[3][4] Radu Jercan was born on 24 October 1945 in Popești-Leordeni, Romania, starting to play football in 1966 at Divizia B side, Dinamo Victoria București.
[2][4][5][6] One year later he signed with Argeș Pitești where on 20 August 1967 he made his Divizia A debut in a 2–0 home loss in front of Rapid București.
[2][7] In the 1971–72 season he formed a successful offensive trio with Nicolae Dobrin and Constantin Radu which helped Argeș win the first title in its history, Jercan scoring a personal record of eight goals in the 29 appearances given to him by coaches Titus Ozon and Florin Halagian, including a brace in Halagian's first game as coach, a 2–1 win over Rapid București.
[3][4][5][6] Radu Jercan played two friendly games at international level for Romania, making his debut under coach Gheorghe Ola in a 4–2 away victory against Morocco.
[1][13] After he ended his playing career, Jercan coached teams in the Romanian lower leagues such as Muscelul Câmpulung, Ș.N.