Duron Harmon

Duron Harmon (born January 24, 1991) is an American football safety for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL). Harmon was nicknamed "The Closer" by fans and media for his ability to come up with late, game-sealing interceptions.[1][2][3] He was drafted by the New England Patriots in the third round of the 2013 NFL Draft. He played college football at Rutgers.

Duron Harmon

Harmon with the Patriots in 2014
No. 26 – Detroit Lions
Position:	Safety
Personal information
Born:	January 24, 1991 Magnolia, Delaware
Height:	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight:	205 lb (93 kg)
Career information
High school:	Caesar Rodney (Camden, Delaware)
College:	Rutgers
NFL Draft:	2013 / Round: 3 / Pick: 91
Career history
New England Patriots (2013–2019) Detroit Lions (2020–present)
Roster status:	Active
Career highlights and awards
3× Super Bowl champion (XLIX, LI, LIII) First-team All-Big East (2012)
Career NFL statistics as of 2020
Total tackles: 239 Forced fumbles: 1 Fumble recoveries: 3 Interceptions: 19 Pass deflections: 32 Player stats at NFL.com
Player stats at PFR

Early years

Harmon was raised in Magnolia, Delaware. He attended Caesar Rodney High School in Camden, Delaware, and played high school football for the Caesar Rodney Riders.[4]

College career

While attending Rutgers University, Harmon played for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team from 2009 to 2012.[5] Following his senior season in 2012, he was a first-team All-Big East Conference selection at safety[6] and participated in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl.

Professional career

Coming out of Rutgers, Harmon was not one of the 60 defensive backs to receive an invitation to the NFL Scouting Combine. On March 13, 2013, he was one of 17 prospects to attend Rutger's Pro day. Harmon performed all of the required combine and positional drills for scouts and team representatives from all 32 NFL teams. At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Harmon was projected to be a seventh round pick or undrafted free agent by NFL draft experts and scouts. He was ranked the 16th best strong safety prospect in the draft by DraftScout.com.[7]

Pre-draft measurables

Height	Weight	Arm length	Hand size	40-yard dash	10-yard split	20-yard split	20-yard shuttle	Three-cone drill	Vertical jump	Broad jump	Bench press
6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	196 lb (89 kg)	30 ^3⁄4 in (0.78 m)	9 ^3⁄4 in (0.25 m)	4.51 s	1.60 s	2.67 s	4.40 s	7.02 s	36 in (0.91 m)	10 ft 5 in (3.18 m)	15 reps
All values from Rutger's Pro Day[7]

2013

The New England Patriots selected Harmon in the third round, (91st overall) of the 2013 NFL Draft. He was the second defensive back selected by the Patriots in 2013, along with Logan Ryan (84th overall).[8] The selection of Harmon by the Patriots in the third round surprised many draft evaluators and analysts and was seen as a reach. When his selection was announced, ESPN and the NFL Network failed to play his college highlights as typically done with draft announcements since they weren't expecting him to be drafted.[9][10]

On May 15, 2013, the New England Patriots signed Harmon to a four-year, $2.711 million contract that included a $533,600 signing bonus.[11]

Throughout training camp, he competed against Adrian Wilson, Steve Gregory, and Tavon Wilson for the job as the starting strong safety after it was left vacant by the departure of Patrick Chung.[12] Head coach Bill Belichick named Harmon the backup strong safety behind Steve Gregory to start the regular season.[13]

He made his professional regular season debut in the New England Patriots' Week 2 matchup against the New York Jets and made one tackle in their 13-10 victory. In Week 8, he deflected a pass and made his first career interception off Ryan Tannehill in their 27-17 victory against the Miami Dolphins. The following week, he recorded four combined tackles, deflected a pass, and returned an interception by Ben Roethlisberger for 42-yards during their 55-31 victory against the Pittsburgh Steelers. On November 18, 2013, Harmon earned his first career start in place of Steve Gregory who suffered an injured finger earlier in the week. He made three solo tackles in the Patriots' 24-20 loss at the Carolina Panthers. The following week, he made his second consecutive start the following week and recorded a season-high 11 combined tackles during their 34-31 win against the Denver Broncos.[14] He finished his rookie season in 2013 with 31 combined tackles (24 solo), four pass deflections, and two in 15 games and three starts.[15]

2014

Entering training camp in 2014, Harmon was slated to be the starting strong safety after the departure of Steve Gregory.[16] He competed against Kanorris Davis and Patrick Chung and ultimately lost the job to Chung and was relegated to backup strong safety.[17]

In Week 6, Harmon recorded a season-high three combined tackles during a 37-22 win at the Buffalo Bills. On December 14, 2014, Harmon returned an interception by Ryan Tannehill for 60-yards as the Patriots defeated the Miami Dolphins 41-13. In the divisional round of the 2014 playoffs, Harmon intercepted Joe Flacco's pass with less than two minutes remaining in the game allowing the Patriots to hold onto a 35–31 win over the Baltimore Ravens.[18] "That’s the biggest pick of my life,” Harmon said after the game. Harmon and the Patriots would go on to win Super Bowl XLIX over the Seattle Seahawks.[19]

2015–2016

In the 2015 and 2016 seasons, Harmon was mainly used as the Patriots' third safety alongside Devin McCourty and Patrick Chung primarily in nickel and dime packages.

In the Divisional Round of the 2016 playoffs, Harmon intercepted Houston Texans' quarterback Brock Osweiler—after fellow Rutgers alums Devin McCourty and Logan Ryan each had picks of their own—in a 34–16 victory.[20] On February 5, 2017, Harmon won his second career Super Bowl championship as the Patriots won Super Bowl LI. In the game, he had three tackles the Patriots defeated the Atlanta Falcons by a score of 34–28 in overtime. The game featured the largest comeback in Super Bowl history as the Patriots trailed by 25 points in the third quarter.[21][22]

2017

On March 9, 2017, Harmon, who was a free agent at the time, signed a four-year contract worth a maximum of $20 million to remain with the Patriots.[23][24] The deal included a $5 million signing bonus and $1.5 million in guaranteed salary.[25] On September 5, 2017, Harmon was named a Patriots captain for the first time in his career.[26]

On December 17, 2017, during Week 15 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Harmon made the game-sealing interception as the Patriots won 27–24, allowing them to clinch the AFC East.[27] The interception was his fourth of the 2017 season, and his third in the final two minutes of a game.[28] The Patriots would go on to have Home field advantage throughout the playoffs and make Super Bowl LII. In the Super Bowl, Harmon recorded 5 tackles and 1 interception in a losing effort to the Philadelphia Eagles.

2018

Harmon switched his jersey number from No. 30 to No. 21 with the arrival of Jason McCourty. Harmon finished the 2018 season with 38 tackles, 4 interceptions, and 4 passes defensed. He helped the Patriots reach Super Bowl LIII where they beat the Los Angeles Rams 13-3.[29]

2019

In week 6 against the New York Giants, Harmon recorded his first interception of the season off Daniel Jones and returned it for 27 yards in the 35-14 win.[30]

Detroit Lions

On March 18, 2020, the Patriots traded Harmon along with a seventh-round draft pick in 2020 to the Detroit Lions in exchange for the Seattle Seahawks’ fifth-round 2020 draft pick.[31]

In Week 3 against the Arizona Cardinals, Harmon recorded his first interception as a Lion during the 26–23 win.[32]

NFL career statistics

Legend
	Won the Super Bowl
Bold	Career high

Regular season

Year	Team	Games		Tackles				Interceptions						Fumbles
		GP	GS	Comb	Solo	Ast	Sack	Int	Yds	Avg	Lng	TD	PD	FF	FR	Yds
2013	NE	15	3	31	24	7	0.0	2	44	21.0	42	0	4	0	0	0
2014	NE	16	0	12	8	4	0.0	1	60	60.0	60	0	1	0	1	–1
2015	NE	16	5	20	14	6	0.0	3	50	16.7	30	0	5	0	0	0
2016	NE	16	4	29	24	5	0.0	1	0	0.0	0	0	2	1	1	0
2017	NE	16	3	23	16	7	0.0	4	12	3.0	12	0	7	0	0	0
2018	NE	16	6	38	32	6	0.0	4	0	0.0	0	0	4	0	1	4
2019	NE	16	8	22	19	3	0.0	2	27	13.5	27	0	5	0	0	0
Career		111	29	175	137	38	0.0	17	193	11.4	60	0	28	1	3	3

[33]

Legal troubles

On March 24, 2018, it was revealed that Harmon had possession of marijuana while landing at Costa Rica. Harmon was detained and denied entry, being sent back to the United States after marijuana and paraphernalia were found in his luggage. About 58 grams of marijuana was found inside a can of iced tea, three pipes with cannabis oil, a THC candy, and four glass containers with compressed marijuana that weighed 4.3 grams. Harmon was not arrested, but was instead sent back.[34]

References

1. https://nesn.com/2017/12/how-patriots-safety-duron-harmon-always-seems-to-make-game-closing-plays/
2. Kyed, Doug (February 6, 2017). "Duron Harmon Predicted Patriots Would Have Greatest Comeback In Super Bowl History". nesn.com. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
3. Patriots, New England (December 17, 2017). "A postgame shoutout from The Closer, @dharm32. #NotDonepic.twitter.com/YvbPevapfP". @Patriots. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
4. Frank, Martin. "For Delaware's Duron Harmon, effort equals excellence". Delaware Online. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
5. "Duron Harmon College Stats". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
6. Luicci, Tom. "Rutgers' Duron Harmon, an all-Big East pick, pleased opposing coaches find him daunting". NJ.com. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
7. "Duron Harmon, DS #16 SS, Rutgers". DraftScout.com. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
8. "2013 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
9. Reiss, Mike (September 10, 2017). "Duron Harmon's improbable rise from 'nobody' draft pick to Patriots captain". ESPN.com. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
10. "Disrespected on draft day, Harmon knew he could reach this point". nbcsports.com. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
11. Associated Press, "Patriots sign Duron Harmon, former Rutgers safety drafted in 3rd round," The Washington Post (May 15, 2013). Retrieved May 16, 2013.
12. Kyed, Doug (August 27, 2013). "Adrian Wilson, LeGarrette Blount, Ras-I Dowling Competing in Top 5 Position Battles Thursday in Patriots-Giants Game". NESN.com. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
13. "Ourlads.com: New England Patriots Depth Chart: 09/05/2013". Ourlads.com. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
14. "NFL Player stats: Duron Harmon (2013)". NFL.com. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
15. "NFL Player stats: Duron Harmon (career)". NFL.com. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
16. Frenz, Erik. "Duron Harmon Proves He Can Make Big Plays For Patriots Defense". Boston.com. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
17. "Ourlads.com: New England Patriots Depth Chart: 10/01/2014". Ourlads.com. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
18. "Divisional Round - Baltimore Ravens at New England Patriots - January 10th, 2015". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
19. Cox, Zack (January 10, 2015). "Duron Harmon: Interception Of Joe Flacco Was 'Biggest Pick Of My Life'". NESN.com.
20. Kyed, Doug (January 15, 2017). "Logan Ryan Leads 'Big Day For Rutgers' As Patriots DBs Stand Out In Win". NESN.com. Retrieved February 26, 2017.
21. "Super Bowl LI - New England Patriots vs. Atlanta Falcons - February 5th, 2017". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved September 2, 2017.
22. "Super Bowl LI - National Football League Game Summary" (PDF). National Football League. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 7, 2017. Retrieved August 6, 2017.
23. "New England Patriots free agents: S Duron Harmon re-signs on four-year deal". masslive.com. Retrieved April 15, 2017.
24. "Patriots re-sign S Duron Harmon; Sign TE Michael Williams". Patriots.com. March 10, 2017. Archived from the original on March 11, 2017. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
25. "Duron Harmon's four-year Pats deal includes $5 million signing bonus". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 22, 2017.
26. Kyed, Doug (September 5, 2017). "Patriots Name Seven 2017 Captains, Including Two First-Timers". NESN.com. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
27. "Duron Harmon picks off Ben Roethlisberger to give Patriots win". 247 Sports. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
28. "How Patriots Safety Duron Harmon Always Seems To Make Game-Closing Plays". NESN.com. December 18, 2017. Retrieved December 22, 2017.
29. https://www.nbcsports.com/boston/patriots/tom-brady-had-priceless-reaction-duron-harmons-super-bowl-parade-attire
30. "Patriots force 4 turnovers, beat Giants 35-14 to reach 6-0". www.espn.com. October 10, 2019. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
31. "Lions acquire S Duron Harmon via trade with New England Patriots". DetroitLions.com. March 18, 2020.
32. "Detroit Lions at Arizona Cardinals - September 27th, 2020". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
33. "Duron Harmon Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 16, 2020.
34. "Duron Harmon detained in Costa Rica for alleged marijuana possession". NFL. Retrieved March 24, 2018.

External links

• Rutgers Scarlet Knights bio