Top 50 Cal Pros: No. 37 -- Ken Harvey Collected 89 Sacks, 4 Pro Bowls

The linebacker had 2 or more sacks in a game 18 times, including a career-best of 4

Ken Harvey / Manny Rubio-Imagn Images

We are counting down Cal’s top 50 athletes based on their careers as post-collegiate professionals. Their performance as Golden Bears is not factored into the rankings.

37. KEN HARVEY

Years at Cal: 1986 to 1987

Sport: Football

Pro teams: Phoenix Cardinals, Washington Redskins (Commanders)

Age: 60

Hometown: Austin, Texas

Why we ranked him here: A 6-foot-2, 237-pound linebacker, Harvey was the 12th pick in the first round of the 1988 NFL draft by the Phoenix. He played six seasons for the Cardinals, totaling 437 tackles including 47.5 sacks. Harvey went to Washington as a free agent before the 1994 season, signing a four-year, $11 million contract, the second-largest in franchise history at the time. He played the final five seasons of his career in the nation’s capital, collecting a career-high 13.5 sacks in 1994, when he earned the first of four consecutive Pro Bowl invites. He was a second-team All-Pro selection in both ’94 and ’95. Harvey retired after the 1998 campaign, boasting career numbers of 828 tackles, 89 sacks, 15 forced fumbles and 11 fumble recoveries. He had two or more sacks in a game 18 times, including four vs. the New York Giants in 1997. In 2002, Harvey was named one of the Washington franchise’s 70 greatest players and inducted into their Ring of Fame.

Ken Harvey at Cal / Photo courtesy of Cal Athletic

At Cal: Harvey took an unlikely road to Cal from Lanier High School in Austin, Texas. He dropped out of school for a semester as a junior after his coach called him a loser, according to a 1995 Sports Illustrated story. In the meantime, he worked as a cook at the local McDonald’s, earning $3.25 an hour. He didn’t play football as a senior and, as a result, received little recruiting attention. He landed at Laney JC in Oakland, where he showed his football potential and developed belief in himself. "Then I knew I had a chance to do anything,” he said. He played two seasons at Cal, earning first-team All-Pac-12 honors as a senior in 1987. He was named MVP of the Senior Bowl all-star game. 

Other: Since retiring as a player, Harvey has worked as a keynote speaker and fitness trainer for space travelers, and has written a video sports column for the Washington Post and authored several children’s books.

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