Rod Harper (born March 26, 1985) is a former

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

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

. He was signed as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager 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 a contract at present ...

by the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

in 2008. He 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 ...

Murray State University Murray State University (MSU) is a public university in Murray, Kentucky, in the Southern United States. In addition to the main campus in Calloway County in southwestern Kentucky, Murray State operates extended campuses offering upper-level an ...

. Harper has also been a member of the

Arkansas Twisters Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma to the ...

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 National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

and

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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

College career

Harper attended

, where he led the team with 57 receptions for 779 yards and 10

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

s in 2007 and earned Second-team All-

Ohio Valley Conference The Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. It participates in Division I of the NCAA; the conference's football programs compete in partnership with ...

. He ranks third in university history in both career receiving yards (1,653) and touchdowns (20).

Professional career

Green Bay Packers
Harper went unselected in the

2008 NFL draft The 2008 NFL draft was the 73rd NFL draft, annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York (state), New York ...

and signed with the

as an

. New Orleans Saints
Harper joined the af2 following his release from the Packers, and was assigned to the

, where he debuted in 2009. On June 4, 2009, he signed a contract with the

and was placed on the Twisters' "Other League Exempt" list. When he signed with the Saints, Harper was leading the league in multiple categories, including scoring (228 points), total touchdowns (38) and receiving touchdowns (38). He was also tied for the league lead in receptions (107) and ranked second in receiving yards (1,375). Harper performed well in the Saints' 2009 preseason games, returning two punts for touchdowns, and he made the team's regular season roster. He was not active for any regular season games, however, and on October 16, 2009, the Saints placed him on their

injured reserve list The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in t ...

with a stress fracture in his left foot, effectively ending his 2009 season. The Saints released Harper on August 24, 2010. Philadelphia Eagles
Harper was signed to the

' practice squad on September 22, 2010. He spent the rest of the season on the practice squad, and was re-signed to a future contract on January 10, 2011. He was waived during final cuts on September 2. Spokane Shock
Harper played the 2012 season with the

Spokane Shock The Spokane Shock were a professional indoor American football team based in Spokane, Washington, that played their home games at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena. The team was initially a member of arenafootball2 (af2), the Shock won divis ...

of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

(AFL). Saskatchewan Roughriders
On April 19, 2013, it was announced Harper had signed with the

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 19 ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

. San Jose SaberCats
On November 25, 2013, Harper was assigned to the

San Jose SaberCats The San Jose SaberCats were a professional arena football team based in San Jose, California. The SaberCats had been members of the Arena Football League (AFL) since 1995 (the year in which the team was founded); and until 2015, they belonged to ...

of the AFL. Los Angeles KISS
On March 5, 2015, Harper was assigned to the

Los Angeles KISS The Los Angeles Kiss (stylized as LA KISS) were a professional arena football team based in Anaheim, California, and members of the Arena Football League (AFL). The Kiss joined the AFL as an expansion team after Los Angeles' previous franchise ( ...

. Return to Spokane
On March 14, 2015, Harper was traded to the Spokane Shock, in exchange for

Ronnell Lewis Ronnell Anthony Lewis (born September 17, 1990) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Oklahoma Sooners and was selected by the Detroit L ...

. New Orleans VooDoo
On May 6, 2015, Harper was traded to the

New Orleans VooDoo The New Orleans VooDoo were a professional arena football team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. They were members of the Arena Football League from 2004 to 2015. The VooDoo were the second team to play in the Arena Football League and play in ...

for future considerations. On July 21, 2015, Harper was placed on reassignment.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harper, Rod 1985 births Living people Players of American football from Bradenton, Florida American football wide receivers Green Bay Packers players Arkansas Twisters players New Orleans Saints players Philadelphia Eagles players Spokane Shock players Saskatchewan Roughriders players San Jose SaberCats players Los Angeles Kiss players Murray State Racers football players New Orleans VooDoo players