Ex-AFL stars Davis and Furrey excelling in NFL

Published on October 27, 2006 under Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I) News Release

Football coaches have an affinity for players who can contribute in more than one facet of the game. The more you can do, the better. And when it comes to versatility, former Arena Football League stars Rashied Davis and Mike Furrey certainly know the meaning of the word.

Davis, currently a receiver with the Chicago Bears and Furrey, a wide out with the Detroit Lions, are both living a dream this season after taking the long, winding road to the NFL.

Their backgrounds are different but somehow eerily similar. Both started their football careers at one school then transferred to another. Both found their way into the AFL and became stars, and both were able to crack the NFL as special team players. Both have been wide receivers - then defensive backs - then receivers again.

And both are quietly becoming indispensable contributors to their respective teams.

Late Bloomer Growing up in South Central Los Angeles, football was the furthest thing from Rashied Davis' mind. One of nine children, Davis was just eight years old when is father was killed in an attempted robbery.

"I grew up pretty fast," Davis said. "It was tough but we learned to figure things out. I think I was an adult at about age 12."

Davis' mother, Judy Jamerson, did her best to give her son every opportunity to make a better life for himself. She shuttled him to junior high and high school in the San Fernando Valley - an hour away - but the long commute made it tough to play high school sports.

Davis went out for football as a sophomore but didn't see much playing time, opting to spend the majority of his time on the local playground and at home with his brothers and sisters.

"I played flag football a lot as a kid," he said, "But I was really small and I started out late."

After high school, he enrolled at West Los Angeles Community College, where a number of his friends had planned to play football. Acting on the encouragement of his buddies, Davis decided to take a chance on football again.

"I gained a little weight and some of my friends thought I should go out for the team," Davis said. "I gave football a shot and I've been playing ever since."

It didn't take him long to make a name for himself, turning heads as a receiver and a kick returner. He posted great numbers in JUCO, but didn't garner much interest from bigger schools. He accepted the only Division I scholarship that was offered - just up the road at San Jose State. He caught six TD passes and finished with 785 receiving yards as a junior, but a coaching change forced him to move to the defensive side of the ball as a senior.

The position change didn't help Davis' draft stock and he figured his football career was done after college.

"Nobody really showed any interest in me after my senior season," he said.

But, as fate would have it, a former member of the San Jose State coaching staff had joined the AFL's San Jose SaberCats and figured the shifty, 5-foot-9, 180-pound receiver would be a good fit in the Arena Football League, where versatility is a necessity.

"(The coaches for the SaberCats) watched some tapes and asked me to come down for a workout to see what I could do," Davis said. "I guess I did pretty good because they signed me after the first day."

Davis was an instant hit in the AFL. He helped the SaberCats to a pair of ArenaBowl titles (2002 and '04) and set SaberCats team season records with 44 TDs and 264 points (2nd in the AFL in both categories) in 2005.

"I wouldn't be here (in the NFL) without Arena," he said. "Arena helped me a lot because it taught me how to be a professional athlete - how to come to work and work hard every day.

(It) really helped me. In Arena Football there's always something around you - a defender - a wall - or something. It really helped me with catching the ball over the middle and not worrying about getting hit. The Arena League was a lot of fun. If they paid me in Arena as much as I get here (in Chicago), I don't know if I'd be here."

Although he still cherishes is time in the AFL, Davis is set on making a name for himself as a wide receiver on the 100-yard field. He started as a special-teamer with the Bears and moved to defensive back his second season. But, he actually has Steve Smith and Warrick Dunn to thank for his move back to offense.

"When I was playing defense I just did whatever I was asked and sometimes that meant moving to the offensive side for some scout team things," he said. "I think one week I was (Atlanta's) Warrick Dunn and another week I was (Carolina's) Steve Smith. Actually, the week I was Steve Smith was when they decided to bring me over to the offensive side of the ball.

I like to do anything and everything I can. I just like being on the football field - the more you can do - I've learned - the more valuable you are."

Davis still has a lot of close friends on the SaberCats and does his best to keep up with his former team. But, he does have a few questions he wants answered.

"I'm kind of mad," he said jokingly. "No one called to tell me that I just got drafted (in the 2006 expansion draft) by the New Orleans VooDoo."

Opportunity Knocks Mike Furrey was an all-everything athlete at Hilliard High School in his hometown of Grove City, Ohio earning 10 varsity letters. But, when it came time to move to the next level, the phone wasn't ringing with scholarship offers.

He decided to walk-on at Ohio State where he played in nine games as a special teams player as a freshmen before transferring to Division I-AA Northern Iowa.

At Northern Iowa, he was able to see more action and made the most of his opportunity. He shattered the Gateway Conference career reception record (242) and was hoping to get drafted into the NFL, but once again, the phone never rang.

He signed as an undrafted free agent with the Indianapolis Colts in 2000 and made it to the final cut, but it looked as though his football career might be coming to an end. After his brief stint in Indianapolis, he got a job working for the Ford Motor Company before suiting up for the Las Vegas Outlaws of the now-defunct XFL.

His time in the XFL got his football juices flowing again and an opportunity presented itself with the AFL's New York Dragons, who had just moved to Long Island from Iowa.

"I was building houses the summer I got back from the XFL and my agent at the time got a call from John Gregory (former Iowa Barnstormers and New York Dragons head coach), who knew me from college," Furrey said. Gregory had also coached another former Northern Iowa alum, Kurt Warner.

Over the next two seasons, Furrey teamed with Dragons QB Aaron Garcia to form one of the League's most dangerous pass-catch combinations. In 2003, he was leading the AFL in receptions (108), receiving yards (1,574) and receiving TDs (46) before signing with the NFL's St. Louis Rams after 13 games. His 46 receiving TDs tied the AFL single-season record.

"I never wanted to give up on my football career and when I got to Arena I really thought it was something that I was going to do for the next 15 years," Furrey said. "Playing Arena was unreal. It was like taking seven of your buddies and just throwing bombs on every play. It was a great league - I think we scored touchdowns every four or five plays."

Furrey's move from the fast-paced indoor game to the "Greatest Show on Turf" in St. Louis was a seamless transition, but as the Rams fifth wide receiver he managed just 20 catches for 189 yards as a rookie.

His second season saw even less production on the offensive side of the ball (one catch for eight yards), but Furrey was making a name for himself as a special teams player and the Rams were trying to find a way to get him on the field, so they considered moving him from receiver to defensive back.

"(Former Rams head coach) Mike Martz was trying to find a way to get me active every Sunday, especially for special teams," Furrey said. "They wanted to move me to safety so we only had to dress five defensive backs and if something happened I'd be ready to go."

Furrey played a little defensive back his first year with the Dragons but practically had to learn the position from scratch. He ended up playing all 16 games in 2005, starting the second half of the season at safety, where he totaled 41 tackles and four interceptions.

"Doors have always seemed to open up for me," he said. "It's not always the biggest door, but there always seems to be a side door open."

Martz was fired at the end of the 2005 season, but turned up in Detroit as the Lions offensive coordinator this season. One of his first calls was to Furrey, who was a free agent. "Mike Furrey gets it," Martz said during training camp. "He's versatile, he runs good routes and he has good hands. He did a nice job for us in St. Louis. Guys like him make you a better team."

Furrey's understanding of Martz's offense has given him a leg up on the rest of the Lions' wide receivers, who include former first-round draft picks Roy Williams and Mike Williams. Through seven games this season, he is the Lions second-leading receiver with 37 catches for 431 yards and three TDs, including a nine-catch, 109-yard receiving performance last week vs. the New York Jets.

"I love guys like that," Lions head coach Rod Marinelli said of Furrey. "That's who I am, and you give opportunities to men like that.

He comes in and all he does is catch everything that's thrown to him. He blocks, he's tough, he's on special teams and he's a team football player. You give guys like that opportunities and he's taken that opportunity and run with it."

(Mike Furrey and the Lions are on a bye this Sunday, while Rashied Davis and the Bears host the San Francisco 49ers on FOX.)

Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from October 27, 2006

• Brigade signs af2 wide receiver and standout Big Ten lineman - Kansas City Brigade
• Ex-AFL stars Davis and Furrey excelling in NFL - AFL I
• Graziani lets his voice be heard - Philadelphia Soul

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