CLOSTER — Former New York Jets running back and resident of Closter, Bruce Harper, recently shared his story of athletic success and the difficult transition from his career as a professional football player. The Englewood native reflected on the responsibility of professional athletes as role models, especially from the perspective of an African-American. This is the first of a series of interviews Suburbanite will feature during Black History Month, highlighting the lives of prominent black community members.

Q: Growing up did you always want to be a professional football player? Did you envision that for yourself?

A: Oh [for Christmas or birthdays] everybody always knew to get something for me pertaining to football. I didn’t think specifically of professional football but I liked football. I was fascinated by what I saw on TV and I thought I could do what they were doing.

Q: How did you make the transition to professional football?

A: I wasn’t drafted. I went to Kutztown State College in Pennsylvania. The head coach of the Jets, his son was a freshman at Kutztown and I asked him every day to call his dad and get me a try out. His dad finally invited me up and said, "We’ll let you because of my son. I don’t think you’re gonna make it, but we’ll let you try."

Q: What was the experience of being a professional player like? Do you miss it?

A: It was a dream come true for me. I’ve been out 20-something years but what’s missing in my life is that feeling of being totally committed in a certain direction, physically and emotionally. I really felt alive. Nothing compares to that commitment of your total self. Even the injuries were good. (Laughing) Is that sick?

Q: What would you say to a young person who has aspirations of becoming a professional athlete? Especially given the fact that a career relying on athleticism is a short-lived one?

A: I would say still go for it. Dreams do come true. I made my dream come true. But you’ve got to be more than that. The same discipline I needed on the field is required in whatever you do in life. Now I know what it takes to be successful and success is not measured by how much money you make.

Q: How would you define success?

A: We have all been blessed with a lot of different talents, abilities and gifts. And success is finding those and developing them. That’s real success.

Q: What was your most memorable sports moment?

A: I remember the first time walking out on the field before a pre-season game started at the Meadowlands. I was in my street clothes and I walked out to see the field and I couldn’t believe it. I put my foot on the end zone and felt the ground and looked around. And I thought, "In a few minutes this place is going to be rocking with people watching me play football." And another time, when I scored a touchdown and everyone picked me up in the end zone and it was like we won the Super Bowl. I can relate to [that feeling] when you see someone hit a home run or score a touchdown and all their buddies are around them laughing. I remember my buddies would be laughing and holding my facemask and there’s nothing like it.

Q: So it’s like a natural high?

A: Yes. I tell kids you want to get high? Do this or do that, you’ll get high.

Q: You founded Heroes & Cool Kids. What is that program about?

A: I worked in a program like it on Long Island and I thought it was such a great idea I asked them to bring it over to New Jersey. And they didn’t, so I asked if I could and I did. We’re in our 10th year now and we train professional athletes to train high school kids to mentor sixth grade kids.

Q: Do you think professional athletes have a responsibility to the kids that may look up to them as role models?

A: Whether they like it or not they have it. I always felt I had a certain responsibility or accountability and some of that is innate. I majored in social welfare in college and got my degree in sociology. But a lot of people do not respond to that in the right way and unfortunately they are more in the limelight. There are a lot of good people in sports but you don’t know about what they are doing because it is not publicized.

Q: Speaking specifically as an African-American, what do you think that responsibility means to the youth of he black community who may look up to black professional athletes?

A: Black, white, any nationality we are all human and I am rooting for the human race. But black people have had certain things they have had to deal with. We were faced with a lot of oppression and it is still going on. My responsibility as a black man to the black youth is to be a good role model. I have to be sensitive to their needs and their needs may be different than white kids’ needs. I encourage them that there’s a way to do everything they want to do. And don’t tell me about your circumstances because we can overcome things. I give them hope that we can do it. We were all made for a purpose and I tell them not to miss out on what that is because of nonsense.

Q: How do you think football has changed over the years?

A: It is much more intense. The knowledge about what to eat and intake, how the equipment works, what medicine helps you recover, etc.

Q: Do you think this plays into the widespread problem of steroid use?

A: Yeah because where do you draw the line? The players are so much bigger and the game is so much faster. It is too bad that kids feel they can’t even compete unless they do that. And that is the direction the world is going in. It’s like acceptable cheating. What will it be like tomorrow? I can’t imagine.

Q: You are a member of the Northern Valley Evangelical Free Church. Has spirituality always been an important part of your life?

A: Oh yes. What else is there? All this other stuff is temporary. There is a place for football but it is not even close to my relationship with God. It is a matter of keeping things in their proper perspective.

Q: What do you think was the most important accomplishment of your career or your life post football?

A: I am really proud of the Heroes & Cool Kids program. We are really affecting communities or at least individuals. I see it on the faces of the kids when they come in and see the high school kids. Or I hear it in the malls when the parents or high school kids come up to me and say something.

Harper is currently involved in business development for Computer Design and Integration in Teterboro. The transition to "ordinary" life was a gradual one after he retired in 1985, but difficult nonetheless. He found a new focus, however, and with the help of his faith he has found fulfillment in being a positive influence on young people.