Attending his first American Sports and Performance Dietitians Association conference in 2012, Patriots head sports dietitian Ted Harper stumbled into an opportunity with New England. Fourteen seasons later, he returned to the conference to accept one of the ASPDA’s most prestigious honors.
Standing on a stage in Scottsdale, Arizona, at the American Sports and Performance Dietitians Association’s 17th annual conference, Ted Harper’s career with the New England Patriots came full circle.
It was at his first ASPDA conference in 2012 where he met former director of football/head coach administration Berj Najarian, who after three tries convinced Harper to interview with the Patriots. Now going on his 14th season as the team’s head sports dietitian, Harper was back at the conference to accept one of ASPDA’s most distinguished accolades.
“I’m not a big awards guy, but I knew how important this award was,” Harper told Patriots.com after accepting the ASPDA’s Excellence Award, which recognizes the highest quality of care to athletes and extraordinary dedication to the profession, on May 15.
“I was torn on whether I would attend because I’m a guy who wants to be in the facility every day I possibly can be to put the team first and be available to my guys. But the other part of me that won out knew that this is such a prestigious award within the field of sports nutrition and that it would be disrespectful if I didn’t show up.”
Before then, Harper never had such a direct platform to share words of wisdom gained only through extensive experience with elite athletes – whether they be those winning Super Bowls in the NFL or the heroes serving our country in the United States Army’s Special Operations Forces.
In an eight-minute speech, he shared the three ways every dietitian should go about building trust with their athletes and soldiers.
The principles were those he lived by when working with running back LeGarrette Blount to help him drop weight, with cornerback Stephon Gilmore to help alleviate his in-game cramping, or with running back Brandon Bolden to help him beat cancer.
“By being present, engaged, and consistent is how you build trust with all these people here in the building,” Harper shared. “That’s my mission.”
Originally from Shelbyville, Indiana, Harper was a multi-sport athlete growing up.
He hoped to play college sports one day, but after only receiving basketball offers for smaller Division III schools, he figured it would be more advantageous to attend a bigger school to get an education. Still, the idea of pursuing a path in sports nutrition wasn’t on his radar.
After his first year studying building and construction management at Purdue University, Harper landed an internship with his uncle in Laguna Beach, California, that likely came with a job offer upon his graduation.
As much as he loved his lifestyle, playing basketball and beach volleyball every day, Harper realized he hated the work.
Knowing he needed to pivot, and without telling anyone in his family, he called his advisor for some guidance. He missed sports, but didn’t know what options were available to him. At the time, sports nutrition was a niche field, with very few pro or collegiate sports teams employing dietitians. But once his advisor put that idea in his head, he never looked back.
Harper double-majored in dietetics as well as nutrition, fitness, and health. Then he went on to the University of Utah to earn double master’s degrees in exercise sport science and sports nutrition and worked with U.S. Speedskating as a strength and conditioning intern and sports nutrition consultant.
Finishing school, as he learned, would just be half the battle. Even with dual master’s degrees and experience working with Olympians.
“When I came out (of school) I applied to five big-time universities that are well known across the country, and all five of them told me no,” Harper said.
“It was somewhat of a humbling moment for me, but I didn’t hang my head.”
Harper moved back home to Indiana for the summer and worked at a Lifetime Fitness to make money and at least apply his education in practice. Around this time, the Obama Administration gave the military funding to hire contractors such as athletic trainers, physical therapists, and dietitians to outfit their units.
Harper sent his resume to recruiters, and soon after found himself moving to Alamogordo, New Mexico, to work with fighter pilots at Holloman Air Force Base. Harper impressed through his work with tactical athletes and advanced after just a few months.
“While I was there at the Holloman Air Force Base I ended up getting a call from another unit,” Harper said.
“They said they knew the work I’d done with fighter pilots and that my resume was perfect for them if I wanted to take the next step up within the military to work with Special Operation Forces. They loved me, hired me, and I had to get a top-secret government clearance to work within the unit. There, I worked with some of the coolest men and women – not just protecting our country – but coolest men and women in general. I thought I found my dream job because there was just one of me, you know? In that position there was just one tactical sports dietitian in the world.”
Harper was in awe of the soldiers he worked with.
He saw the level of time, effort, and sacrifice they had to put in to reach that level of the military, and how much physical and mental training they endured to support the United States to put the country first.
Harper knew he could potentially stay with the United States Army for the rest of his career and would probably be happy doing so. Still, in the back of his mind, he wondered if he might one day return to sports. He was torn, but more than content enough where he was than to seek out other opportunities.
Ultimately, the opportunity came to him while at his first ASPDA conference.
Members of the Patriots organization, including Najarian, were in the lobby holding interviews for a new sports dietitian. Harper was tapped on the shoulder to interview but politely declined. He felt it would be disrespectful to the men and women he was working for within the military to pursue a role in the NFL while he was on the job.
The Patriots were persistent, however, and continued to persuade him to meet with them each day of the conference.
Harper called his boss at the time, who is now the 13th Commander of the United States Special Operations Command, to get his blessing.
“I called my boss, General Fenton – at the time he was Colonel Fenton – just to tell him what was happening and keep him in the loop,” Harper said.
“I didn’t want to go behind his back, and he ended up telling me that if I was considering going back into sports in the future, that there’s no better opportunity to do that than with the New England Patriots. He was rooting me on and really wanted me to get the job, and if I did, his parting advice to me was to win as many games as we possibly could unless we were playing the Steelers. He is a Pittsburgh fan.”