NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Nick Harper immediately noticed the difference.
The Tennessee Titans' veteran cornerback had tired of dealing with contacts to correct his farsightedness. So, he decided to have eye surgery to correct a vision problem he estimates might have cost him 20 or so interceptions over his eight-year NFL career.
"They sat me up (after the surgery), I could see instantly. Instantly," Harper said Wednesday. "There was a clock in front of me. That's how I know. When I laid down, that clock was blurry. When I sat up, I could see it."
Harper said he used to strain to watch television in bed. After the surgery, he said "it felt like I had HD."
How much Harper's improved vision helps him on the field remains to be seen, and he won't estimate how many more interceptions it might bring. He did pick off a pass from backup quarterback Patrick Ramsey during a drill Wednesday.
"I've got to get those balls thrown my way again," Harper said. "Right now, everything is working. We'll see in game time."
Harper, who turns 35 on Sept. 10 when the Titans open the 2009 season at Pittsburgh, picked off two passes in 2008, the lowest total for any of the Titans' four defensive backs. Safety Michael Griffin had seven interceptions, All-Pro cornerback Cortland Finnegan five and Pro Bowl safety Chris Hope four.
Harper said he first mentioned his vision to trainers in Indianapolis, where he started his NFL career in 2001, and believed he was brushed off. He finally couldn't take anymore and went to an eye doctor, who prescribed him contact lenses.
"It was like being in another world in games," Harper said.
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Contacts aren't for everyone. Harper would sleep while wearing his and found the lenses dried up, making them uncomfortable and tougher to see. Harper also hated taking out the contacts and putting them back in again. The boxes of lenses started piling up at home, with Harper buying them but not using them.
"A lot of maintenance, and I'm low-maintenance, so the contacts and I weren't working," he said.
So Harper didn't wear them last season, not even once during a game.
"Hopefully, this will make things better," said Harper, who is in the last year of his current contract.
Titans coach Jeff Fisher, himself a former NFL defensive back, said cornerbacks all have balls they believe they should have caught. He also said no player puts himself on the field without taking advantage of everything possible to be productive.
"If he chose not to wear the contacts, he felt he was better without them than he was with them," Fisher said of Harper. "When you've got a guy who can benefit from Lasik surgery and correct the vision, you might as well take advantage of it."
Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press
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