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Only a bad break could stop Vactor

3 min read

There are bad breaks in life, then there is the bad break suffered by Norris Vactor.

Vactor, who died Sunday – Father’s Day – at 71, suffered the cruelest blow, an intentional hit on the football field that left him paralyzed and destroyed an opportunity to make it into the pros.

The first glimpses of Vactor’s ability came on the football field at Wash High Stadium, where he thrilled the crowds with his aggressive style and natural ability.

His coach at Washington, Dave Johnston, said Vactor was, “pound-for-pound, the best athlete I ever coached.”

Many Prexies’ fans felt the 1961 Wash High team might not have only been the most talented in the state but in the program’s illustrious history. That team produced NFL players in Bobby Riggle and Ted Vactor, Norris’ older brother.

But a 14-12 loss to Uniontown devastated the Prexies. They didn’t make the WPIAL playoffs that year, when the Gardner Point System was used to determine the entries. Norris Vactor started at running back his final three seasons. As a senior, he was named All-Western Conference, All-WPIAL and Big 33 Honorable Mention.

In track, Vactor ran the 880-yard run and was on the 440 relay. He made All-WPIAL in 1963.

In basketball, he averaged 20 points per game as a junior and senior and made All-Conference and All-WPIAL.

When Vactor finished his high school career, many schools showed interest, including Fairmont State, Waynesburg and Maryland. Schools were wary of his small size – he weighed only 155 pounds in his senior season at Washington. He chose Parsons College in Iowa because the school offered a full scholarship. He immediately made the starting lineup at cornerback and returned punts.

At Parsons, Vactor accomplished a rare feat by scoring six touchdowns in six different ways over six games. During practice in his sophomore season, Vactor was speared by a teammates and suffered a broken neck. The injury was similar to the one suffered by actor Christopher Reeve after a fall from a horse.

Norris Vactor’s life would take some interesting turns over the years but one story stood out, and he related it to local sportscaster Bill DiFabio a few years ago.

“I was in my wheelchair and it was 2002. I went to Washington Park to see Hopwood play in the Pony League World Series. The guy beside me said he was from Uniontown. We started talking and the subject of football came up and the great battles between Wash High and Uniontown. We started to name names. I knew all the players from Uniontown.

“Then this guy says, ‘Yeah, Wash High, they had about 10 guys named Vactor.’ I looked at the guy and said ‘Guess what? I’m one of the Vactors.'”

Ted Vactor went on to play in the NFL, even appearing in the Super Bowl with the Washington Redskins. His younger brother spent 10 years working as a systems analyst for Highmark.

Norris Vactor was inducted into the Washington-Greene Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 2015.

Assistant sports editor Joe Tuscano can be reached at jtuscano@observer-reporter.com

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