Jack Harper (American football)
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Lakeland, Florida, U.S.
| No. 29 | |||||||||||||||
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| Position | Running back | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born | October 8, 1944 Lakeland, Florida, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight | 190 lb (86 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school | Lakeland | ||||||||||||||
| College | Florida | ||||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 1967: undrafted | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
| Career NFL/AFL statistics | |||||||||||||||
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Jack Ridley Harper (born October 8, 1944) is an American former professional football player who was a running back for two seasons in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL) during the 1960s. Harper played college football for the Florida Gators, and thereafter, he played for the Miami Dolphins of the AFL and NFL.
Harper was born in Lakeland, Florida, in 1944.[1] He attended Lakeland High School,[2] and he played for the Lakeland Dreadnaughts high school football team.
College career
Harper accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he played for coach Ray Graves' Gators teams from 1963 to 1965.[3] Memorably, he had an 80-yard punt return for a touchdown versus the SMU Mustangs in 1964, and had 111 receiving yards against the Florida State Seminoles in 1965.[3] Harper led the Gators in kick return yardage for three consecutive seasons,[3] and as a senior halfback in 1965, he became one of quarterback Steve Spurrier's favorite passing targets out of the backfield. He had 1,127 total yards gained in 1965, including 286 rushing, 403 receiving and 438 kick return yards.[3]
