Vernand Morency is a former American football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 running back

Running back

A running back is a gridiron football position, who is typically lined up in the offensive backfield. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback for a rushing play, to catch passes from out of the backfield, and to block.There are usually one or two running...

 who played in the NFL.

Biography

Vernand Morency grew up in Miami, Florida where his parents, immigrants from Haiti, had him working in their family real estate business from the age of 5. This experience impacted him tremendously and helped shape a strong, disciplined work ethic which translated into successful careers in both professional baseball and football.

His love for real estate never went away and in 2006-07, Vernand was part of a syndicate group led by T Boone Pickens to develop the $250+ million Boone Pickens Stadium at his alma mater, Oklahoma State University. In 2007 and 2008, Vernand was twice competitively selected to participate in the prestigious NFL Business Management and Entrepreneurship Program at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School.

Today, in addition to being an accomplished professional baseball and football player, Vernand invests, owns and manages properties across the country and is involved in several different non-profit initiatives, including work with Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle and his Wisconsin Covenant initiative promising all eighth-graders affordable higher education upon academic success.

High school years

While attending Northwestern High School

Miami Northwestern High School

Miami Northwestern Senior High School is a public high school located in Miami, Florida, United States, serving students in grades 9-12. It serves the Liberty City neighborhood of Miami. The school colors are Old Gold and Royal Blue...

 in Miami, Florida

Miami, Florida

Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...

, Morency was a four-year letterman in baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

 and a two-year letterman in football

High school football

High school football, in North America, refers to the game of football as it is played in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both of these nations....

, and won All-America

All-America

An All-America team is an honorary sports team composed of outstanding amateur players—those considered the best players of a specific season for each team position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply...

 honors in both sports. As a senior football running back, he gained over 1,500 all-purpose yards and scored 15 touchdowns.

Professional baseball career

Morency was a 14th round pick (420th overall) of the Colorado Rockies

Colorado Rockies

The Colorado Rockies are a Major League Baseball team based in Denver, Colorado. Established in 1991, they started play in 1993 and are in the West Division of the National League. The team is named after the Rocky Mountains...

 in 1998. He spent four seasons as a center fielder

Center fielder

A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball fielding position between left field and right field...

 in the Rockies’ minor league system before enrolling at Oklahoma State in 2002.

College football career

Morency attended Oklahoma State University and finished his career with 451 rushing attempts for 2,661 yards (5.9 yards per rush attempt avg.), 23 touchdowns, 11 receptions for 119 yards (10.8 yards per rec. avg.), and returned ten kickoffs for 224 yards (22.4 yards per kick ret. avg.). Morency's junior season in 2004 was his breakout season. In 2004 he rushed for 1,474 yards and 12 touchdowns. He also had one receiving touchdown. Morency was the recipient of the prestigious Thurman Thomas Award for being the most outstanding offensive player in the 2004 season. He decided to forgo his senior year at OSU and declared for the NFL draft on January 3rd, 2005.

Houston Texans

Morency was selected in the third round of the 2005 NFL Draft

2005 NFL Draft

The 2005 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 23–24, 2005. The league also held an supplemental draft that year, which was held after...

 by the Houston Texans

Houston Texans

The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston, Texas. The team is currently a member of the Southern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

. He was the second-string running back behind Domanick Davis for the team in 2005

2005 NFL season

The 2005 NFL season was the 86th regular season of the National Football League.With the New England Patriots as the defending league champions, regular season play was held from September 8, 2005 to January 1, 2006...

, rushing 46 times for 184 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also returned 20 kicks for 437 yards and caught 10 passes for 87 yards.

Green Bay Packers

After the first week of the 2006 NFL season

2006 NFL season

The 2006 NFL season was the 87th regular season of the National Football League.Regular season play was held from September 7 to December 31, 2006...

, Morency was traded to the Green Bay Packers

Green Bay Packers

The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions...

 for running back Samkon Gado

Samkon Gado

Samkon Kaltho Gado is an Nigerian-American running back of American football who is currently a free agent. He was signed by the Kansas City Chiefs as an undrafted free agent in 2005. He played college football at Liberty....

. He spent the 2006 season as the Packers' short yardage back, playing behind Ahman Green

Ahman Green

Ahman Rashad Green is a retired American football running back. He is the all-time leading rusher for the Green Bay Packers. He was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the 3rd round of the 1998 NFL Draft...

. Morency's best game of the 2006 season came against the Arizona Cardinals, where he rushed for 101 yards. On April 4, 2008 the Packers re-signed him to a one-year, $927,000 contract. On August 30, 2008 he was released from the Packers.

Regular season

	| Year	| Rushing							| Receiving
Team		Games	GS	Att	Yds	Avg	Lg	TD	Rec	Yds	Avg	Lg	Td
Hou	2005	12	1	46	184	4.0	25	2	10	87	8.7	16	0
GB	2006	14	2	96	434	4.5	39	2	17	118	6.9	29	0
	Career	26	3	142	618	4.4	39	4	27	205	7.6	29	0