He played college football for the Stanford Cardinal and was selected by the Cleveland Browns in the first round of the 1992 NFL draft with the ninth overall pick.
He was selected by the Cleveland Browns under then-head coach Bill Belichick in the first round with the ninth overall pick.
He signed as a free agent with the San Francisco 49ers in 1996, moved on to the Detroit Lions in 1997 and 1998, and then finished his career back with the 49ers in 1999.
Rushing Stats[5] Receiving Stats[5] In 2000, upon retiring from football, Vardell and former teammates, Brent Jones, and Mark Harris co-founded Northgate Capital, a venture capital and private equity investment firm with approximately $4.9 billion of assets under management and offices in San Francisco, Danville, Mexico City and London, and served as its managing director and founding partner.
[6][7] He sold a majority stake in Northgate to Indian financial services company Religare Enterprises in 2010 and continued to manage the firm as a partner.