Rodney Harrison

SS#37

Rodney Harrison was born on December 15, 1972 in Markham, Illinois. He was all-conference selection in football, basketball and track. Rodney Went to Western Illinois for college. Harrison holds the record for tackles by defensive back with 345 . He was voted All-America first-team selection in 1993. He majored in general studies. Rodney Harrison was drafted in the 5th round (145th overall) by the San Diego Chargers in the 1994 NFL Draft. He was released by the Chargers February, 27th 2003. The Patriots picked him up as a free agent on March 12, 2003. Rodney had big shoes to fill after they released Saftey Lawyer Milloy on September 4th, 2003. Harrison is the NFL's all-time leader in sacks by a defensive back with 27.5 sacks in his 11 seasons heading into 2005. Rodney has come up big in big situations. In his first super bowl he led the patriots with 9 tackles and a sack. The next year in the playoffs against Indianapolis he had 11 tackles a forced fumble which was recovered by Tedy Bruschi and an interception in the endzone with 4 seconds left. A week later against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC championship game Rodney had an 87 yard interception return for a touchdown and 9 tackles. In the 2004 Super bowl he had two key interceptions. One in the endzone and one with nine seconds left in the game to seal the win for the Patriots. He also had seven tackles and a sack. In week 3 of the 2005 season Rodney got injured and tore ligaments in his knee. He was placed on Injured Reserve and is out for the remainder of the season. He is greatly missed on the field but is working on getting better and coming back for next season.