There simply is no catching FAMU’s LeRoy Vann. The defensive back and kick return specialist from Tampa breaks a record virtually every time he touches the ball. With two punt returns for touchdowns against Winston-Salem State University on Sept. 10, Vann set the FAMU record with five, besting former All-America returner Howard Huckaby who set a mark of four, all in 1988.
Vann takes the records in stride as he has other goals in mind. “I’m basically playing to achieve my goals, which are the team’s goals. I want to help my team with an MEAC championship and bring another national title home,” Vann said.
Vann’s success landed him at No.4 on the ESPN Top 10 Plays countdown on Friday, following their game on ESPN-U. Vann is proud of the recognition, but is quick to point out the blocking on the big plays. Vann said, “Our punt team blocks for me to score, because when I score, we’ve all scored.” The unselfish attitude flows down from head coach Joe Taylor.
Vann believes special teams is successful at FAMU because of the priority Taylor puts on it. At most schools, special teams is the after-thought of practice, but Vann credits the team’s success to Taylor’s approach. “He (Taylor) always puts special teams at the beginning of practice.
He says special teams could be the reason we win or the reason we lose. Nobody really wanted to be on special teams before, but now we take pride in our special teams,” Vann added. Taylor’s seriousness is underlined by his push to have former FAMU kicker Juan Vasquez hired full-time as the special teams coach.
Vann doesn’t feel the special teams’ accolades takes away from his defensive play because he continues to play just as hard at his defensive back post.
He doesn’t pay much attention to statistics either. “I didn’t know I was that close to setting the FAMU record. I really didn’t even know what the record was. If I don’t break records and we win, its what we set out to do,” Vann said.
Vann has no plans to decrease his efforts to break punt returns and kickoffs either, even though it isn’t as easy as he makes it look. “I just pick my spot and run as hard as I can. When I do that, my blockers do their thing and then I can break. And when I score, they score and it’s a big deal on our team,” Vann said.
FAMU’s Mr. Vann-tastic
