Harold Jerome Hart (born July 13, 1952) is a former

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 wi ...

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. Ther ...

who played four seasons 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 ...

(NFL) with the Oakland Raiders and New York Giants. He was drafted by the Raiders in the eleventh round of the

1974 NFL Draft The 1974 NFL draft took place at the Americana Hotel in New York City, New York, on January 29–30, 1974. Each of the 26 NFL teams were granted 17 selections for a total of 442 picks. Many experts consider the 1974 Pittsburgh Steelers to have ha ...

. He played college football at

Texas Southern University Texas Southern University (Texas Southern or TSU) is a public historically black university in Houston, Texas. The university is one of the largest and most comprehensive historically black college or universities in the USA with nearly 10,00 ...

and attended New Stanton Senior High School in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

. Hart was also a member of the

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 ...

Early years

Hart played

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

for the New Stanton Senior High School Blue Devils. He played his first two years at

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 ...

before converting to running back. He rushed for 1,900 yards and 13 touchdowns his senior year in 1969. He also earned first-team All-State honors and played in the North-South All-Star game.

College career

Hart was a four-year start for the

Texas Southern Tigers The Texas Southern Tigers represent Texas Southern University in Houston, Texas, in intercollegiate athletics. They field sixteen teams including men and women's basketball, cross country, golf, and track and field; women's-only bowling, soccer ...

, rushing for over 2,000 yards.

Professional career

Oakland Raiders

Hart was selected by the Oakland Raiders with the 279th pick in the

. In 1975, he returned a 102-yard kick off for a touchdown in Week 1 of

Monday Night Football ''ESPN Monday Night Football'' (abbreviated as ''MNF'' and also known as ''ESPN Monday Night Football on ABC'' for simulcasts) is an American live television broadcast of weekly National Football League (NFL) games currently airing on ESPN, A ...

against the

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

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Hart was chosen by the

in the

1976 NFL expansion draft The 1976 National Football League (NFL) expansion draft was held March 30–31, 1976. The expansion teams, the Seattle Seahawks and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Flo ...

. He missed the 1976 season due to injury and was released before the start of the 1977 season.

New York Giants

Hart played in one game for the New York Giants in 1977.

Oakland Raiders

Hart played in seven games for the Oakland Raiders in 1978.

References

External links

Just Sports Stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hart, Harold Living people 1952 births Players of American football from Florida American football running backs African-American players of American football Texas Southern Tigers football players Oakland Raiders players New York Giants players People from Lake City, Florida 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople