Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/James Harris (defensive end)

James Harris (defensive end)

James Harris (defensive end) (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) – (View log | edits since nomination)

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WP:BLPREQUESTDELETE at User talk:Calliopejen1#Question from Can2645 on James Harris (defensive end) (21:06, 13 March 2026). Seems to be a marginally notable sportsperson who may technically satisfy the notability criteria but lacks any significant coverage of his sports career, which in truth is serving as a WP:COATRACK for otherwise-routine decade court proceedings with no lasting significance. * Pppery * _{it has begun...} 00:53, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

• Note: This discussion has been included in the deletion sorting lists for the following topics: Sportspeople, American football, and Illinois. Shellwood (talk) 01:23, 14 March 2026 (UTC)
• Keep. He appeared in 82 NFL games (51 as a starter) from 1993 to 1999. In his request for deletion, Harris claimed there were inaccuracies. That should be cleaned up, and the disproportionately long discussion of his personal life is probably WP:UNDUE in any event. I would be fine with removing the discussion of marital problems and assault charges until that can be verified/cleaned up. But deletion is not appropriate given the clear notability of a six-year NFL player. Cbl62 (talk) 01:44, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

It's all sourced to the Los Angeles Times, the Spokesman-Review, and the Deseret News. Not that undue. The article just needs expanded so that the personal life isn't the entire article. ~WikiOriginal-9~ (talk) 03:22, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

The article devotes only 243 characters to his football career and more than 3x that amount (817 characters) to unproven allegations of bigamy and to discussions of his divorce proceedings and a 30-year-old plea bargain in a third-degree assault case. So, as currently written, the presentation strikes me as completely unbalanced and disproportionately focused on negative elements of the subject's personal life, especially in an encyclopedia article on a living person. Cbl62 (talk) 04:02, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

See also WP:BLPBALANCE: "The idea expressed in Eventualism—that every Wikipedia article is a work in progress, and that it is therefore okay for an article to be temporarily unbalanced because it will eventually be brought into shape—does not apply to biographies. Given their potential impact on biography subjects' lives, biographies must be fair to their subjects at all times." Cbl62 (talk) 04:13, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

• Keep - The article needed editing, but there is plenty of coverage of his sports career, which is what you would expect for someone who played more than 80 games in the NFL, starting more than 50. I did cut down on some of the detail in the discussion of the assault charges, which in my opinion were overly detailed, but I don't think we can remove that section altogether. Rlendog (talk) 21:16, 14 March 2026 (UTC)

• Thanks. That's much better. Cbl62 (talk) 21:23, 14 March 2026 (UTC)
  • @Cbl62: Thinking about this a little more, I am not sure a 3rd degree assault conviction is so significant as to need mentioning in a Wikipedia biography, even if it is reliably sourced. I am interested in your (or anyone else's) opinion about removing the "Personal life" section altogether, even in the article's current state. Rlendog (talk) 18:46, 16 March 2026 (UTC)
    • Personally, I'd support cutting the section altogether. I think the potential negative effects of that sort of information on a BLP outweighs any benefit of readers knowing that he once was charged with third degree assault 30 years ago. BeanieFan11 (talk) 02:51, 19 March 2026 (UTC)

This is an event from 30 years ago, but he wasn't just charged with assault; he pled guilty. I initially thought third degree assault was a misdemeanor, but in Minnesota it's a felony requiring a showing of "substantial bodily harm". See here. I definitely support Rlendog's trimming the discussion to eliminate unproven bigamy claims, and other matters relating to the divorce proceedings involving his first wife, but a felony conviction documented in reliable sources for beating on his then-current wife is a serious offense and IMO warrants a mention. Cbl62 (talk) 10:01, 19 March 2026 (UTC)

• Keep as notability is clear based on the WP:SIGCOV about his lengthy NFL career; the issues related to WP:UNDUE emphasis no negative personal issues appears to have been addressed appropriately. Alansohn (talk) 00:05, 16 March 2026 (UTC)
• Keep per WP:HEY. Good rescue by Rlendog. Bearian (talk) 02:29, 19 March 2026 (UTC)
• Keep. Meets WP:GNG and WP:BASIC, per the sourcing and improvements made to the article since this AfD was opened. Questions about how much detail to include regarding the legal proceedings and undue weight are all editing issues, not deletion issues. Ejgreen77 (talk) 11:52, 19 March 2026 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.