Legedu Naanee

Legedu A. Naanee (pronounced LEG-a-doo Nah-NAY, born September 16, 1983) is an American football wide receiver for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League. He was drafted by the San Diego Chargers in the fifth round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He played college football for the Boise State University Broncos.

"Legedu" means "Boss" in a Nigerian language. Incorrect. Legedu can be explained in three parts. Le (good) ge (is) du (come or coming) depending on 'ge'. In this case, Legedu means [good is coming] in Gokhana dialect of the Ogoni tribe in SE Nigeria.

Early years
Naanee attended Franklin High School in Portland, Oregon and was a student and a letterman in football, basketball, and baseball. In football, he was a four-year starter earning awards at WR and DB. In basketball, he won All-League honors as a junior.

College career
Although Naanee received scholarship offers from many Pac-10 and Big-12 schools, such as Oregon and Oregon State, Naanee chose to play college football at Boise State University because they were the only major program to offer him a chance to play quarterback, a position he cherished and played in high school. After Jared Zabransky won the starting job in 2004, Naanee realized that if he wanted to play, it had to be at another position.

Naanee filled in at receiver and although the transition and failure at quarterback was difficult, he said being able to "feel like you were part of things and contributing, that went out the window". He remarked, "maybe it was something that was meant to be, for me to go through something like that and then to switch."

2007 NFL Draft
Despite Naanee playing most of his football career at quarterback and not receiver, the Chargers selected Naanee with the 172nd overall selection in the 5th round of the 2007 NFL Draft.

San Diego Chargers
Naanee was targeted by Norv Turner to become the next star for the Chargers to become his F-Back project, much like Delanie Walker and Michael Robinson were when Turner was the offensive coordinator of the San Francisco 49ers. The F-Back is much like the H-back in other offenses in the sense it is a hybrid position (WR/TE/FB) purposely versatile to take advantage of mismatches.

Naanee was the starting number two receiver for the Chargers behind Malcom Floyd for much of the 2010 season. This is due to a holdout by the usual starter Vincent Jackson. Naanee caught a TD pass in his first start of the 2010 season on a 59-yard pass from quarterback Philip Rivers in the season opener against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Regarding his versatility, head coach Norv Turner said, "We're going to continue to move him. He's going to be a guy who's versatile enough to move around. That's going to help him be put in position to make some plays." On December 6, 2009, Naanee completed a pass on a flea flicker to LaDainian Tomlinson.

Arrest
He was arrested for public intoxication and resisting arrest at the scene of a homicide in Indianapolis on February 12th, 2011.

Carolina Panthers
Naanee signed with the Carolina Panthers on August 4, 2011.