Bruce Harper

Bruce Harper was a jack-of-all-trades while playing for the New York Jets from 1977 to 1984.  As their top running back, kick returner and punt returner he displayed his uncanny athletic ability week in and week out on the NFL stage and proved to be one of the best athletes of his era.  During his time with the Jets he compiled the most kick return yards in their franchise history with 5,407 yards.  As a punt returner he was just as good, racking up 1,748 yards and one touchdown.  As a running back he tallied another 1,829 rushing yards and 2,409 more yards a receiver out of the backfield for a total of 11,429 total all-purpose yards.  Harper’s love of the game stemmed from his days playing as a youngster at Dwight Morrow High School in Englewood, New Jersey and his skills were sharped during his days at Kutztown State College where he became their school’s first ever 1,000 yard rusher.  Outside of football Harper founded the nonprofit organization Heroes & Cool Kids which serves as a mentoring program for elementary and middle school kids.