In one embodiment, a system for integrating data and header protection in tape recording includes a processor and logic adapted to: provide a data array organized in rows and columns, each row of the data array including four interleaved C1 codewords (CWI-4), add a header to each row of the data array, each header including a CWI-4 Designation (CWID) which indicates a location of the CWI-4 within the data array, calculate ECC parity for at least one C1 codeword in each of the headerized rows, and modify the headerized rows to include the ECC parity, wherein each modified row includes four interleaved codewords, at least one codeword being a C1′ codeword which includes ECC parity for a data portion of a C1 codeword and a portion of a header, wherein none of the CWIDs are split across multiple C1′ codewords in a single modified row.