Michael Harden (born February 16, 1959) 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 with ...

player. He played

college 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 ...

as a

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

for the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

from 1977 to 1979. He then played professional football 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) for 11 years as a

for 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 headquart ...

from 1980 to 1988 and for the

Los Angeles Raiders The Los Angeles Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Los Angeles from 1982 to 1994 before relocating back to Oakland, California, where the team played from its inaugural 1960 season to the 1981 season and then agai ...

from 1989 to 1990.

Early years

Harden was born in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

, in 1959. He attended Central High School in Detroit.

University of Michigan

Harden enrolled at the

in 1976 and played

as a

for

Bo Schembechler Glenn Edward "Bo" Schembechler Jr. ( ; April 1, 1929 – November 17, 2006) was an American football player, coach, and athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Miami University from 1963 to 1968 and at the University of ...

Michigan Wolverines football The Michigan Wolverines football team represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Michigan has the most all-time wins in college football history. The team is known for its ...

teams from 1976 to 1979. In September 1978, Harden and

Jerry Meter Jerry Meter (born c. 1957) is a former American football player and coach. Meter's father, Bernard Meter, played football for Notre Dame in the 1940s. Jerry Meter attended Bloomfield Hills Andover High School where, at 6 foot, 4 inches, he wa ...

both intercepted passes thrown by

Joe Montana Joseph Clifford Montana Jr. (born June 11, 1956) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons, primarily with the San Francisco 49ers. Nicknamed "Joe Cool" and "the Comeback Kid", ...

to help secure a 28–14 victory over Notre Dame. He was selected as a first-team defensive back on the 1978 All-Big Ten Conference football team. Over the course of his collegiate career, Harden had 89 tackles, 42 assists, 6 interceptions and 95 return yards, 16 pass breakups, and 3 fumble recoveries. Harden also returned 24 punts for 156 yards.

Professional football

Harden was selected by the

in the fifth round (131st overall pick) of the

1980 NFL Draft The 1980 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 29–30, 1980, at the New York She ...

. He appeared in 128 games, 98 as a starter, at the

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

and

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...

positions for the Broncos from 1980 to 1988. He intercepted 33 passes in his nine years with the Broncos. Harden was fined $5,000 ($12,920 in 2023) for a hit in the opening game of the 1988 season against division rival Seattle Seahawks that knocked out

Steve Largent Stephen Michael Largent (born September 28, 1954) is an American former football wide receiver and politician who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons with the Seattle Seahawks. A member of the Republican Party, he serv ...

and resulted in a concussion and the loss of two teeth. Fourteen weeks later, in Seattle, Harden intercepted a

Dave Krieg David Michael Krieg ( ; born October 20, 1958) is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He attended Milton College in his home state of Wisconsin and made the Seattle Seahawks as an undrafted free agent. ...

pass in the end zone and returned it twenty-five yards before being knocked off his feet by Largent and fumbling the football, which Largent also pounced on, giving the Seahawks possession again. Largent later said in an interview that the hit was retaliation in part for the hit that Harden gave Largent earlier in the season. Harden concluded his career with the

during the 1989 and 1990 seasons. During his 11-year NFL career, he intercepted 38 passes for 663 yards and 4 touchdowns, and recovered 14 fumbles. , his 179 interception return yards in 1986 is a Broncos record. On special teams, Harden returned 8 punts for 113 yards and a touchdown and returned 26 kickoffs for 414 yards.

Personal life

He was married to Magaly Fernandez Harden and they had one child. He has a total of 3 children, Taler (May 1985), Chanel (May 1995), and Alexander (January 1997). Harden is also the grandfather of four. In 2003, he was sentenced to six years in prison for stealing from several women.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harden, Mike 1959 births Living people American football cornerbacks American football safeties Denver Broncos players Michigan Wolverines football players Oakland Raiders players Players of American football from Memphis, Tennessee 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople