| No. 32 | |||||||||||||
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| Position: | Running back, punt returner | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Born: | October 23, 1959 Passaic, New Jersey, U.S. | ||||||||||||
| Height: | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | ||||||||||||
| Weight: | 193 lb (88 kg) | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| High school: | DePaul Catholic (Passaic, New Jersey) | ||||||||||||
| College: | Virginia | ||||||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1981 / round: 5 / pick: 138 | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||
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Thomas J. Vigorito [1] (born October 23, 1959) is an American former football player. He was a running back and punt returner in the National Football League (NFL) for the Miami Dolphins (1981-1983, 1985). He played college football for the Virginia Cavaliers from 1977 to 1980.
Vigorito was born in 1959 in Passaic, New Jersey. He attended DePaul Catholic High School in Wayne, New Jersey. [2] He was a high school All-American who received scholarship offers from Notre Dame, Boston College, Duke, Purdue, Penn State, and Virginia. He chose Virginia. [3]
Vigorito played college football for the Virginia Cavaliers from 1977 to 1980. [2] He finished his career as Virginia's No. 2 rusher with 2,912 rushing yards. [4] [5]
Vigorito was selected by the Miami Dolphins in the fifth round, 138th overall pick, of the 1981 NFL draft. [2] He nearly signed with the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League, who offered him more money, but he opted to play for Don Shula. [4]
As a rookie in 1981, he was the Dolphins' No. 3 halfback behind Tony Nathan and Eddie Hill. He won the Tommy Fitzgerald Award as the Dolphins' outstanding rookie in training camp. [4] He appeared in 16 games, one as a receiver, tallying 33 receptions for 237 yards and 116 rushing yads on 35 carries for a 3.3 yard average. He also tallied 379 yards on 36 punt returns, an average of 10.5 yards per return, and set a Dolphins record with an 87-yard return on a nationally-telvised Thursday night game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. [2] [4]
In 1982, Vigorito appeared in nine games, one as a starter, tallying 24 receptions for 186 yards and 99 rushing yards on 19 carries. He also tallied 192 yards on 20 punt returns. [2]
In 1983, Vigorito appeared in only one game and tallied only one reception for seven yards. [2] He tore the ACL in his right knee on a punt return in the season opener of the 1983 season. He missed the rest of the 1983 season and the entire 1984 season. [2] [6] [7] [8] Vigorito returned to the Dolphins in 1985. He was used primarily as a punt returner, tallying 197 yards on 22 returns. [2]