Booker Returns for Vikings
December 14, 2010 - United Football League (UFL 1) News Release
JACKSONVILLE, FL - Tuesday, December 14 - Minnesota Vikings running back LORENZO BOOKER, who spent the 2010 United Football League season with the Hartford Colonials, saw his first National Football League action in more than two years in the Vikings' 21-3 loss to the New York Giants live on Monday Night Football at Ford Field in Detroit, Mich.
Booker, who was signed by the Vikings on December 6, returned four kickoffs for 123 yards and caught a pass for six yards. He returned the opening kickoff 22 yards, and his six-yard catch for a first down led to the Vikings' only points of the night in the first quarter. In the third quarter, Booker returned a kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown, but the score was nullified on an illegal block penalty.
Booker joined a growing list of UFL players making contributions for their new NFL teams. Nine of the 10 most recent UFL players added to 53-man NFL rosters were active during Week 14 play.
Playing in seven games for the Colonials this fall, Booker finished the 2010 UFL season with 410 rushing yards (fourth in the league), 650 yards from scrimmage (fourth) and 650 all-purpose yards (fifth). His 5.4-yard rushing average was tops in the UFL during the regular season.
Booker set two UFL records this past season. In Week 1 at home against Sacramento, he took a screen pass from quarterback Josh McCown and turned it into a UFL-record-long 80-yard touchdown connection. In Week 7 at Sacramento, Booker ran for a league-record 147 yards on just 17 carries.
Monday's game was Booker's first in the NFL since December 7, 2008, also against the Giants. Booker played two seasons in the NFL with the Miami Dolphins (2007) and Philadelphia Eagles (2008) prior to Monday night. In his rookie season with Miami, he caught 28 passes for 237 yards and ran 28 times for 125 yards in seven games.
The Vikings-Giants game was originally scheduled for Sunday in Minnesota, but a roof collapse at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome forced a date and venue switch.
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