Vinny Sutherland

Vincent Joseph Sutherland (born April 22, 1978) is an American former professional football player who played wide receiver for two seasons in the National Football League (NFL) for the Atlanta Falcons, San Francisco 49ers and Chicago Bears. He was a standout receiver and kick returner for Purdue University from 1997-2000. He also played for the Arena Football League (AFL)'s New York Dragons. At the time of his graduation in 2001, his 13 receiving touchdowns were a school record for one season. That record was tied in 2002 by John Standeford, and broken in 2004 by Taylor Stubblefield. He also still holds school records for punt return average in a season, punt returns for touchdowns in a season/career, and the longest reception in Purdue history.

Early life Sutherland attended Palm Beach Lakes High School in West Palm Beach, Florida. There he participated in both football and track and field. As a senior, he averaged better than 34 yards per touch of the ball and finished with 500 yards rushing on 53 carries and 600 yards on 29 receptions. He also played as a defensive back. He scored a total of 14 touchdowns as the Rams finished 9-3, winning a district championship and advanced to quarterfinals of state playoffs. After the season, he was named to the Class 6A second-team all-state, first-team all-area and made Florida's Super 11 Team. For Track & Field, Sutherland was all-state and all-county in both junior and senior years. He ran a high school career best 10.4 100m dash in senior season.

College career 1997 season Sutherland choose to play his continue both his football and track and field career by signing a letter of intent to play for new Purdue Boilermakers head coach, Joe Tiller. He played in all 12 games and started three times as a true freshman. He finished the season ranked third on team with 34 receptions for 357 yards with two touchdowns. His two best games came against Notre Dame and Ball State when he made eight catches. The Notre Dame game also was his best yardage game of the season, as he had career-high 100 receiving yards. Joe Tillers' passing attack, often called "basketball on grass, " specialized in bubble screen pass. Which played well for a smaller receiver like Sutherland. He registered 13 rushing attempts (usually bubble screen that resulted in an official lateral) for 111 yards (fourth on team) with two touchdowns. He also served as the team's punt returner, finishing the season ranked sixth in Big Ten with 9.8-yard punt return average. He also had one kickoff return for 19 yards. He attempted two passes on reverse plays, completing one for 20 yards. He was named a 2nd Team Freshman All-American by The Sporting News. His regular season numbers were enough to make him a semifinalist for the Biletnikoff Award, the nations top receiver. His play also assisted the Boilermakers to win the Big Ten conference during the regular season, which allowed them to be invited to the 2001 Rose Bowl against the Washington Huskies. Purdue would go on to lose the game 34-24, but Sutherland had two touchdown receptions in the game, tying a Rose Bowl record. He went on to be named first-team all-Big Ten as a wide receiver and second-team all Big Ten as a returner. At the time of his graduation, his 13 receiving touchdowns were a school record for one season. That record was tied in 2002 by John Standeford, and broken in 2004 by Taylor Stubblefield. He also holds school records for punt return average in a season, punt returns for touchdowns in a season/career, and the longest reception in Purdue history.

Statistics Source: Receiving Rushing Passing Kickoff returns Punt returns Season Team Avg Long Att Yds TD Yds TD Att Yds Avg TD Long Att Yds Avg TD Long 1997 Purdue 3 12 34 357 10.5 2 38 13 111 2 2 1 20 0 0 1 19 19 0 19 15 147 9.8 0 23 1998 Purdue 1 13 31 301 9.7 3 30 9 58 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -- 0 0 10 82 8.2 0 21 1999 Purdue 12 12 39 698 17.9 7 99 18 163 0 1 1 12 1 0 1 13 13.0 0 13 18 296 16.4 2 66 2000 Purdue 11 11 72 1,014 14.1 13 68 10 52 1 2 1 5 1 0 22 535 24.3 0 51 16 159 9.9 0 39 Totals 27 48 176 2,370 13.5 25 99 50 384 3 5 3 37 2 0 24 567 23.6 0 51 59 684 11.6 2 66 Numbers in Bold are Purdue school records

Professional career Pre-draft Prior to the 2001 NFL draft, Sutherland was projected to be drafted in the fourth or fifth round by NFLDraftScout.com. He was rated as the eighteenth-best wide receiver in the draft. He was invited to the 2001 NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Indiana, where he posted the following numbers during his workouts:

nfl predraft height ft = 5 height in = 8.5 weight = 192 dash = 4.48 ten split = 1.58 twenty split = 2.59 shuttle = cone drill = vertical = 32.5 broad ft = broad in = bench = wonderlic = arm span = hand span = note = All values from 2001 NFL Scouting Combine He was expected to replace Tim Dwight, who had been the team's kickoff and punt returner, but failed to make the team out of the preseason and was cut in August. The 49ers were also looking for return help, and used Sutherland as the primary return man for both kickoffs and punts. For the season, he returned 50 kickoffs for 1,140 yards (a 49ers rookie record ) and 21 punts for 147 yards with no touchdowns. He saw limited action playing as a wide receiver as he only had one catch for 5 yards, and added one carry for 16 yards. Sutherland came back to camp the following fall, but was released on August 27 after suffering a hamstring injury.

Chicago Bears After he was let go by the 49ers, Sutherland quickly caught on with the Chicago Bears Sutherland didn't play until his 4th week with the team, when he returned 3 kickoffs in a game against the Detroit Lions, for an average of 16.3 yards a return. He was released 4 days later.

Return to San Francisco 49ers The 49ers re-signed Sutherland on December 31, 2002, but he did not appear in any games.

New York Dragons In 2004, Sutherland signed with the New York Dragons of the Arena Football League. Sutherland appeared in the team's first 3 games, grabbing 7 passes for 82 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also had 2 carries for 2 yards. His arena football days were short lived, as he was released on February 23.