41 Roman Harper
7/25/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
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2005 Graduate
2005 First-Team All-SEC (Coaches)
2005 Thorpe Award Semi-Finalist
2005 Playboy Pre-Season All-America
2004 Second-Team All-SEC (Coaches)
2004 SEC Defensive Player of the Week vs. Ole Miss
2005 (Senior): Harper, another of the December graduates, with a degree in Management, was the second-leading tackler and the top defensive back, with 69 tackles. Harper started 38 consecutive games dating back to the final game of the 2003 season and has 302 career tackles to rank 6th all-time in UA history. In 2005, he had eight and one-half stops behind the line for 11 yards and one-half sack for two yards. He had one interception for 50 yards against Utah State. Bama fans will certainly remember his bone-jarring hit on Tennessee’s Cory Anderson that caused a fumble out of the endzone. Alabama took over and drove for the game-winning field goal with just 13 seconds left in the 6-3 Bama victory. The Masters Coaches Survey tabbed that hit the “Defensive Play of the Year”. He had a season-high eight tackles against Florida and Auburn. He was selected a pre-season Playboy All-America.
2004 (Junior): A force in the Tide secondary, Roman led all defensive backs with 77 tackles. He played an incredible 94 snaps in the Music City Bowl and finished with 807 plays on the season. He had three interceptions for 26 yards, seven stops behind the line for 33 yards and one sack for 15 yards. He also had four pass break-ups, two fumble recoveries, one forced fumble and one quarterback pressure. Harper tied his season-high with 14 tackles in the Music City Bowl game against Minnesota. He started every game this season and now has 26 consecutive starts to his credit. Roman had double-figure tackles against Ole Miss (11), Arkansas (14) and Minnesota (14) and had two stops behind the line for three yards against Tennessee. He made the move from strong safety to free safety in the spring. Harper won the Lee Roy Jordan Headhunter Award following spring practice.
2003 (Sophomore): Harper (111), DeMeco Ryans (126) and Derrick Pope (105) combined for the first time in school history to have three players with 100 or more tackles in a single season. Roman started every game, getting 1,016 snaps. He had a high of 101 plays in the Tennessee game and played 90 snaps or more against Arkansas, Georgia and LSU. He was one of three Tide defensive players to amass over 100 tackles and he was second on the team with 111 behind DeMeco Ryans' team-leading 126 tackle total. Roman scooped up a loose ball from a Hawaii blocked field goal at Hawai'i and ran it 73 yards for a touchdown. On the season he had five quarterback pressures, three pass break-ups, one interception and one fumble recovery. He had five double-digit tackle games and had a stretch of three games where he averaged 15 tackles a game. He had 13 against Northern Illinois, 18 vs. Arkansas and 14 in the Georgia contest. He is one of only 13 Tide players to get 100 or more tackles in a single season. Roman earned the “Bobby Johns Most Improved Defensive Back” award following spring practice.
2002 (Freshman): Roman played in 12 games, getting a start in the season finale against Hawaii. He played a total of 278 snaps and finished with 42 tackles, one stop behind the line and two sacks for 11 yards. He also had two pass break-ups, two caused fumbles and one fumble recovery. His first career double-figure tackle game came against Hawaii when he had 11. He had five tackles each against Ole Miss and Vanderbilt. He had one sack each against Oklahoma (seven yards) and Vanderbilt (four yards). He forced a fumble each against Vanderbilt and Hawaii. Roman was recognized by Tide coaches by winning the “Ozzie Newsome Most Improved Freshman” award following spring practice.
2001 Redshirted
Prep: At Prattville, Roman played quarterback and free safety his senior season. On defense, he finished the season with 58 tackles and four interceptions in limited playing time. Harper broke his leg his senior year. As a quarterback, he accounted for over 800 yards of offense and 13 touchdowns. He was an All-County, All-Metro, and Birmingham News All-State pick. Prattville finished 9-2 on the season. Harper was offensive MVP for the Lions and was also voted team captain.
Personal: The son of Princess and Ronald Harper, Roman has three brothers, Brian, Shai and Ronnie and one sister, Talia. Both of his parents graduated from Alabama State. Born 12-11-82. He is a Management major.
HARPER'S STATS
Year G T TFL Sacks Int. FC/FR PBU QBP
2002 12 42 1-1 2-11 0-0 2-1 2 0
2003 13 114 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-1 4 5
2004 12 77 7-33 1-15 3-26 1-2 4 1
2005 12 69 9-11 0.5-2 1-50 2-0 2 0
Totals 49 302 17-45 3.5-28 5-76 5-4 15 6
CAREER BESTS
Tackles: 18 vs. Arkansas, 2003
Quarterback Sacks: 2 several, last at Auburn, 2005
Yards Lost: 15 vs. Ole Miss, 2004
QB Sacks: 1 several, last vs. Ole Miss, 2004
Yards Lost: 15 vs. Ole Miss, 2004
Tackles for Loss: 1 vs. Ole Miss, 2002
Yards Lost: 1 vs. Ole Miss, 2002
Interception: 1 several, last vs. Utah St., 2005
Yards: 50 vs. Utah State, 2005
Longest: 50 vs. Utah State, 2005
QB Pressures: 2 vs. Miss. State, 2004
Pass Break-Ups: 2 vs. Ole Miss, 2004
Fumble Caused: 2 vs. Tennessee, 2005
Fumble Recovered: 1 several, last vs. Aub., 2004
Touchdowns: 1 vs. Hawaii, 2003 block FG ret.
DOUBLE-FIGURE TACKLE GAMES
2003
18 - Arkansas
14 - Georgia
13 - Northern Illinois
11 - Ole Miss
10 - Auburn
2004
14 - Minnesota
14 - Arkansas
11 - Ole Miss
