Justin Vincent (born January 25, 1983) is a former

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

for the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He was signed by the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

in 2007. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

, and was the MVP of the 2004 BCS National Championship game. He helped beat the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...

with the Steelers in

Super Bowl XLIII Super Bowl XLIII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champions Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champions Arizona Cardinals to decide the National Football League (NFL) champ ...

, his only championship.

Early life

Vincent came to

LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

from Barbe High School in

Lake Charles, Louisiana Lake Charles is the List of municipalities in Louisiana, fifth-most populous city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and the county seat, parish seat of Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, Calcasieu Parish, located on Lake Charles (Louisiana), Lake Char ...

. There, he was a high school All-American at

and the

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

high school football player of the year.

College career

During his freshman year, Vincent began the season near the bottom of the depth chart. Joseph Addai was the starter and Shyrone Carey was the backup at the beginning of the season. Vincent, along with fellow freshmen Alley Broussard and Barrington Edwards, split time on the third string. But Vincent beat out his fellow freshmen for playing time, and by the middle of the season, Addai and Carey were injured. He was named the starter in week 7 against

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

, and never lost the job for the rest of the season. While

made its stretch run to the national championship, Vincent became the offensive leader. In

's final four games, he ran for 100 or more yards. This included a 201-yard, two touchdown performance in the

SEC Championship Game The SEC Championship Game is an annual American football game that has determined the Southeastern Conference's season champion since 1992. For its first 32 seasons, the championship game pitted the Eastern Division regular season champion again ...

against

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. His performance included an 87-yard touchdown run (the longest run in

history) and a 62-yard run. Then, in the 2004

Sugar Bowl The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in New Orleans, Louisiana. Played annually since January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in the country, surpassed only ...

against

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

, he ran for 117 yards and a touchdown. It included a 64-yard run from the first play from scrimmage, which helped set the tone for the game. Vincent was named the MVP of both the 2003

and the 2004

, and LSU won the 2003

BCS National Championship The BCS National Championship Game was a postseason college football bowl game, used to determine a national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), first played in the 1998 college football season as one of four desi ...

. He finished the 2003 season with 1,001 yards on 154 carries, and scored 10 touchdowns. Vincent's next three years at

were marked with inconsistency, fumbles and injury. He began 2004 as the starter, but eventually fell behind Joseph Addai and

Alley Broussard Alley Joseph Broussard III (born September 6, 1983) is an American former college football running back for the LSU Tigers and the Missouri Southern Lions. He was a part of LSU's 2003 team that won the BCS National Championship. Against Ole M ...

on the depth chart. He finished third on the team in rushing with 322 yards. In 2005, he moved back up to second string behind Joseph Addai after Alley Broussard injured his knee before the season. He finished the season with 488 yards rushing. However, Vincent suffered a serious knee injury at the end of the season in LSU's

Peach Bowl The Peach Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played annually in Atlanta, Georgia, since December 30, 1968. The first three Peach Bowls were played at Bobby Dodd Stadium, Grant Field on the Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia Tech c ...

victory over

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

. Vincent was the starting tailback for 5 games in the 2006 season, after recovering from his knee injury. However, his senior season was the least productive of his four years at LSU. He was part of a five-man running back rotation (which also included Jacob Hester, Broussard, Keiland Williams and Charles Scott), and he finished 6th on the team in rushing at the end of the regular season with 139 yards. He averaged 3.1 yards per carry, lowest among the five running backs. However, in the 2007

, he had his best game of the season, gaining 71 yards on 12 carries.

Professional career

Atlanta Falcons

Vincent was signed by the

on May 1, 2007, but on September 1, 2007, it was announced that he was cut from the Falcons final roster.

Pittsburgh Steelers

On October 4, 2007, he signed with the

as a member of the practice squad. Vincent was released from the Steelers' practice squad on October 24, 2008. He was re-signed to the practice squad on November 7. On February 6, 2009, he was re-signed by the Steelers to a future contract. He was waived on September 4. He re-joined the Steelers practice squad for a third straight season on September 6. He was released from the practice squad on November 24. He was re-signed to the practice squad on December 2. On January 6, 2010, he was signed to a reserve future contract. Vincent was released by the Steelers on September 3, 2010.

Post-football career

He currently works with the Tiger Athletic Foundation at LSU and is also the host of the Fox Sports program, Louisiana Sunday Kickoff.

References

External links

LSU Tigers bio

Pittsburgh Steelers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vincent, Justin 1983 births Living people Atlanta Falcons players LSU Tigers football players Pittsburgh Steelers players Players of American football from Lake Charles, Louisiana American football running backs