Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, August 13, 1994                   TAG: 9408160059
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: KIRKLAND, WASH.                                LENGTH: Medium

WARREN COMMITTED TO GIVING IT HIS ALL

That's 1,500 rushing yards, 300 carries and 500 receiving yards.

``If I can have those kind of numbers, it's going to help the team win a lot more games this season,'' said Warren, who played college football at Ferrum.

After back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons and his first Pro Bowl appearance, Warren already is one of the NFL's top running backs. He wants to be even better in his fifth season.

``Hopefully, he'll climb to another level, which isn't bad because the level he was on last year wasn't bad,'' coach Tom Flores said. ``We'd like him to climb to the next level, which means being one of the premier backs.''

In 14 games last season, Warren rushed for 1,072 yards and seven touchdowns on 238 carries as the Seahawks bounced back from a franchise-worst 2-14 record in 1992 to go 6-10.

The fourth-round draft choice in 1990 has had six career 100-yard rushing games, including a personal-best 174 on a franchise-record 36 carries against the New England Patriots last season.

For the first time in his career, Warren will be on the field for first, second and third downs because fullback John L. Williams signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers as an unrestricted free agent.

``The expectations obviously are more than last year because he will carry more of a load with John L. being gone,'' Flores said. ``Chris is having a good training camp, too. He worked hard in the off-season to get himself ready. But I don't want to jinx him. We'll see what happens.''

Warren, 6 feet 2 and 226 pounds, has missed only two games in his college and NFL careers because of injury. But because the Seahawks have had two consecutive last-place finishes in the AFC West, his strong performances have gone relatively unnoticed by the fans and the media.

Not by his fellow players, though. Seahawks starting fullback Steve Smith, who came here as a free agent after seven seasons with the Los Angeles Raiders, now has a higher opinion of Warren.

``I thought Chris was an outstanding player when I played against him,'' Smith said. ``Now that I'm on the same team with him and see him every day in practice, I can see that he's even better than I thought.''

Warren had only 17 carries for just 24 yards in his first two seasons with the Seahawks under coach Chuck Knox. Warren's career has flourished under Flores after Knox's departure from Seattle. In 1992, he rushed for 1,017 yards and three touchdowns on 223 carries. A year ago, he missed the final two games of the season because of a strained abdomen. Still, he was able to come back and play in the Pro Bowl, rushing for a game-high 64 yards on four carries.

And, he said, ``I feel I can do better. That's what I've tried to do each year, just to get better than the year before.''