Football Southern Conference

Furman's Sansbury, Bouton Sign NFL Free Agent Deals

GREENVILLE -- Furman linebacker Will Bouton and tight end Trent
Sansbury have signed free agent contracts with the National Football
League's Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals, respectively, the two
players confirmed early Monday.

Bouton, a two-time All-America and Southern Conference Defensive
Player-of-the-Year selection, totaled 141 tackles, 24 tackles-for-loss, and
eight sacks in helping Furman to a 12-3 record, Southern Conference
championship, and NCAA I-AA national runner-up finish in 2001. A
Greenville native, he posted a school record 50 consecutive starts and
finished his career ranked fifth on the school's all-time tackles chart
with 445 stops. He will report to the Steelers' rookie mini-camp in
Pittsburgh on Thursday.

Sansbury earned All-Southern Conference honors three times and tallied
44 receptions for 609 yards and two touchdowns in 2001. A three-year
starter for the Paladins, the Lilburn, Ga., product caught 63 passes for
905 yards and seven touchdowns in his career. He will report to the
Bengals' rookie mini-camp on May 3.

"We are very happy for Will and Trent and the opportunity they've
earned to pursue their dreams of playing in the NFL," said Furman head
football coach Bobby Lamb. "They are a tremendous credit to our program
and university, and we certainly hope they will have the same impact with
their new teams.

Both players received their undergraduate degrees from Furman in
December: Bouton in philosophy and Sansbury in computing business.

Counting Bouton and Sansbury, Furman now has seven players in NFL
camps, including Luther Broughton '97 (Chicago Bears), Orlando Ruff '99
(San Diego Chargers), John Keith '00 (San Francisco 49ers), Des Kitchings
'00 (Indianapolis Colts), and Josh Moore '01 (Philadelphia Eagles).