Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, April 15, 1991 TAG: 9104150014
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
When the Seattle Seahawks released their list of 37 players protected from Plan B free agency, Warren, the former Virginia and Ferrum star, was on the roster.
"They hadn't told me anything," Warren said Saturday during an autograph signing session at The Ground Round in Roanoke. "It was up in the air. When the Seahawks protected me, it told me they have more plans for me. That made me as happy as anything last season."
Warren, who was Seattle's fourth-round pick in the 1990 draft, should have figured he would be protected. Not only did he rank third in the AFC in punt returns and fourth in conference kick returns, he should have remembered the day the Seahawks came to work him out a year ago.
Warren was returning to the Ferrum campus from his Northern Virginia home when his car broke down. Seattle personnel director Mike Allman and running back coach Chick Harris were waiting at Ferrum for the 6-foot-2, 225-pound back.
Warren phoned from an interstate rest area and said his 1987 Volkswagen GTI had overheated, then called again and said it couldn't be fixed. So, Allman and Harris were driven by a Ferrum assistant coach up I-81.
There, in the parking lot of the Troutville rest stop, Warren caught passes for the Seahawks. The makeshift tryout moved to a Roanoke field that had recently been seeded, but the Seattle execs saw enough to pick Warren.
He missed the first four days of training camp before signing a two-year, $190,000 contract, with a third option year. Warren ran only six times from scrimmage in his first season, during which he was Derrick Fenner's backup in coach Chuck Knox's "Ground Chuck" offense.
Warren said he's expecting more time in the backfield because Fenner's contract is up and the possibility of a holdout exists. However, being a return man suits Warren just fine.
"The fun thing about last season was that every week it was something new," Warren said. "I enjoyed that the most. I enjoyed the responsibility, too.
"In college, you're always looked after. You're told what to do, where to be over and over. In the NFL, they tell you to be somewhere once. It's up to you to get there. It's a job."
Warren said that before his signing, "I didn't see myself as good as the other guys I'd have to compete with," and he admits he wondered about whether he could play in the NFL.
"When I was at Ferrum, deep down, I never really thought for sure that I could make the NFL," said Warren, who became the Panthers' career all-purpose yardage leader in only two years. "I was careful not to tell myself that there was no way I'd get cut."
The Seahawks were impressed with Warren's athletic ability and his versatility. They knew he wasn't a Division III player, although that's where he played after becoming an academic casualty at UVa. He had been a defensive back and running back in his two Virginia seasons.
Besides returning punts and kicks, Warren was also a regular on Seattle's kickoff team last season.
"I think a lot of people kind of underestimated me, because of Ferrum," Warren said. "It was a good place for me, and I spend a lot of time explaining where it is to my teammates."
Warren is back at Ferrum this semester, working toward a degree in psychology. "Getting a degree is self-satisfaction to me," he said. After this semester, Warren will need nine credit hours to graduate.
So, how did he explain to fellow Seahawks where the Panthers' powerhouse program is located?
"I told them it's in the country, in the mountains and it's like someone dropped a bomb and then flew over and dropped in a little school.
"Guys who played at Texas or Notre Dame or Florida will say, `Where is that Ferrum? We never see your school on the highlights.'
"I tell them, `Yeah, you probably won't, either.' "
Keywords:
FOOTBALL
by CNB