Venric Mark Venric Emeka - Wococha Mark is an American football running back , return specialist and wide receiver for the Northwestern Wildcats . He has completed his redshirt junior season for the 2013 team . He was a 2012 College Football All - America Team first team punt returner selection and a 2012 All - Big Ten team second team running back for the 2012 Wildcats . He holds Northwestern records for single - game , single - season and career kickoff return yards as well as the single - game punt return yards record . In high school , he was a five - time Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools state champion in track and field and an All - State football player . He was recruited by many Division I college football programs . Early years . Mark spent his freshman year at Klein Forest High School in Greater Houston . When the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina brought many troubled students to his public high school , he transferred to St . Pius X High School , which is a private one 45 minutes away . As a sophomore at St . Pius , Mark competed in the most events and scored the most points for his high school when it placed fifth in the 2008 Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools ( TAPPS ) Class 6A Track and Field Championship . That year he placed second in the long jump ( ) ; third in the triple jump ( ) and participated on medal winning 4 × 100 metres relay and 4 × 200 metres relay teams . As a junior , he was described as a " gifted player " who was expected to be a " future star " for the two - time defending state champion football team . Going into the 2008 state playoffs , Mark had 10 touchdown s as a return specialist and 20 receptions for 504 yards for the 7 – 2 St . Pius Panthers . By the end of his junior year , he had been timed at 4 . 35 seconds in the 40 yard dash and had at least six Division I scholarship offers . Interested programs included Northwestern , Vanderbilt , Rice and Arizona . During the summer prior to his senior year , he increased the bodyweight of his frame from to . As a senior , he mostly played running back . In the 2009 TAPPS Division I football semifinals , Mark had 102 yards on 16 carries , including two rushing touchdowns and a 33 - yard receiving touchdown . However , he was stopped on fourth and goal to go from the 2 - yard - line with 11 seconds left as the team lost Nolan Catholic High School 36 – 28 . Mark ' s senior season statistics were 23 receptions for 242 yards , 92 rushes for 772 yards and 20 total touchdowns ( four on punt and kickoff return s ) . He also had seven touchdowns called back due to penalties . He was honored as a first team All - state selection . As a senior , he had 18 offers from schools including his five finalists : Northwestern , Arizona , Iowa State , Vanderbilt and Colorado as well as Houston , Baylor , UTEP , Virginia and Penn State . He was one of three major Division I National Letter of Intent signees from St . Pius along with Kirk Poston ( defensive end , Colorado ) and Greg Daniels ( defensive end , Texas ) . After committing to Northwestern , Mark went on to win five gold medals in the 2010 TAPPS Class 5A State Track and Field Championships . He won the 100 meters ( 10 . 96 seconds ) , 200 meters ( 22 . 26 ) , long jump ( - state record ) and triple jump ( ) . He was the anchor of the winning 4 × 100 metres relay ( 43 . 36 ) . Mark was the state championship meet ' s elite athlete , scoring 45 of St . Pius ' 86 points . The school finished as runner - up to St . Michael ' s Catholic Academy ( 88 points ) in the state championships even though St . Pius ' 4 × 200 metres relay team , which was a favorite , had been disqualified in earlier competition . College career . Mark was one of two true freshmen to play in every game for the 2010 Wildcats . On October 23 , he had a 29 - yard end - around run against Michigan State . On November 27 , Mark recorded 273 return yards on nine kickoffs against Wisconsin . This established a Wildcat single - game kickoff return yard record ( 10 shy of a Big Ten Conference record ) and tied the Big Ten record for single - game kickoff returns . It also earned Mark recognition as the Big Ten Special Teams and Freshman co - Player of the Week on November 29 . Rivals . com recognized Mark with selection to its Freshman All - American second team as a punt returner . As a sophomore for the 2011 team , Mark switched from wide receiver to running back during the season . However , during the game against Michigan , he also played linebacker in order to shadow Denard Robinson . The season ended at the 2011 Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas against Texas A & M . In the game , Mark recorded 7 kickoff returns for 141 yards . This gave him Northwestern record - setting single - season totals of 40 returns and 915 return yards , surpassing records both set by Jim Pooler in 1974 ( 38 for 807 ) . Mark also scored his first rushing touchdown in the game . As a junior in 2012 , Mark was a preseason watchlist candidate for the Paul Hornung Award . That year , he tallied 8 100 - yard rushing games , the first 1000 - yard rushing season for Northwestern since Tyrell Sutton in 2006 , and the first unblocked punt return touchdown for Northwestern since Marquice Cole on September 10 , 2005 against Northern Illinois . Northwestern had blocked a punt and returned it for a touchdown in the season opener on August 31 , 2006 against Miami . In addition to scoring a punt return touchdown on September 1 against Syracuse , he broke both the Northwestern single - game punt return yards record ( Lee Gissendaner , 121 vs . 1992 Stanford ) with 134 yards and the 29 - year - old career kickoff yards records ( Ricky Edwards , 1 , 499 , 1983 ) during a career high - tying 281 all - purpose yards effort that earned him Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week . His 82 rushing yards that day was a career high . The subsequent week , he had his first 100 - yard effort when he totaled 123 yards against Vanderbilt on September 8 . Then he scored three rushing touchdowns on September 22 in during a 117 - yard effort against South Dakota . He set a new career - high on September 29 when he totaled 139 yards against Indiana . He scored a second punt return touchdown on October 6 against Penn State , making him the first Wildcat to score two punt return touchdowns in the same season ( and second ever ) since Tom Worthington in 1949 . He then set his career high with 182 yards against Minnesota on October 13 . For his efforts , Mark was named an 2012 All - American first team selection by the Football Writers Association of America , CBS Sports and " Sporting News " as a punt returner . He was also an honorable mention All - American all - purpose selection by " Sports Illustrated " . Following the 2012 Big Ten Conference football season , Mark was a second team All - Big Ten selection as a running back by both the coaches and the media . He was one of ten semifinalists for the Doak Walker Award , awarded to the best running back . Mark was among the 2012 national statistical leaders in both all - purpose yards and rushing yards . Mark began the 2013 season affected by injury . He did not play special teams and mostly appeared in the August 31 opener against Cal in the fourth quarter . Mark did not play again until October 5 against Ohio State . He was sidelined again two weeks later . Personal . The summer before his freshman year in college , he lost his brother , cousin and best friend to fatal shooting deaths . Mark ' s father has not been involved in his life since his preteen years ; he was raised by his mother , Sheila Mark . Sheila attended Texas Tech University . Mark ' s name came from having a Nigeria n - born father . His parents met while at boarding school in London . His brothers are named Victor and Vincent and his sister is named Special . In high school , he often stayed with his godmother , Jamie Garza , who lived nearer to the school .