Lovett Shaizer Purnell (born April 7, 1972), is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

. Purnell attended Seaford High but graduated from

Valley Forge Military Academy and College Valley Forge Military Academy and College (VFMAC) is a private boarding school (grades 7–12) and military junior college in Wayne, Pennsylvania. It follows in the traditional military school format with army traditions. Though military in tr ...

Wayne, Pennsylvania Wayne is an unincorporated community centered in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, on the Main Line, a series of highly affluent Philadelphia suburbs located along the railroad tracks of the Pennsylvania Railroad and one of the wealthiest areas ...

before attending

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State College ...

. After graduating from WVU, he was selected in the 7th round (216th overall) by the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

in the

1996 NFL Draft The 1996 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 20–21, 1996, at the Paramount ...

. A member of the Patriots from 1996–1998 and

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...

in 1999, Purnell tallied 19 career receptions for 159 yards and 5

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

s in 36 career games (7 starts). "I'm going to try to be Lovett Purnell and go out there and play the best way I can." As a WVU Mountaineer, Purnell tallied 78 catches, 1161 yards and ten scores. He was named MVP of the 1995 season, which led to his seventh-round selection in the NFL Draft by New England. During four NFL seasons with the Patriots and Baltimore Ravens, Purnell played in 36 games, catching 19 passes for 159 yards and five touchdowns. After the 1999 season with the Baltimore Ravens, Purnell quietly stepped away from on-field competition. Post-NFL, Lovett found tremendous success in the telecommunication industry in Tampa, FL where he currently resides. Whether on the field, or in the corporate world, Lovett has always had the reputation of being an all-around nice guy and team player. The

Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame The Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame is a membership-based organization founded in 1976. The organization runs a museum with exhibits at Daniel S. Frawley Stadium on the Riverfront in Wilmington, Delaware and promotes physical fitness in ...

inducted Purnell in 2007.

References

External links

Just Sports Stats
1972 births Living people American football tight ends Baltimore Ravens players Chicago Enforcers players New England Patriots players West Virginia Mountaineers football players People from Seaford, Delaware Players of American football from Delaware Valley Forge Military Academy Trojans football players {{tightend-1970s-stub