Nicholas Necosi Harper (born September 10, 1974) is an American former professional football player who was a cornerback in the National Football League (NFL). He was signed by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats as a street free agent in 2000. He played college football for the Fort Valley State Wildcats.

Harper played for the Indianapolis Colts and Tennessee Titans. He earned a Super Bowl ring with the Colts in Super Bowl XLI.

Early life Harper attended Baldwin High School and was a letterman in football, wrestling, baseball, and track & field. In football, as a senior, he won first-team All-Conference honors and was named the team MVP.

College career Harper played college football at Fort Valley State University in Fort Valley, Georgia.

Professional career

Hamilton Tiger-Cats After being declared ineligible for his senior season at Fort Valley State in 2000, Harper signed with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League and appeared in 18 games for the team.

Indianapolis Colts Harper signed with the Indianapolis Colts on January 16, 2001.

In 2005, the Colts finished first in the AFC with a 14–2 record. On January 14, 2006, the day before the divisional round of the playoffs against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Harper was involved in an altercation with his wife Daniell that resulted in him getting cut with a knife in his right leg, requiring three stitches. The Harpers asserted the incident was accidental, and Daniell did not face charges. With under two minutes remaining in the game and trailing 21–18, Harper picked up a Jerome Bettis fumble near the Indianapolis goal line and returned it to their 43-yard line before getting tackled by Steelers' quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Colts commentators and teammates said had Harper returned the football along the sideline instead of the middle of the field, or had his leg been fully healthy, the Colts would have won the game. Indianapolis would end up missing the potential game-tying field goal, and Pittsburgh went on to win Super Bowl XL. In a 2016 retrospective on the game, The Indianapolis Star described Harper being tackled as the "play that cost the Colts a Super Bowl".

The following season, the Colts won Super Bowl XLI, giving Harper his first and only Super Bowl ring.

Tennessee Titans Before the 2007 season, Harper signed a 3-year deal with the Tennessee Titans as a free agent. Harper played in and started 14 games and registered 80 tackles, three interceptions, 14 passes defensed, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery in his first season with the Titans.

In 2008, Harper finished second on the team with 17 passes defensed.

NFL career statistics Legend Bold Career high

Regular season Year Team Games Tackles Interceptions Fumbles GP GS Cmb Solo Ast Sck TFL Int Yds TD Lng PD FF FR Yds TD 2001 IND 13 2 32 25 7 0.0 0 2 17 0 14 8 0 1 0 0 2002 IND 16 1 49 43 6 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 2003 IND 16 13 97 83 14 0.0 7 4 121 1 75 14 0 0 0 0 2004 IND 14 14 77 58 19 0.0 1 3 12 0 12 8 0 1 15 0 2005 IND 15 15 66 60 6 0.0 2 3 41 0 21 15 0 1 7 0 2006 IND 15 15 75 58 17 0.0 2 3 18 0 19 9 0 0 0 0 2007 TEN 14 14 78 64 14 0.0 3 3 62 0 32 11 1 2 0 0 2008 TEN 13 13 71 68 3 0.0 1 2 11 0 11 14 1 0 0 0 2009 TEN 11 11 81 69 12 0.0 2 1 4 0 4 6 0 0 0 0 127 98 626 528 98 0.0 18 21 286 1 75 90 2 5 22 0

Playoffs Year Team Games Tackles Interceptions Fumbles GP GS Cmb Solo Ast Sck TFL Int Yds TD Lng PD FF FR Yds TD 2002 IND 1 0 6 4 2 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2003 IND 3 0 11 9 2 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 2004 IND 2 2 5 5 0 0.0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2005 IND 1 1 9 9 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 35 0 2006 IND 4 4 14 13 1 0.0 0 1 9 0 9 2 1 0 0 0 2007 TEN 1 1 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2008 TEN 1 1 3 3 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 13 9 48 43 5 0.0 1 1 9 0 9 7 2 1 35 0

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