2017-01-16

Levi Norwood still has to pinch himself when he looks back on the 2011 Baylor Bears football season, his freshman campaign at the Waco, Texas campus. As if playing NCAA Division 1 football wasn’t a big deal in itself, the speedy receiver got to experience catching passes from Robert Griffin III, that year’s Heisman Trophy winner and eventual second overall draft pick by the Washington Redskins.



Levi Norwood and Robert Griffin III during a 48-24 win over the Texas Longhorns in 2011. Baylor would defeat Washington in the Alamo Bowl four weeks later.

“He gave a lot of exposure to guys like myself who were able to get on the field with him, exposure that not a lot of freshmen get; having a Heisman quarterback throwing to you,” Norwood said from the Baylor campus where he is currently taking graduate school courses in Sports Management.

Despite playing together for only one season, Norwood and Griffin III have stayed in close contact, especially when the dynamic quarterback was dealing with his injury and consistency problems, which led to a move to the Cleveland Browns.

“What Robert did at Baylor added a level of excitement, not just for the people of Waco but for small towns around there as well. I still text with him every once in awhile, just to see how he is doing. We always text over the holidays”

The green-clad Bears were known for their up tempo offence, something Norwood insists will have him prepared to learn the CFL game once he reports to BC Lions training camp in late May. After agreeing to a deal with the club last week, he hasn’t stopped smiling at the prospect of a career north of the 49th.

Canadian football is also in his blood: Levi’s father was a defensive lineman for the Calgary Stampeders in 1989 when a young coach named Wally Buono was working his way up the coaching ranks.



Norwood attended camp with the Chicago Bears in 2015.

“I am pumped to have an opportunity up there,” Norwood said. “Coach Wally and the guys know my Dad personally, so that kind of initiated the conversation. I’ve seen highlights in Texas on ESPN and I have heard good things about the league. Being a receiver and coming from an offence like Baylor where everything is about using as much of the field as you can, that is definitely a benefit.”

“Brian called me up in November or December and mentioned he wanted me to take a look at his son,” Buono said from his January vacation spot in Maui. “We looked at it and Geroy Simon had seen him at the NFL camps and spoke highly of him. Now we’ll bring him to the OTA’s in Surrey to be evaluated.”

After his lone CFL season, Brian devoted his life to coaching and actually served on the defensive staff at Baylor while Levi was playing.

“His Dad was a tough kid, good player, very conscientious and he worked hard,” Buono added. “I can see why he has been a good coach and anytime you can sign a coach’s son it is very beneficial because he has been raised in the environment.”

Despite pursuing the same career path, the younger Norwood maintains there was no pressure from his father to do so.

“There are five of us kids and he never pressured anyone to play football or play a certain sport,” Norwood declared.

“He’s been a motivating and awesome father and him having a football background and playing in the CFL for a short stint and coaching for the past 30-plus years, I have gotten a lot of football knowledge from him that I can use to keep on playing.”

One of those four siblings is Jordan Norwood who not only earned a championship ring with the Denver Broncos last season, but also set a Super Bowl record by recording a 62-yard punt return in the victory over Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers. Witnessing the Super Bowl victory live will be something Levi always cherishes.

“I would not have missed it”, Norwood insisted. “It was crazy just being there. You’re used to watching the Super Bowl on TV and its hard to put into words having your brother out there and seeing him live out his dream on the field and just see kind of how everything fell into place for him. We were all excited to see him out there playing.



Denver’s sideline reacts as Jordan Norwood records his Super Bowl record punt return last year. It set up the Broncos for a field goal and a 13-7 halftime lead.

He was undrafted, bounced around the NFL and dealt with injuries and all those things. His passion for football eventually paid off and he was able to stick in Denver. It’s been an awesome journey for him.”

Receivers Bryan Burnham, Nick Moore, Terrell Sinkfield Jr. and Marco Iannuzzi remain on the Lions’ list of pending free agents. The uncertainty, combined with the need to create competition and depth in training camp, gives the likes of Norwood and fellow new signing Darren Peterson at least the chance to prove they can be contributors at this level.

“We want to bring more players to our OTA, I think that was very good for us last year,” Buono said. “A lot of those rookies like Anthony Gaitor, Antonio Johnson, Loucheiz Purifoy and Chandler Fenner came from there and when you go to training camp there is a lot of running and you need to have good receivers and good competition. Another thing about Levi is he is good with the ball in his hands because of his return capabilities.”

Buono addresses rookies at OTA’s in Surrey last April. He says this year’s pre-camp workouts will go a long way in evaluating young talent on the roster.

Levi himself earned All-Big 12 honorable mentions for both kickoffs and punt returns in 2013 and like his older brother, has also had to persevere in order to continue his football career.

After being part of back-to-back conference championships and a Cotton Bowl appearance in his senior season, he had brief NFL stints in Denver, Chicago and most recently Pittsburgh where he suited up for three exhibition games in 2016. It was in the Steel City where he had the chance to learn and observe from one of football’s best playmakers: Steelers wideout Antonio Brown.

“I think everyone who practices with him turns into a little bit of a spectator,” Norwood said. “He would do stuff that we’d never see anyone else do. He’d make a play and we’d look at each other and say ‘can you believe that’ ‘or did he really do that?’ Being around that type of player and athlete isn’t something you can do very often.”

Although Norwood’s time in the CFL was brief, he counts his experience learning from Antonio Brown as memorable as can be.

Although he wasn’t destined for NFL glory right away, Norwood made the most of the experiences and used them as a learning tool for his opportunity with the Lions. The chance to make the squad and get his first real taste of pro game action was too good to pass up.

“I haven’t played an official game since the Cotton Bowl two years ago” Norwood said. “I’m excited to be back and blessed to get another opportunity to play this game.”

The excitement of BC Lions and CFL football would no doubt make for good text conversations with RGIII.

Matt Baker: mbaker@bclions.com

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