Nolan Harrison III (born January 25, 1969) 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 ...

defensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

who played ten 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) for the

Los Angeles/Oakland 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 aga ...

, the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

, and the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

. 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 ...

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

and was team captain All Big 10 Honorable Mention. Harrison was drafted in the sixth round of the

1991 NFL Draft The 1991 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 21–22, 1991, at the Marriott Mar ...

. Harrison was a member of the Delta Chi Fraternity while at IU and received The Distinguished Delta Chi Award from the national Delta Chi Fraternity in 1997. He went to Homewood-Floosmoor High School in

Flossmoor, Illinois Flossmoor () is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 9,704 at the 2020 census. Flossmoor is approximately 25 miles south of the Chicago Loop. Geography Flossmoor is located at (41.541684, -87.684970). According ...

and was a three-sport varsity letter winner in wrestling (185 pound weight class and heavyweight), track (400 m relay and mile relay) and football (defensive lineman) and in 2009 his high school football number was officially retired at a ceremony during the halftime of a McDonald's charitable basketball game being played by other former and current NFL players.

Post pro football career

Nolan spent 10 years as an executive in the financial services industry after his 10-year NFL career. Harrison earned his accelerated financial planning certificate from the Arizona State University School of Global Management and Leadership in 2009. Nolan earned his Masters of Business Administration with an emphasis in global management from University of Phoenix in January 2012.

Union involvement

Nolan served as an

NFL Players Association The National Football League Players Association, or NFLPA, is a labor union representing National Football League (NFL) players. The NFLPA, which has headquarters in Washington, D.C., is led by president J. C. Tretter and executive director DeM ...

player representative and Executive Committee member during his ten-year playing career. Towards the end of his ten-year career, Harrison spearheaded the successful effort to ban a career threatening practice called "chop blocking" in the NFL. Harrison served as a chapter president and Board of Directors member of the NFL Players Association Former Players in his post-football career. In 2010, he was appointed as the senior director of former player services.

Acting/Speaking/Television/Media

Nolan gave a moving TEDx Talk at Indiana University on heroism. His talk was titled, and he discussed how his core values and views on heroism shaped his experiences from childhood, through college, to adulthood, enabling him to take a stand where some might not have to stop a sexual assault against a female student on campus. Nolan landed an acting role in the USA film "Bloodhounds", starring Corbin Bernsen, playing the bad guy role of "Bootsie". Host of the NFLPA internet news show "NFLPA TV". Harrison has been a public speaker for many organizations like the NFL Players Association, Executives Breakfast Club, AFT, AFL-CIO, and TEDx speaking on a variety of leadership topics. Nolan blogs fo
AARP on volunteerism
Nolan blogs for Pro Player Insiders.

References

External links

Pro Player Insiders profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Nolan American football defensive ends American football defensive tackles Indiana Hoosiers football players Los Angeles Raiders players Oakland Raiders players Pittsburgh Steelers players Washington Redskins players Players of American football from Chicago 1969 births Living people Homewood-Flossmoor High School alumni