Furrey starting for Lions

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I'm not sure if he's white ... but from this article, it seems so ...



Furrey takes long route to become Lions slot receiver

Wednesday, August 16, 2006
By Tom Kowalski

ALLEN PARK -- When a prospective NFL player goes looking for a job, he's
faced with many uncertainties: Which teams will want him? How much
money will he make? What will the competition be? Will he land a starting
job or struggle to make the roster?

For the Detroit Lions' Mike Furrey, there was one other significant
concern: What position would he play?

"I was thinking I'd go somewhere and play safety," said Furrey, who wasn't
thinking at the time that Mike Martz would eventually end up as the Lions'
offensive coordinator. "When he got the job up here, he said he wanted
me to play in the slot. I know the offense pretty good. He knew I could
play in this offense. In the NFL, you just keep playing as long as you can."

When Martz arrived in Detroit from the St. Louis Rams, he had a stable
full of big fast receivers, but he didn't see many guys with the water-bug
quickness and explosion to be the inside slot receiver. Which is why he
called Furrey, who once again proved the adage that "It's not what you
know, but who you know."

Still, Furrey has earned his role as the Lions' No. 1 slot receiver because
he makes very few mental mistakes, knows how to get open and has
excellent hands.

After catching 20 passes in his first season with the Rams in 2003, he
only caught one the following season when some healthy draft picks --
Kevin Curtis and Shaun McDonald -- got more action. Furrey and Dane
Looker, another reserve receiver, found themselves wondering if they'd be
inactive from week to week.

"The next season, Mike came to me (before the draft) and said, `Hey,
what if I put you at safety for a couple of months just to learn the system?
If you can understand what's going on at safety, we can dress all of you
on game day and you'll be the fifth safety," Furrey said. "I think he wanted
to make sure I was out there for special teams and then back up the
receiver spots.

"Then we went through the minicamps (and off-season workouts) and
they came to me and said `You can make the full transition if you want
because if you start, it's not going to surprise us.' That was it, I wanted to
play and I had fun playing safety. It was something new, but it felt
natural."

Furrey, who bulked up 20 pounds to 210 to handle the free safety
position, started 11 games, made 55 tackles, knocked down eight passes
and had four interceptions. Which is why Furrey assumed his new job
would be on defense. Not that he wasn't used to that side of the ball.

Furrey was a walk-on receiver at Ohio State for two years before
transferring to Northern Iowa to finish out his college career with a
scholarship. The Indianapolis Colts gave him in a look in training camp
but he didn't make it.

"I was the last guy cut," Furrey said. "Then I went to the XFL in 2001 and
then went to the Arena League later in 2001. I went back to Arena for two
more years and then went to St. Louis."

Why? Because it's that same "It's not what you know, but who you know"
thing. Because he had played college ball and Arena ball in the same
places as Kurt Warner, the St. Louis quarterback was aware of him.

"I think Kurt brought my name up because I was having a pretty good
Arena season and Kurt and I went to the same school and we had the
same Arena League team -- his Iowa Barnstormers were the New York
Dragons, they got bought out. We knew each other over there," Furrey
said.

After the Rams scouts checked him out, Furrey was signed as a free agent
and made the team with his speed, route-running ability, hands and
special teams work.

Now, at 29 years old (and back down to 190 pounds), Furrey finds himself
as the No. 1 slot receiver after his long odyssey through the lower ranks
of football.

"I wouldn't trade it in for anything," Furrey said. "It was a long journey,
but as I look back it's helped me out so much, it's matured me. At each
level and everything I went through, I kept fighting to try to get into the
league. It was great for me."
 

JoeV

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Yeah he is white, isn't Circus Kircus with the Lions as well? Or did he switch teams?
 

jaxvid

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Kircus is with the Broncos until they cut him at the end of training camp.
 

jared

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It's a shame he got rushed out of Detroit. I like it when local guys make it to their state's pro team. He'd probably fit it pretty well now with Mike Martz. Anyhow that said, if Kircus keeps doing what he's doing in the preseason, he'll make the team. He's listed as the 5th or 6th receiver on their depth chart and he's been fielding a lot of kick returns.
 

white tornado

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Props to Mike Martz
smiley1.gif
 

Rise

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I have some respect for Martz. He seems to give white receivers a realistic chance. I think if Kircus was still on the team when they hired Martz, he would have had this position. My only problem with Martz was the way he ran Kurt Warner out of St Louis. I still believe he has more skill than Marc Bulger.
 
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No, I'm not kidding. I don't follow the Arena League or Division I-A very
closely. But I figured some of the expets in mediocre, er, victimized
players on here would know.
 

riggo

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Mike Martz is tremendous. Before I ever found this site I remeber noticing how white the Rams were compared to other NFL teams. Who else would make the effort to convert Furrey to safety and start him? And look at how much the Rams are changing since his departure. I hope he returns to a head coaching spot some day soon. I was realy disappointed when Washington didn't get him as O. Coordinator. Maybe he will do well in Detroit and Snyder will hire him to replace Gibbs. I'll keep dreaming...
 

White Shogun

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GreatLakeState said:
No, I'm not kidding. I don't follow the Arena League or Division I-A very
closely. But I figured some of the expets in mediocre, er, victimized players on here would know.

Way to go, GLS! You were able to slip one in there after all.

Mike Furrey was a first team All-District honoree a first team All-Conference honoree, and a first team All-Ohio honoree as a senior. Couldn't get a sniff at a football scholarship though...

From his bio:

Finished three-year career at Northern Iowa with 242 receptions for 3,544 yards and 27 TD. His 242 career catches shattered the previous school and Gateway Conference mark of 176 ... crossed 1,000-yard mark in receiving all three seasons (1,291 as sophomore, 1,074 as junior and 1,179 as senior) ... earned all-Gateway Conference selection as senior ... named second-team all-America by Associated Press, ESPN/SportsTicker and The Sports Network as junior ... transferred to UNI after playing nine games at Ohio State as walk-on freshman in 1995..

Ah, the shame of mediocrity... All-Ohio honoree, named second-team all-America by the AP and ESPN. More athletes should be so mediocre. Maybe Furrey will be so lucky as to be as mediocre as that other guy from the Arena league, what's his name? Kirk Warnke? Kurt Warner? Yeah, Kurt Warner! The guy who went to two Super Bowls, winning one with the Rams. Yeah, that guy.
 

Kaptain

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GreatLakeState said:
No, I'm not kidding. I don't follow the Arena League or Division I-A very
closely. But I figured some of the expets in mediocre, er, victimized
players on here would know.

Just when I think you were coming around your true black supremacism raises its ugly head. Now your an expert in Mike Furrey being mediocre because you've obviously watched him play and followed him for years. Your probably wearing your Charles Rodgers jersey right now! Good luck rooting for that.

If Mike Furrey is mediocre than he should be the Detriot Lion's (your team) number one reciever because all of the other Lion's recievers suck ass.
 

backrow

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Mike played very well for Rams last year, even as a safety... he's definitely not mediocre...
 

White Shogun

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Kaptain Poop said:
If Mike Furrey is mediocre than he should be the Detriot Lion's (your team) number one reciever because all of the other Lion's recievers suck ass.

Made me literally laugh out loud, Poop. Good joke, but true nonetheless!

By the way, I initially asked GLS if he was kidding when he said he didn't know if Furrey was white, considering the number of posts in the NFL forum that mention Furrey. I guess he doesn't take much time to read the forums and discover all the other 'mediocre' players we discuss here, either, although he certainly notices when black players are insulted.
 

jaxvid

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Furrey is mentioned in 31 different posts, not to mention every year in Don's excellent NFL previews. Anyone that is a cstefootball "guru" should know about the guy.
 

Rise

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Looks like Mike is getting some fantasy recognition after last weeks game, but the typical accolades that our pigmentally challenged brothers usually receive.... "non-stop motor" and "deceptively fast". Did all of the sports writers form a committee and decide on what terms to use for white players?


Mike Furrey (WR) Detroit Lions Outside of the cute, cuddly exterior, Furrey is a ferocious Lion that reminds me of former Denver Broncos great "Big" Ed McCaffery. The Detroit No. 2 doesn't possess ideal size or speed, but plays with a non-stop motor that makes him appear deceptively fast. Averaging almost eight targets, 5.5 receptions and 60.5 yards-per-game, he has become a reputable fantasy option in a Mike Martz pass-happy system that ranks fifth in the league with 270.3 passing yards-per-game. The loathsome play of the Lions secondary will continue to force Kitna and company to the air in order to make up points fast, making Furrey a dependable No. 3 in 12-team leagues. Available in 99 percent of Yahoo! leagues, he is no one-week flash-in-the-pan.
article
 

White Shogun

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Rise said:
Available in 99 percent of Yahoo! leagues, he is no one-week flash-in-the-pan.

As a matter of fact, I picked him up in my Yahoo league this afternoon.
smiley1.gif
 
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No. 2 receiver on a win-less team. Finally, mediocrity rewarded!
 

Kaptain

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GreatLakeState said:
No. 2 receiver on a win-less team. Finally, mediocrity rewarded!

Must hurt to be proven wrong (again) in your home state.
smiley19.gif


BTW, how did your affletes do in the basketball world championships? please update me. I heard Darko did OK.
smiley17.gif
 

bigunreal

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Roy Williams has been lobbying nonstop for slow, uninspired Mike Williams to start at WR with him. Of course, much of this is inspired, no doubt, by the fact that the other starter (Furrey) is white. No matter how well Furrey does, it will never be enough. We all know that. Can anyone imagine any white player, at any level of organized sports, lobbying publicly for a white teammate to start in place of a black teammate? The answer is obvious. I read a quote attributed to Furrey about this on a fantasy site, and it was pretty pathetic. Something like, "Yeah, I was surprised Mike didn't play in the game- he looked great in practice." Furrey, like virtually all the other white players in the NFL, probably would be happy if Mike Williams took his starting job away. Oh, well, he's just an overachiever with a high-motor anyway. White players have to start being a little more, well- masculine. Stop being wimpy and politely inviting your black peers to step into the limelight at your expense. Act like you are THE most imporant player in the league. This is something that EVERY black player in the NFL does.
 

White Shogun

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GreatLakeState said:
No. 2 receiver on a win-less team. Finally, mediocrity rewarded!

If Furrey is that bad, what does it say about the guy he replaced? No 1. draft pick and all.
 

Don Wassall

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Rise said:
Looks like Mike is getting some fantasy recognition after last weeks game, but the typical accolades that our pigmentally challenged brothers usually receive.... "non-stop motor" and "deceptively fast". Did all of the sports writers form a committee and decide on what terms to use for white players?


Mike Furrey (WR) Detroit Lions Outside of the cute, cuddly exterior, Furrey is a ferocious Lion that reminds me of former Denver Broncos great "Big" Ed McCaffery. The Detroit No. 2 doesn't possess ideal size or speed, but plays with a non-stop motor that makes him appear deceptively fast. Averaging almost eight targets, 5.5 receptions and 60.5 yards-per-game, he has become a reputable fantasy option in a Mike Martz pass-happy system that ranks fifth in the league with 270.3 passing yards-per-game. The loathsome play of the Lions secondary will continue to force Kitna and company to the air in order to make up points fast, making Furrey a dependable No. 3 in 12-team leagues. Available in 99 percent of Yahoo! leagues, he is no one-week flash-in-the-pan.
article


Outstanding! I count six racist stereotypes in the first two sentences alone (emphasized in bold). This writer was really "on his game." He "pulled out all the stops" in stereotyping a white receiver, went "deep in the playbook," "held nothing back," "gave one hundred and ten percent,"while takingit "one racist sentence at a time" while writing with his "game face" on.


Personally, I would think themore traditional one-size-fits-all Ricky Proehl comparison would be more fitting given that Ricky and Mike are close in height while McCaffrey is 6-5. Maybe the writer threw the names of Proehl, McCaffrey and Chrebet in a hat and Ed was the "winner."


I wonder if there are any fantasy sites not using similardescriptions in describing how Furrey is now waiver wire material?Edited by: Don Wassall
 

jared

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I think Roy Williams just wants to win. He's one of the few Lions that I think actually gives a crap. In that same article, he went on to describe Furrey, K. Jones, Az Hakim, and himself (of course) as the playmakers on the team. With Martz frequently running 4 wide sets, I wanna see Mike Williams out there too. Just not at the expense of Furrey. I don't think that's what Roy meant either.
 

whiteCB

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Luckily Furrey has Mike Martz on his side(his offensive co) and Martz isn't a stone cold caste follower.
 

devans

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They started calling him "Mad Mike Martz" last year.
I think because his team had two white receivers and two white safeties.
 

Kaptain

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Now that is some real talent "appearing fast without really being fast" .... magical.

Furrey is this weeks number 1 fantasy football pick-up according to cbs sportsline stats.
 
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