Children from a youth football team surrounded Florida A&M's Leroy Vann seeking an autograph from the star of the inaugural HBCU Bowl all-star game. Like he did in Saturday's game at Cramton Bowl, Vann didn't disappoint. Vann returned a punt 81 yards for a first-quarter touchdown to highlight the East's 26-21 win over the West and patiently worked through the autograph-seeking mass afterward. "It's like this when I'm home in Tallahassee," Vann said. "If I go anywhere, it's the same way."
Vann, who returned five punts for touchdowns this season and is the NCAA record holder for career return TDs, was the most valuable player Saturday due to his one spectacular play. Because of his resume, the East expected Vann to do it. He had eight career punt returns and three kickoff returns for touchdowns. "He's been making returns like that for the last couple years," East coach Joe Taylor of FAMU, who had nine of his players on the East team. "We had a little orange and green flavor out there. "It was great to coach all of them for one last time."
Photo Gallery: East wins HBCU Bowl
East beats West in HBCU Bowl
MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- Florida A&M's Leroy Vann got the first HBCU Bowl all-star game off to a fast start Saturday. Vann returned a punt 81 yards for a first-quarter touchdown to highlight the East's 26-21 win over the West. "This was a great opportunity for us to show what we can do and I hope a great experience for the fans, too," Vann said. "We showed that black colleges have talent, too."
Vann returned five punts for touchdowns this season and holds the NCAA record for career return TDs. He returned eight punts and three kickoffs for touchdowns in his career. "That's just who he is," East coach Joe Taylor of Florida A&M said. "He's been making returns like that for the last couple years." East quarterback Dennis Brown of Norfolk State threw for 117 yards and a touchdown. Lamarcus Coker of Hampton caught a 33-yard TD pass late in the second quarter to give the East a 19-14 lead. Early in the fourth quarter, Devan James of Morgan State scored on a 4-yard run to give the East a 26-14 lead. Coker finished with a game-high 82 yards receiving on three catches.
Doug Williams, director of professional scouting for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, warns HBCU Bowl players of harsh reality that everyone will not make the NFL -- "Somebody's got to coach, somebody teach, somebody's got to be the governor, somebody's got to be a lawyer, and somebody's got to pick up the trash,"Williams said. "They're all paying and in this economy, a job is a job." Doug Williams warns players of harsh reality
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Hours before the players who competed in the Russell Athletics Senior Bowl had their first practice for Saturday's game, Doug Williams laid down the harsh truth. Please, understand that his audience was made up mostly of the 80-plus players who came here hoping to impress professional scouts. "Everybody in this room is not going to play in the National Football League," said Williams, the first black quarterback to win a Super Bowl. "That's a fact." In other words, all the players in this inaugural all-star game had was an opportunity to make their case. At least a handful of them have proven they deserve an invitation to the NFL combine in February. Williams delivered those words of warning as a guest speaker at a banquet to recognize the players who made up the East and West teams. He didn't have notes. He didn't need any.
FAMU's LeRoy Vann is MVP of HBCU all-star game
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — As Florida A&M's LeRoy Vann waited for the high punt to land in his arms, the crowd at Cramton Bowl was almost hushed Saturday afternoon. He ran it back 10 yards and the cheers went up. He crossed the 50-yard line and suddenly the inaugural Russell Athletics Senior Bowl became Vann's personal show with an 81-yard return for a touchdown that helped the East team give FAMU coach Joe Taylor a 26-21 victory over the West. But while Vann was spectacular, the crowd didn't get an opportunity to see the Rattlers' heralded quarterback Curtis Pulley on the field. He aggravated a groin injury that slowed him during the final weeks of the regular season and Taylor elected to sit him out.
FAMU's Taylor has a reunion with Hampton players
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Saturday wasn't just a historic occasion for Joe Taylor as one of the coaches in the first Russell Athletics Senior Bowl. It was an emotional reunion for him and three of the four players from Hampton University who played for the East team. Taylor came to FAMU from Hampton just before offensive linemen Ryan Cave and Nocolas Royal and running back Lamarcus Coker entered their junior year. Brandon Roundtree, the fourth Hampton player on the East squad, transferred from West Los Angeles Community College after Taylor left to become the Rattlers' head coach. The week they spent with Taylor as their coach was a bit of deja vu, Cave said. "It's the same thing all over again," he said. "It's just like he never left. It's really never about just football with Coach Taylor. He always taught us about life; to be successful doing something that makes you happy."
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