Haruki Nakamura

Haruki Robert Nakamura (中村春樹 Nakamura Haruki, ; born April 18, 1986) is an American football safety for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the sixth round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He played college football for the University of Cincinnati.

Early life
Nakamura's parents, Karen and Ryozo, were each competitive in international judo competitions. His mother is a fourth degree black belt, and his late father Ryozo was an eighth degree black belt. His brothers Mako and Yoshi were each international judo champions. Yoshi was a two-time Ohio state wrestling champion and also competed in the U.S. Olympic Trials. Nakamura's sister, Kimi, was a national champion in judo.

Nakamura attended St. Edward High School, an all-boys Catholic high school on the Cleveland's west side. He played football, playing both wide receiver and defensive back. In 2003, he was instrumental in the team's runner-up finish in the Ohio Division I "big school" playoffs. He earned second-team "All-Ohio" honors as a defensive back in his senior season. He graduated in 2004.

He attended the University of Cincinnati, where he majored in Criminal Justice. He played college football for the Bearcats, playing free safety and on special teams. He earned first-team "All-Big East" honors.

On April 26, 2008, he was drafted by the Ravens in the sixth round of the 2008 NFL Draft, the 206th player overall.

Baltimore Ravens
Haruki Nakamura was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens of the NFL in the 2008 NFL Draft. Nakamura had 12 tackles in 16 games of the 2008 season.

On January 10, 2009, Nakamura recorded a career high five tackles in the Baltimore Ravens 13-10 upset of the AFC's top-seeded Tennessee Titans.

On November 16, 2009, Nakamura was injured on the opening kickoff of a Monday Night Football game versus the Cleveland Browns in his hometown of Cleveland. He suffered a broken right ankle attempting to make a tackle on special teams. Two days later, he was placed on the injured reserve list, ending his season.

In the 2010 Preseason Nakamura has shown the signs of having a breakout season as evidenced in the pre-season week-three game against the New York Giants. Nakamura not only caught an interception that Coach John Harbaugh described as being “as good a play as you’re ever going to see,” “I don’t know how he came up with the ball. He’s just a tremendous athlete. He’s a football player, through and through.” Nakamura also sacked the Giants' quarterback for a loss in that same game. He also returned a fake kickoff against the Washington Redskins. Nakamura had 24 tackles in 2010 after just four before the injury in 2009.

In a Week 4 game against the St. Louis Rams in 2011, Nakamura was injured and missed a month.

Carolina Panthers
Nakamura signed with the Carolina Panthers on March 16, 2012. On November 9, Nakamura was fined $21,000 for striking a defenseless player in the head/neck area against the Washington Redskins in Week 9.

Personal life
On June 25, 2011 Nakamura married Jamie Pentaudi in Ocean City, MD.