Vincenzo Ciurciu (born May 2, 1980) 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 ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

in 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

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

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 2003. 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 ...

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

. Ciurciu was also member of the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

and

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

Early life

Ciurciu played high school football at

Saint Joseph Regional High School Saint Joseph Regional High School (known as SJR, St. Joe's or Joe's) is a private, Catholic Church, Catholic, University-preparatory school, college preparatory school for boys, located on a campus in Montvale, New Jersey, Montvale, in Bergen ...

Montvale, New Jersey Montvale is a borough in northern Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, bordering the state of New York. The borough is part of the New York City metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 8 ...

after playing one season in

Elmwood Park Memorial High School Elmwood Park Memorial High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grade from Elmwood Park, in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as the lone secondary school ...

Elmwood Park, New Jersey Elmwood Park is a borough in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, and is a bedroom suburb located from New York City. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 21,422, an increase of 2,019 (+10.4%) from ...

. He was garnished all-state honors at linebacker as a junior and senior. He rushed for 1,260 yards and 25 touchdowns his senior year.

College career

Ciurciu began his college career at

Clemson University Clemson University () is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university near Clemson, South Carolina, United States. - The blue-shaded pattern denotes university property. This shows Clemson University is ''out ...

as a freshman

fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to: Sports * A position in various kinds of football, including: ** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position ** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...

in 1998. He played in 23 games between 1998 and 1999, totaling 30 carries, four catches, and one touchdown. After head coach Tommy West was fired from Clemson,

Tommy Bowden Tommy Pearce Bowden (; born July 10, 1954) is an American former college football coach. He served as the head coach at Clemson University from 1999 until October 13, 2008. He is a son of Bobby Bowden, former head football coach of Florida Sta ...

was hired as head coach, and brought in a new offensive plan. This resulted in Ciurciu getting lost in the mix and prompted him to transfer to

. He sat out the 2000 season at BC per transfer rules. Ciurciu moved to linebacker for the Eagles and led the team in tackles as a junior in 2001 with 87 tackles and two interceptions, and ranked second on team as a senior in 2002 with 102 tackles and one interception.

Professional career

Carolina Panthers (first stint)

After going undrafted in the

2003 NFL draft The 2003 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League (NFL) teams selected amateur college football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted annually since 1936 NF ...

, Ciurciu was signed by the

on May 2, 2003, but was released on August 31, 2003. He was re-signed to the Panthers

practice squad In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

three days later.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

On October 8, 2003, the Buccaneers signed Ciurciu off the Panthers practice squad to their active roster. He was released by the Buccaneers on December 2, 2003.

Carolina Panthers (second stint)

Ciurciu was re-signed to the Panthers practice squad on December 5, 2003. He was elevated to their active roster on December 20, where he spent the remainder of the regular season and the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

, including the Panthers' appearance in

Super Bowl XXXVIII Super Bowl XXXVIII was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion 2003 Carolina Panthers season, Carolina Panthers and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion 2003 New England Patriots season, New E ...

. In 2004, Ciurciu played in all 16 games and started four games, for an injured

Dan Morgan Daniel Thomas Morgan Jr. (born December 19, 1978) is an American professional football executive and former linebacker who is the president of football operations and general manager for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NF ...

, at middle linebacker, and registered a career-high 33 tackles, 25 of them solo tackles. In three of his four starts, he had 7 or more tackles. In 2005, he ranked second on team with 14 special teams stops. His one start of the year came against Miami on September 25 at outside linebacker in place of

Will Witherspoon William Cordell Witherspoon (born August 19, 1980) is an American former professional football linebacker. He was selected by the Carolina Panthers in the third round of the 2002 NFL draft. He played college football at Georgia. He also played ...

. In 2006, he led Carolina with a career-best 18 special teams tackles 11 of them solo tackles, and again played in all 16 games.

Minnesota Vikings

Ciurciu signed with the

following the 2006 season. In 2007, he tied for second among Vikings with 15 special teams tackles despite missing three games during the season with injuries. In 2008, he played in 14 games with one start and totaled eight tackles. He was released by the Vikings in March 2009 after his total of tackles plummeted from 15 in 2007 to eight in 2008. At the finish of his career with Minnesota, Ciurciu appeared in 27 regular seasons games, totaling 23 tackles on special teams.

New England Patriots

The

signed Ciurciu on May 4, 2009. He was released on September 4, 2009.

Detroit Lions

The

signed Ciurciu October 22, 2009. He was re-signed on March 5, 2010. On September 3, 2011, it was announced that Vinny Ciurciu would be suspended from four regular season games for violating the league's substance abuse policy.

References

External links

Official website

Minnesota Vikings bio

New England Patriots bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ciurciu, Vinny People from Elmwood Park, New Jersey Players of American football from Hackensack, New Jersey American football linebackers Clemson Tigers football players Boston College Eagles football players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Carolina Panthers players Minnesota Vikings players New England Patriots players Detroit Lions players 1980 births Living people Saint Joseph Regional High School alumni