Willie Miles Harper (born July 30, 1950) 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 ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

who played for the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

. Harper played high school football for Toledo Scott and

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 ...

University of Nebraska A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

where he was an All-American in 1972 and was drafted in the second round of the 1973 NFL Draft by the 49ers, who he stayed with for eleven years, from 1973 to 1983. He moved to the

USFL The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

in 1984 to play for the

New Jersey Generals The New Jersey Generals were a franchise of the United States Football League (USFL) established in 1982 to begin play in the spring and summer of 1983. The team played three seasons from 1983 to 1985, winning 31 regular season games and losing ...

. He finished his career with the

Houston Gamblers The Houston Gamblers were an American football team that competed in the United States Football League in 1984 and 1985. The Gamblers were coached by veteran NFL head coach Jack Pardee in both their seasons. They were noteworthy for introducing ...

in 1985. His son,

Josh Harper Josh Harper (born December 1, 1991) is an American football wide receiver for the Oakland Panthers of the Indoor Football League. He played college football with Fresno State. Early years Harper attended St. Mary's High School in Stockton, C ...

, played college football 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 bache ...

. His granddaughter is 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 Wo ...

References

1950 births Living people All-American college football players American football linebackers Houston Gamblers players Nebraska Cornhuskers football players New Jersey Generals players San Francisco 49ers players {{linebacker-1950s-stub