Alvin Harper

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Position	Wide Receiver
Born	July 6, 1968
NFL Draft	1991, 1st round, 12th overall, Dallas Cowboys
Pro Career	7 seasons
NFL Receiving Yards	3,473

Alvin Harper is a former American football player in the National Football League. After going 1-15 in 1989 and 7-9 in 1990, the Dallas Cowboys were poised to capitalize on some key draft opportunities. In 1991, of its three first-round picks, the team drafted defensive tackle Russell Maryland (1st) and wide receiver Alvin Harper (12th).

Harper would don the star-studded, silver football helmet for four years as the Cowboys went from the team with the worst NFL record to become back-to-back Super Bowl champions.

[edit] Career highlights

During his first year with the Cowboys (1991), Harper caught 20 passes for 326 yards and one touchdown, which helped Dallas finish 11-5, its first winning season since 1995.

In 1992, he rushed once for 15 yards and caught 35 passes for 562 yards and four TDs. One of those touchdowns was a 45-yard completion from QB Troy Aikman to Harper during the 52-17 victory over the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXVII, after which Harper dunked the ball over the goal post crossbar. The next year, Harper's individual numbers increased again to 36 passes for 777 yards and five TDs. That year, Dallas returned to face the Bills in Super Bowl XXVIII during which Aikman completed a 16-yard pass to Alvin Harper to give the Cowboys a first-and-goal at the 6 early in the 4th quarter. That set up 1-yard-run by running back Emmitt Smith and helped seal the Bills fate as Dallas won 30-13.

But Harper's best year came in 1994, when he led the league with a 24.9 yards-per-reception average, catching 33 passes for 821 yards and 8 touchdowns. However, Dallas failed to three-peat, dropping out of Super Bowl contention with a 28-38 loss to the NFC champs, San Francisco 49ers.

The next year, Dallas would return for a third Super Bowl title, but Harper was not on the roster, having signed a lucrative free agent contract with Tampa Bay.

[edit] After Dallas

For the next two years, Harper played in 25 games for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers where he caught 65 passes for 922 yards and three TDs. In 1997, Harper played for the Washington Redskins in 12 games, in which he caught only two passes for 65 yards. His final season in the NFL was in 1999 when he returned to play for his former team, the Dallas Cowboys, and played only two games that year.

In 1999, Harper was arrested by the Maryland State Police and initially charged with two counts of auto theft. Ramon Korionoff, spokesman for the state's attorney for Prince George's County, Md., said the charges were later changed to possession of fake automobile license plates, for which Korionoff said Harper served unsupervised probation.

In 2001, Harper signed with the Memphis Maniax of the ill fated XFL but he did not finish among the league's top 10 receivers in any category.

Harper finished his 8 NFL seasons with 191 receptions for 3,473 yards and 21 touchdowns. He also rushed once for 15 yards, completed a pass for 46 yards, and recorded 1 interception on defense.

In 2005, Harper was a volunteer wide receivers coach with NFL Europe team Rhein Fire.