Tamarick Vanover (born February 25, 1974) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

. He played for the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

and the

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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) and the

Las Vegas Posse The Las Vegas Posse were a Canadian Football League (CFL) team, that played at the Sam Boyd Silver Bowl in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States, in the league's 1994 CFL season, 1994 season as part of the Canadian Football League in the United States ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL). During his time in the NFL, he primarily played as a kick and punt returner, returning 8 punts and kickoffs for a touchdown in his career.

College career

Vanover spent two seasons at

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

, where he was named a first-team All-American in 1992 as a freshman kick returner. He earned national recognition for his kick returns, returning 13 kickoffs for 523 yards and two touchdowns with a 40.2-yard average. He was named Atlantic Coast Conference Rookie of Year in 1992. Vanover had off-field problems and chose to turn professional after his junior year. He finished his collegiate career with 87 receptions for 1,123 yards in two seasons for Seminoles.

Professional career

Las Vegas Posse

The

, a CFL expansion franchise, signed Vanover as a marquee player in 1994. He played in 15 games, catching 23 passes for 385 yards with three touchdowns. He returned 31 kickoffs for 718 yards with a 90-yard touchdown return and added 36 punt returns for 341 yards with another (105-yard) touchdown return.

Kansas City Chiefs

When the Posse ceased operations after only a single season, Vanover set his sights on the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a 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 Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

for 1995, and was selected by the

. He began a 5-year stint with the Chiefs, playing 70 games, where he caught 39 passes for 564 yards, rushed for 88 yards, returned 181 punts for 1930 yards (a 10.2 average) and 4 touchdowns, and returned 226 kickoffs for 5422 yards (a 24.0 average) and 4 touchdowns. On October 9, 1995, in a home

Monday Night Football ''Monday Night Football'' (often abbreviated as ''MNF'') is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games that air on Monday nights. It originally ran on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from 1970 NFL season, 1970 t ...

game against the

, Vanover returned a punt 86 yards for a touchdown, to win the game for the Chiefs, 29-23 in overtime. It was the first time in NFL history that a game had been won, in overtime, on a punt return for a touchdown.

San Diego Chargers

He was signed by the

during the 2002 offseason, only playing one season for the team.

Off-field issues

His last season in Kansas City (1999) was successful on the field (as the league leader in punt return yardage and touchdowns), but marred by a range of problems off the field. He pled guilty to a felony charge of aiding and abetting in the sale of a stolen vehicle after agreeing to cooperate with federal authorities in their continuing investigation of drug-trafficking and stolen-vehicle rings. He was in the news again in March when the Chiefs, faced with having to pay Vanover a $750,000 roster bonus, renegotiated his contract. Finally, the Chiefs released him after federal authorities unsealed records showing he helped finance a

marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...

trafficking ring that involved former Chiefs running back

Bam Morris Byron ''Bam'' Morris (born January 13, 1972) is an American former professional football player who was a running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Chicago Bears, Baltimore Ravens, and the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL ...

. He served two months in prison. Vanover was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and health care fraud, two counts of wire fraud, and two counts of health care fraud by the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of Law of the Unite ...

on December 12, 2019. He pleaded not guilty to the charges. He was indicted on the same charges in a superseding case on July 24, 2020. In September 2021, the Department of Justice announced that Vanover had pleaded guilty and would be officially sentenced in January 2022. In January 2022, Vanover was sentenced to 1 year and a day in federal prison.

After football

In 2007, Vanover was the head coach of Lake City Christian Academy's football team. He returned to Florida State as a student, and worked as an assistant with the football team’s wide receivers in 2009.

Notes

References

* Doyel, Gregg
"From FSU to Lake City -- the life and times of Vanover"
''CBSSports.com'', July 12, 2007. Accessed November 7, 2007 * KC Chiefs Blog via Tallahassee Democrat
"Former Chief Tamarick Vanover Charged With Beating His Pregnant Girlfriend"
''KC Chiefs Blogs'', December 21, 2011. Accessed August 1, 2012

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vanover, Tamarick Florida State Seminoles football players Las Vegas Posse players Kansas City Chiefs players San Diego Chargers players American football return specialists American football wide receivers Living people 1974 births Players of Canadian football from Florida Players of American football from Tallahassee, Florida Leon High School alumni