Francisco 49ers. Harper played high school football for Toledo Scott and college football at University of Nebraska where he was an All- ...

, who played in the NFL as an outside linebacker.Family ties Josh Harper to NFL, success
/ref> He is uncle of the rapper

Saweetie Diamonté Quiava Valentin Harper (born July 2, 1993), known professionally as Saweetie (), is an American rapper. After the release of her debut single " Icy Grl" in 2017, she was signed to her then-manager Max Gousse's record label Artistry W ...

and first cousin of actor

Gabrielle Union Gabrielle Monique Union-Wade ( Union; born October 29, 1972) is an American actress. Her career began in the 1990s, when she made dozens of appearances on television sitcoms, prior to landing supporting roles in 1999 teen films '' She's All That ...

References

External links

Fresno State Bulldogs bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harper, Josh 1991 births Living people Players of American football from San Jose, California Players of Canadian football from San Jose, California American football wide receivers Fresno State Bulldogs football players Oakland Raiders players Calgary Stampeders players St. Mary's High School (Stockton, California) alumni