Michael Thomas Furrey (; born May 12, 1977) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

wide receiver and

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly dif ...

who is currently the head coach of the Limestone Saints. This is Furrey's second stint as Limestone's head coach following his two seasons with the team in 2016. He was signed by the Indianapolis Colts as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2000. He played college football at Northern Iowa and

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

. Furrey was also a member of the

New York Dragons The New York Dragons were a professional arena football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Dragons participated in the Arena Football League's (AFL) National Conference as a member of the Eastern Division. The team was founded i ...

, Las Vegas Outlaws,

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arr ...

, Detroit Lions,

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (A ...

, and

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

Early years

Furrey attended

Hilliard Davidson High School Hilliard Davidson High School is a public high school in the Hilliard City School District in Hilliard, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus, Ohio. It is the first of three high schools in the district, the other two being Hilliard Darby High School and Hil ...

Hilliard, Ohio Hilliard is a city in Franklin County, Ohio, United States. The population was 37,114 at the 2020 census. It is a suburb of Columbus and part of Norwich Township. Hilliard is home to the Early Television Museum (the only one of its kind in Uni ...

, and was a letter-winner in football,

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

, and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

. In football, as a senior, he was a first-team All-District honoree a first-team All-Conference honoree, and a first-team All-Ohio honoree.

College career

After high school, Furrey enrolled at

in 1995, where he played in nine games as a freshman walk-on. In 1996, he transferred to

Division I-AA The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision. Sponsored by the National Collegiate Athleti ...

Northern Iowa. In his three years at UNI, Furrey set new

Gateway Football Conference The Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC), formerly the Gateway Football Conference, is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I Football Championship Subdivi ...

receiving records with career totals of 242 receptions for 3,544 yards and 27 touchdowns.

Professional career

Indianapolis Colts

He entered the NFL as an

for the Indianapolis Colts in 2000 but was waived at the end of training camp.

Las Vegas Outlaws

He went on to play in the XFL for the Las Vegas Outlaws. He finished the season with 18 receptions for 243 yards and one touchdown.

New York Dragons

Furrey played for the

in 2002 and 2003 as a Wide receiver/ Defensive back. He was leading the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

in receptions (108), receiving yards (1,574), receiving touchdowns (46, tying an AFL record for touchdowns in a single season), and points (288) when he left the Dragons on April 29, 2003 to sign with the

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

St. Louis Rams

Furrey made the 2003 Rams roster and played in 13 games, serving as wide receiver and

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

ace. He played in eight games and two playoff contests in 2004. Due to a lack of depth in the Rams' secondary before the 2005 season, Furrey converted to free safety based on his experience in the AFL, where players play both offense and defense. He became the starter in Week 5. He was successful in the transition, as he had one game-winning interception 67-yard return for a touchdown, and the next week a game-clinching interception in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter. At the end of the 2005 season, Furrey was released.

Detroit Lions

The Detroit Lions signed Furrey to a one-year deal on April 4, 2006 as a wide receiver, being one of the few active players in the NFL to have started on both offense and defense. He emerged as a solid option in the Lions offense, catching 98 passes for 1,086 yards and six touchdowns. His 98 receptions for that season were the most for any player in the conference, and second best in the league. On December 31, 2006, Furrey set the pro football record for most catches for a non-rookie after a season with no catches the previous season. He had 98 receptions at the end of the 2006 season (which was the most in the NFC for that year), after none in 2005. The previous record was 92 catches, set in 1960 by

Lionel Taylor Lionel Thomas Taylor (born August 15, 1935) is a former American football wide receiver who led the American Football League (AFL) in receptions for five of the first six years of the league's existence. College football Taylor attended New ...

, playing for

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

in the AFL. Furrey was the 2006 recipient of the Detroit Lions/Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association/Pro Football Writers Association's Media-Friendly "Good Guy" Award. The Good Guy Award is given yearly to the Detroit Lions player who shows consideration to, and cooperation with the media at all times during the course of the season. After the 2006 season, Furrey was re-signed by the Lions to a three-year contract due to his breakout year. In the 2007 NFL Draft the Lions selected wide receiver

Calvin Johnson Calvin Johnson Jr., (born September 29, 1985) is an American former football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons with the Detroit Lions. He played college football at Georgia Tech, where he twice ...

in the first round (2nd overall), making Furrey number three on the depth chart. Furrey recorded 61 catches for 664 yards in 2007. He was re-signed as an

unrestricted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is ...

on January 24, 2007. Furrey was released by the Lions on February 9, 2009.

Cleveland Browns

Furrey was signed by the

on May 5, 2009. Furrey started the year at wide receiver for the Browns, but was moved to free safety and nickelback due to the lack of depth in Cleveland's injury-depleted secondary. In 2010, he was one of three finalists for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award, which

Brian Waters Brian Demond Waters (born February 18, 1977) is a former American football offensive guard, guard. He was signed by the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent in 1999 out of the University of North Texas. He played most of his career for the K ...

ultimately won. He was also the Browns' 2009

Ed Block Courage Award The Ed Block Courage Award is an annual award presented to a player from each team in the National Football League (NFL) who are voted for by their teammates as role models of inspiration, sportsmanship, and courage. Named in memory of Ed Block, a ...

Recipient.

Washington Redskins

Furrey was signed by the

on June 9, 2010.

After football

In August 2011 it was announced Furrey was one of a number of former NFL players suing the NFL over concussions and related symptoms.

Coaching career

On December 10, 2010, Furrey was introduced as the head football coach at

Kentucky Christian University Kentucky Christian University (KCU) is a private Christian university in Grayson, Kentucky. It was founded on December 1, 1919, as Christian Normal Institute, by J. W. Lusby and J. O. Snodgrass. As a "normal school" its programs included a hi ...

Grayson, Kentucky Grayson is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Carter County, Kentucky, United States, on US Route 60 and Interstate 64 in the state's northeastern region. It is approximately 21 miles west of Ashland. Within the city limits, the ...

. KCU plays in the Mid-South Conference of the

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic scholarships to its st ...

(NAIA). On February 20, 2013, Furrey resigned his position as KCU head coach to become wide receivers coach at

Marshall University Marshall University is a public research university in Huntington, West Virginia. It was founded in 1837 and is named after John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States. The university is currently composed of nine colleges: ...

. On May 10, 2016, it was reported that Furrey would be leaving Marshall University to become the head coach at Limestone College. On May 12, 2016, Furrey was introduced at

Limestone College Limestone University, formerly Limestone College, is a private Christian university in Gaffney, South Carolina. It was established in 1845 by Thomas Curtis, a distinguished scholar born and educated in England. Limestone was the first women's ...

Gaffney, South Carolina Gaffney is a city in and the seat of Cherokee County, South Carolina, United States, in the Upstate region of South Carolina. Gaffney is known as the "Peach Capital of South Carolina". The population was 12,539 at the 2010 census, with an esti ...

at a press conference. He became the second head coach for football for the Limestone Saints, compiling a 9–12 record in two seasons with the team. Furrey joined the Chicago Bears as their wide receivers coach on January 12, 2018, reuniting with New York Dragons teammate and new Bears head coach

Matt Nagy Matthew Nagy ( or ; born April 24, 1978) is an American football coach, and former arena football quarterback, who is the senior assistant and quarterbacks coach for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). He was the head ...

. Following Nagy's firing after the 2021 season, Furrey was not retained by the team.

References

External links

Limestone profile

Kentucky Christian profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Furrey, Mike 1977 births Living people American football safeties American football wide receivers Cleveland Browns players Detroit Lions players Indianapolis Colts players Kentucky Christian Knights football coaches Las Vegas Outlaws (XFL) players Limestone Saints football coaches Marshall Thundering Herd football coaches New York Dragons players Northern Iowa Panthers football players Ohio State Buckeyes football players St. Louis Rams players Washington Redskins players Chicago Bears coaches People from Franklin County, Ohio People from Galion, Ohio Players of American football from Ohio Ed Block Courage Award recipients