Jordan Norwood

Jordan Shea Rashad Norwood (born September 29, 1986)[1] is a Filipino American former professional football wide receiver and punt returner who played eight seasons in the NFL. He was signed by the Cleveland Browns as an undrafted free agent in 2009. He played college football at Penn State.

Jordan Norwood
Norwood with the Denver Broncos
No. 11, 10
Position:Wide receiver
Return specialist
Personal information
Born: (1986-09-29) September 29, 1986
Honolulu, Hawaii
Height:5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight:180 lb (82 kg)
Career information
High school:State College Area
(State College, Pennsylvania)
College:Penn State
Undrafted:2009
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Receptions:79
Receiving yards:844
Receiving touchdowns:2
Return yards:384
Return touchdowns:0
Player stats at NFL.com

Norwood was also a member of the Philadelphia Eagles, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Denver Broncos. Norwood is the son of Navy co-defensive coordinator and former Penn State secondary coach Brian Norwood.[2]

College career
Jordan Norwood during his tenure at Penn State.

Norwood was lightly recruited out of State College Area High School. He received few scholarship offers and accepted Penn State's last minute offer over an offer from Bucknell to play football and basketball.[3] His leadership and jumping skills on the basketball court was what led coach Joe Paterno to offer him a football scholarship.[4]

In 2005, his freshman season, Norwood caught 32 passes for 422 yards with a 13.2 yard average.

Norwood's sophomore season concluded with him making the Dean's List and being named to the Academic All-Big Ten team. He caught 45 passes for 472 yards and 2 touchdowns with a 10.5 yard average. He joined the basketball team under Ed DeChellis in January, practicing regularly and appearing in four games as a reserve guard in his only season playing basketball.[2][5]

In his junior season, Jordan caught 40 balls for 484 yards and 5 touchdowns with a 12.1 yard average including catching a touchdown pass lying down on the ground versus Buffalo. He had a season high 8 catches for 65 yards and a touchdown in a 36-31 win over Indiana.[2]

Norwood earned all-Big Ten honorable mention honors as a senior, after catching 41 passes for 637 yards and six touchdowns. Norwood's eight-catch, 116-yard performance versus Oregon State on September 6, 2008 moved him past O. J. McDuffie into third place on Penn State's career reception list. Afterward, he was congratulated in person by McDuffie, who attended the game.[6] Norwood had a second consecutive 100 plus yard game on September 13, 2008 against the Syracuse Orange. He had 5 receptions for 113 yards and two touchdowns. Before the game against Illinois, Norwood injured his hamstring and didn't participate in the games against the Illini and the Boilermakers.

Professional career

Pre-draft

Norwood was invited to the 2009 NFL Scouting Combine where he measured a 38-inch vertical jump (sixth among wide receivers at the combine), ran 6.80 in the 3 cone drill (ninth among wide receivers at the combine), and 4.20 in the 20-yard shuttle (ninth among wide receivers at the combine).[7]

Pre-draft measureables
Height Weight 40-yard dash 10-yard split 20-yard split 20 ss 3-cone Vert Broad BP Wonderlic
5-10⅞ * 179 * 4.58 * 1.50 * 2.61 * 4.20 * 6.80 * 38" * 10'00" ** X 30 *
*At NFL Combine **At Penn State Pro Day

Cleveland Browns

After being undrafted in the 2009 NFL Draft, Norwood signed with the Cleveland Browns as an undrafted free agent on May 1, 2009.[8] He was waived by the Browns during final roster cuts on September 5, 2009.

Philadelphia Eagles

On September 23, 2009, Norwood was signed to the Philadelphia Eagles practice squad.[9] He was promoted to the active roster on December 1, 2009. He was waived on December 7.[10] On December 9, he was re-signed to their practice squad. He was re-signed to a three-year contract on January 11, 2010.[11] On March 18, Norwood changed his number from 84 to 19 after Hank Baskett was re-signed by the Eagles and took number 84 back. Norwood was waived on September 4.

Cleveland Browns (second stint)

Norwood was signed to the Cleveland Browns' practice squad on September 6, 2010. He was promoted to the active roster before Week 13 of the 2010 season. He was waived on August 25, 2013.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

On August 28, 2013, Norwood signed with the Buccaneers. On August 31, 2013, he was cut by the Buccaneers.[12]

Denver Broncos

Norwood signed with the Denver Broncos during the 2014 offseason. The Broncos placed Norwood on injured reserve on August 25, 2014 after he tore his ACL.[13] On February 7, 2016, Norwood was part of the Broncos team that won Super Bowl 50. In the game, the Broncos defeated the Carolina Panthers by a score of 24–10.[14] In the game, Norwood set a Super Bowl record for the longest punt return at 61 yards.[15] The return set up a field goal that put the Broncos up 13–7.

On March 23, 2016, Norwood signed a one-year contract with the Denver Broncos after drawing interest from the New York Jets and Detroit Lions.[16]

Retirement

On September 10, 2017, Norwood announced his retirement from the NFL.[17]

Personal life

Norwood earned a Bachelor of Arts in Advertising/Public Relations from Penn State in 2008.

Jordan has two younger brothers, Zaccariah and Levi, a younger sister Brianna, and an older brother, Gabe, who is a former member of the George Mason University basketball team that advanced to the 2006 NCAA Final Four and is currently playing for the Philippine National basketball team, Gilas Pilipinas, and the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in the Philippine Basketball Association. Levi played football for Baylor University.

Norwood was married on June 20, 2015 to Aleah Tebben. The couple had their first child, a girl named Franni Grace, on November 4, 2015.

References
  1. www.nfl.com
  2. "24 Jordan Norwood". Pennsylvania State University. Retrieved September 10, 2008.
  3. Bob Flounders. "Prelude to a blowout". PennLive.com. Archived from the original on May 22, 2011. Retrieved September 10, 2008.
  4. Neil Rudel. "Receivers' success is no passing fancy". Altoona Mirror. Retrieved September 14, 2008.
  5. "44 Jordan Norwood". Pennsylvania State University. Retrieved September 10, 2008.
  6. Vinny Pezzimenti. "Norwood becomes man in the clutch". Centre Daily Times. Retrieved September 10, 2008.
  7. "2009 NFL Scouting Combine: Top Performers". National Football League. Retrieved February 23, 2009.
  8. Thomas, Eric (April 27, 2007). "Ware finding his way with weight, Four Lions drafted on Sunday". The Sentinel.
  9. "Jordan Norwood signed to Eagles' practice squad". PennLive.com. Retrieved September 23, 2009.
  10. Spadaro, Dave (December 7, 2009). "Eagles Release WR Norwood". PhiladelphiaEagles.com. Archived from the original on December 12, 2009. Retrieved December 7, 2009.
  11. McPherson, Chris (January 11, 2010). "WRs Norwood, Collins Inked To New Deals". PhiladelphiaEagles.com. Archived from the original on January 14, 2010. Retrieved January 11, 2010.
  12. "Bucs Trim Roster to 53 for Regular Season". Buccaneers.com. August 31, 2013. Archived from the original on September 3, 2013. Retrieved September 5, 2013.
  13. Denver Broncos on Twitter: The Broncos today waived DT Cody Larsen and placed WR Jordan Norwood on IR to get to the league mandated 75-player roster limit.
  14. "Super Bowl 50 - Denver Broncos vs. Carolina Panthers - February 7th, 2016". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  15. "Jordan Norwood sets Super Bowl record with 61-yard punt return". www.denverbroncos.com. Archived from the original on April 20, 2016. Retrieved April 6, 2016.
  16. TEGNA. "Denver Broncos bring back Jordan Norwood". KUSA. Retrieved April 6, 2016.
  17. "Jordan Norwood, former Broncos WR/PR, announces retirement from NFL". DenverPost.com. September 10, 2017.
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