What happened to Napo?

They said he was playing, but the guy who they said was him kinda disappeared during the game...

You remember Napo - Napoleon Harris?

That linebacker turned defensive at Northwestern who wore #5 a few years ago?

He was a powerful force for the Wildcats - a communications major who graduated in 4 years and got big enough his 5th year at NU to play Defensive End. Drafted in the first round, a rare thing for an NU Wildcat, he earned a starting job on the Oakland Raiders.

OK, I was a little miffed when he didn't say he was from Northwestern during the introductions, but Al Michaels on the TV certainly didn't forget the Wildcats. [The whole thing appears to be something cooked up by some of the Illinois players - a former Illini said he was from the "school of hard knocks."]

Early in the game, Harris was all over the place, blitzing, shutting down the run. The Bucaneers even tried the play with Joe Jurevicious over the middle that burned another former NU linebacker Barry Gardner last week, and Napo almost bit, but he made the tackle and it wasn't nearly as big a completion.

He got trapped trying to stuff the run on one of the Bucs TDs in the 2nd quarter, and then he was gone.

Its too bad. The Bucaneers got their running game going after he was gone, and you wonder if his agressive play from the first half would have made a difference in the second.

Most NFL players never get to play in a Super Bowl, Harris was the first Wildcat in the game since Bob Christian played for the Falcons a few years back. I just hope Napo didn't start a trend among former NU linebackers; minimizing their years up in Evanston.

-- da Coach
 

Go Cats - Beat 'em All!

Talk about it on the Purple Boards
[Click Here]
The Basketball Schedule is here

All Materials Copyright 2003: PurpleWildcats.com