Early life

Harris grew up in Dixmoor, Illinois. He attended Lincoln Elementary School, Rosa L. Parks Middle School, and Thornton Township High School. He was a tri-star athlete and honor student. His father died his junior year of high school.

Harris was an honors student at Thornton Township High School in Harvey, Illinois and lettered in football and basketball. In football, he posted 23 sacks, 98 tackles, two fumble recoveries, 1 forced fumbles, two safeties, and one interception and was named the Defensive Player of the Year by the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, Star Publications, Daily Southtown, and the Hammond Times. Napoleon also averaged 18 points and 10 rebounds on the #1 basketball team in the country.

Harris enrolled at Northwestern University, where he played college football for the Northwestern Wildcats. For one year, he was a two sport athlete playing basketball. His complete college career ranked 11th on Northwestern's all-time tackles list with 334. All-Big Ten Conference as a senior after starting all 11 games at defensive end after moving from outside linebacker and ranked fourth on team in tackles with 78.

NFL career

Napoleon Harris

Napoleon Harris with the Kansas City Chiefs
No. 58, 50, 99
Position:	Defensive end
Personal information
Height:	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight:	250 lb (113 kg)
Career information
College:	Northwestern
NFL draft:	2002 / Round: 1 / Pick: 23
Career history
Oakland Raiders (2002-2004) Minnesota Vikings (2005-2006) Kansas City Chiefs (2007) Minnesota Vikings (2008) Oakland Raiders (2009)*
* Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career highlights and awards
AFC champion (2002) 2× Second-team All-Big Ten (2000-2001)
Career NFL statistics
Tackles: 481 Sacks: 8.5 Forced fumbles: 4 Player stats at NFL.com

Pre-draft measurables

Ht	Wt	Arm length	Hand size	40-yd dash	10-yd split	20-yd split	20-ss	3-cone	Vert	Broad	BP
6 ft 3 in	253 lb	32 in	10 in	4.55 s	1.60 s	2.64 s	4.44 s	7.15 s	34 in	9 ft 7 in	27 reps

Harris was drafted in the first round of the 2002 draft by the Oakland Raiders, the 23rd overall pick. That year he started 13 of 16 regular-season games, all three playoff games, and Super Bowl XXXVII for the Oakland Raiders and was named to the Pro Football Weekly All-Rookie team.

In 2005, Harris was acquired by the Minnesota Vikings as part of blockbuster trade which sent Randy Moss to Oakland for the seventh overall pick and a seventh-round pick in the 2005 NFL Draft. The Vikings used the picks to select wide receiver Troy Williamson and cornerback Adrian Ward. Despite being traded for one of the premier players in the National Football League, Harris did not immediately live up to his potential the following season with the Minnesota Vikings. In that first season with the Vikings, he was hampered with a lingering knee injury and saw limited playing time. However, in the second season he finished second on the team with 96 tackles, 3 interceptions, 3.5 sacks and 2 fumble recoveries in 14 games.

On March 6, 2007, Harris agreed to a six-year deal with the Kansas City Chiefs. Harris previously visited the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before meeting with Kansas City. The Chiefs released Harris on October 14, 2008. Just two days after his release from the Chiefs, Harris re-joined the Minnesota Vikings on October 16. Harris started in 5 of the 10 games he played and finished his second stint with the Vikings with 32 tackles and 1 sack, and also scored his first NFL touchdown after returning a fumble 27 yards in week 12 in Jacksonville. Despite a fairly good performance, the Vikings did not hold on to him.

In May 2008, Napoleon appeared on The CW Network series The Game. Harris signed a one-year contract with the Oakland Raiders on August 24, 2009 after the team released cornerback Ricky Manning, but was released five days later.

NFL stats

Years	Team	GP	COMB	TOTAL	AST	SACK	FF	FR	FR YDS	INT	IR YDS	AVG IR	LNG IR	TD	PD
2002	OAK	15	81	59	22	0.5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
2003	OAK	16	107	74	33	2.0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
2004	OAK	14	61	47	14	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
2005	MIN	15	25	18	7	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3
2006	MIN	14	59	42	17	2.5	1	0	0	3	20	7	11	0	4
2007	KC	16	116	82	34	1.5	1	0	0	1	4	4	4	0	3
2008	MIN	10	32	24	8	1.0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Career		100	481	346	135	8.5	5	1	0	4	24	6	11	0	15

Source: ESPN. Abbreviations key:

GP: games played COMB: combined tackles TOTAL: total tackles AST: assisted tackles SACK: sacks

FF: forced fumbles FR: fumble recoveries FR YDS: fumble return yards INT: interceptions IR YDS: interception return yards

AVG IR: average interception return LNG: longest interception return TD: interceptions returned for touchdown PD: passes defensed

Illinois Senate

After leaving the NFL, Harris returned to his hometown with his wife Nicole Bunton and their two sons where he became the owner of two Beggars Pizza locations.

In 2011, after Illinois State Senator James Meeks announced his retirement, Harris chose to run to succeed him in the 15th district on a platform of creating economic growth for the district. He won the 2012 primary with a plurality of the vote against two opponents, and ran in the general election unopposed.

Campaigns for higher office

In 2013, Harris ran for the congressional seat vacated by Jesse Jackson Jr., but dropped out after two months, endorsing Robin Kelly. In 2015, he announced his candidacy in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in 2016.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]