Norwood Vann

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Norwood Vann
No. 51, 50
Position: Linebacker
Personal information
Born: (1962-02-18) February 18, 1962 (age 62)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Height:6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight:228 lb (103 kg)
Career information
College: East Carolina
NFL draft: 1984  / Round: 10 / Pick: 253
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career NFL statistics
Fumble recoveries:7
Safeties:1
Player stats at PFR

Norwood Vann (born February 18, 1962) [1] is a former American football player who played five National Football League (NFL) seasons with the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Raiders in the early 1980s.

Contents

College career

A member of the famed 1983 East Carolina Pirates, in his Senior year, Vann started at tight end [2] and earned the team's "Clutch Player Award". [3]

Professional career

Drafted by the Rams in the 10th round with the 253rd pick of the 1984 NFL draft. Vann played five NFL seasons as a backup and special teams linebacker, tying for the league lead in safeties in his 1984 rookie year with one. Vann recovered seven fumbles over his four years with the Rams and then became a Los Angeles Raider in 1988. He played one game for the Raiders and later was involved in the Buffalo Bills organization but did not play for the Bills.

Let's Ram It

During his professional career, Vann made an energetic appearance in the 1986 Rams' promotional video, Let's Ram It by "The Rammers", [4] [5] in which he is one of the first five featured soloists, along with Jackie Slater, Nolan Cromwell, Gary Jeter, and Dennis Harrah. Following Jeter's segment, Vann's verse went: "This is limousine Woody, my moves are like dreams, they call me the demon on the special teams. I know how to rock from the toes to the head, when I pull the trigger, I'll knock you dead", leading into Dennis Harrah's "Mountain Man"-themed verse.

Vann, possibly due to his athletic dance moves, was also featured prominently as one of the five players in the front line during the song's chorus segments, alongside NFL Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson, 4-time Pro Bowler Nolan Cromwell, and 2-time Pro Bowlers David "Big Daddy" Hill and LeRoy Irvin, all players with considerably longer and more successful NFL careers than Vann.

Post-NFL

Following his release from the Bills organization, Vann played in the CFL for the Toronto Argonauts for several seasons, before retiring and returning to East Carolina to complete his undergraduate degree in Communications in 1995. [6]

In 1999, following the completion of his playing career, college teammate Reggie Branch compared some of his Washington Redskins Super Bowl-winning teammates to those at East Carolina, mentioning Vann specifically by name. [7]

In 1999, Vann was also inducted into the East Carolina Pirates hall of fame.

Now currently resides in Virginia and works for the South Boston Dollar General Distribution Plant as shipping supervisor.

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References

  1. ↑ "Norwood Vann Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com .
  2. ↑ "That '83 Team - Ed Emory Sidebar". www.bonesville.net. Archived from the original on August 3, 2004.
  3. ↑ "Hall of Fame - East Carolina University - Official Athletic Site". ecupirates.cstv.com. Archived from the original on December 25, 2007.
  4. ↑ "Ram IT (NFL Rams Football Team) Song". Archived from the original on September 5, 2014. Retrieved April 17, 2018– via YouTube.
  5. ↑ Patrin, Nate (February 12, 2016). "Revisiting "Let's Ram It," The L.A. Rams' Ode to… Ramming". Vice . Retrieved April 17, 2018.
  6. ↑ "Hall of Fame - East Carolina University - Official Athletic Site". ecupirates.cstv.com. Archived from the original on December 25, 2007.
  7. ↑ "Pirate Time Machine: Reggie Branch". Archived from the original on April 8, 2007. Retrieved February 24, 2009.
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