Alan Stephen Harper (born September 6, 1979) 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 tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...

who played one season with the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

of 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). He was drafted by the Jets in the fourth round of the

2002 NFL Draft The 2002 NFL draft was the 67th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted annually sinc ...

. 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 ...

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 ...

Early years

Harper 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 ...

Fontana High School Fontana High School (FOHI) is a secondary public school in Fontana, California in the Fontana Unified School District. Fontana High serves grades 9 through 12. History A product of the Southern California post war boom, Fontana High (referred to ...

Fontana, California Fontana is a city in San Bernardino County, California. Founded by Azariel Blanchard Miller in 1913, it remained essentially rural until World War II, when entrepreneur Henry J. Kaiser built a large steel mill in the area. It is now a regional h ...

and graduated in 1997. He earned first-team All- Citrus Belt League and All-

Inland Valley The Inland Empire (IE) is a metropolitan area and region inland of and adjacent to coastal Southern California, centering around the cities of San Bernardino and Riverside, and bordering Los Angeles County to the west. It includes the cities o ...

honors his senior year in 1996. He recorded 63 unassisted tackles, 24 assisted tackles, eight sacks and three pass deflections while the team went 11–1–1 in 1996. Harper attended A. B. Miller High School in Fontana his sophomore and junior years, garnering All-

San Andreas League The San Andreas League is a high school athletic league that is part of the CIF Southern Section. Members are located around San Bernardino County, California. The San Andreas League Is now a part of a conference that also includes The Sunkist ...

accolades twice.

College career

Harper played for the

Fresno State Bulldogs The Fresno State Bulldogs are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent California State University, Fresno (commonly referred to as Fresno State). The university is a member of NCAA Division I's Mountain West Conference (MW). It was a ...

from 1998 to 2001. He sat out the 1997 season while fulfilling academic requirements. He earned first-team All- WAC honors in 1999, 2000 and 2001. Harper was Fresno State's nominee for WAC Defensive Player of the Year in 1999 and won the award in 2001. He was also named a second-team All-American by

The Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

his senior season in 2001.

Professional career

New York Jets/Scottish Claymores

Harper was selected by the

with the 121st pick in the

and signed with the team on July 24, 2002. He was released by the Jets on October 15, 2003 and signed to the team's practice squad on October 16, 2003. He was promoted to the active roster on December 17, 2003. Harper was allocated to

NFL Europe NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally f ...

on February 9, 2004, where he played for the

Scottish Claymores The Scottish Claymores were an American football team based in Scotland. The franchise played in the World League of American Football (later renamed NFL Europe) between 1995 and 2004, initially playing all home games at Murrayfield Stadium, E ...

. He was named to the All-NFL Europe Team for his play during the 2004 season. He was released by the Jets on September 5 and signed to the team's practice squad on September 6, 2004. Harper was promoted to the active roster on September 27, 2004. He played in eleven games for the Jets during the 2004 season. He was released by the Jets on August 31, 2005.

San Jose SaberCats

Harper was signed by 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

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 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

(AFL) on December 19, 2005. He played for the team from 2006 to 2008.

Arizona Rattlers

Harper signed with the

Arizona Rattlers The Arizona Rattlers are a professional indoor American football team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They are currently members of the Indoor Football League (IFL). The Rattlers were founded in 1992 as an expansion team in the Arena Football League ...

of the AFL on June 30, 2010 and played for the team during the 2010 season.

References

External links

Just Sports Stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harper, Alan Living people 1979 births Players of American football from California American football defensive tackles African-American players of American football Fresno State Bulldogs football players New York Jets players Scottish Claymores players Sportspeople from San Bernardino County, California San Jose SaberCats players Arizona Rattlers players People from Fontana, California 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople