William Mason Furrer (born February 5, 1968) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Chicago Bears, Phoenix Cardinals, Denver Broncos, Houston Oilers, St. Louis Rams, and Jacksonville Jaguars. He played college football for the Virginia Tech Hokies.
| No. 2, 7, 9, 10, 17 | |||||||||
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| Position: | Quarterback | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | February 5, 1968 Danville, Pennsylvania, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 210 lb (95 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Pullman (Pullman, Washington) | ||||||||
| College: | Virginia Tech | ||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1992 / round: 4 / pick: 107 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
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| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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High school
editFurrer attended Pullman High School, on the Palouse in southeastern Washington, and graduated in 1986. A baseball player, he did not play organized football until his sophomore year, and was the quarterback on the junior varsity.[1] The next year he was a backup to senior Timm Rosenbach, another future NFL quarterback, and became the starter for the Greyhounds as a senior in the fall of 1985.[1][2][3][4]
College career
editAs a quarterback with Virginia Tech, Furrer became one of the top quarterbacks in school history and he is currently ranked third on its list of all-time career passing leaders. Finishing with a career record of 16–18–1 (.471), Furrer is, as of 2013, the last full-time starting quarterback to have a losing record for Virginia Tech, however his accomplishments at the university led to his induction into its sports hall of fame in 2015.
Furrer was one of only eight to be named a national recipient of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame Scholar Athlete Award in 1991, his senior year.
| Year | Comp
|
Att
|
Pct
|
Yds
|
Td
|
| 1988 | 128
|
279
|
45.9
|
1384
|
6
|
| 1989 | 45
|
88
|
51.1
|
589
|
3
|
| 1990 | 173
|
293
|
58.4
|
2122
|
19
|
| 1991 | 148
|
257
|
57.6
|
1820
|
15
|
| Career | Comp
|
Att
|
Pct
|
Yds
|
TD
|
| 4 Years | 494
|
920
|
53.7
|
5915
|
43
|
NFL Europa career
edit| Year | Team | Comp
|
Att
|
Pct
|
Yds
|
YPA
|
Long
|
Td
|
Int
|
Rate
|
RYds
|
RAvg
|
RTd
|
| 1995 | Amsterdam | 51
|
85
|
60.0
|
542
|
6.38
|
38
|
4
|
2
|
84.5
|
32
|
2.3
|
1
|
| 1996 | Amsterdam | 206
|
369
|
56.0
|
2689
|
7.31
|
48
|
20
|
13
|
82.6
|
189
|
7.3
|
1
|
| Career | Comp
|
Att
|
Pct
|
Yds
|
YPA
|
Long
|
TD
|
Int
|
Rate
|
RYds
|
RAvg
|
RTds
| |
| 2 Years | 257
|
454
|
58.0
|
3231
|
6.85
|
48
|
24
|
15
|
83.6
|
224
|
4.8
|
2
| |
NFL career
editFurrer was selected by the Chicago Bears in the fourth round of the 1992 NFL draft, the fifth quarterback taken and 107th overall pick.[5] When he was drafted he was quoted as saying "One of my biggest problems will be trying to figure out whether to call Mike Singletary mister or sir."[6]
| Year | Team | G
|
Comp
|
Att
|
Pct
|
Yds
|
YPA
|
Long
|
Td
|
Int
|
Rate
|
RYds
|
RAvg
|
RTd
|
| 1992 | Chicago | 2
|
9
|
25
|
36.0
|
89
|
3.6
|
16
|
0
|
3
|
7.3
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
| 1995 | Houston | 7
|
48
|
99
|
48.5
|
483
|
4.9
|
48
|
2
|
7
|
40.1
|
20
|
2.5
|
0
|
| Career | G
|
Comp
|
Att
|
Pct
|
Yds
|
YPA
|
Long
|
TD
|
Int
|
Rate
|
RYds
|
RAvg
|
RTds
| |
| 2 Years | 9
|
57
|
124
|
42.3
|
572
|
4.3
|
48
|
2
|
10
|
23.7
|
20
|
2.5
|
0
| |
After football
editFurrer was a partner with Tony Boselli and Jeff Novak in IF Marketing & Advertising with offices in Georgetown, Texas and Jacksonville, Florida.[7] Prior to founding IF marketing & advertising, he was Director of Web Technologies for S1 Corporation.
Since 2013 Will has held numerous roles (SVP Product, Marketing, and CMO) at Q2, a financial experience company dedicated to providing digital banking and lending solutions to banks, credit unions, alternative finance, and fintech companies in the U.S. and internationally. Beginning in 2016 Will has served as Q2's Chief Strategy Officer sharing corporate strategy with customers, prospects, and employees as well as collaborating with a small team on M&A activities. In his nine years at Q2 Will has played a key role in the company's IPO process, branding, messaging, product strategy, and M&A.
Will is a member of the Virginia Tech Hall of Fame, Fork Union Military Academy Hall of Fame, and currently sits on the board for Virginia Tech's Apex Center for Entrepreneurship. Will holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Virginia Tech and has served the university in the past in roles on the Alumni Association Board of Directors and Distinguished Alumni Board for English.[8]
Awards
edit- 2015 Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame.
- 2006, inducted into the Fork Union Military Academy Hall of Fame.[9]
- 1987, Pullman High School (Washington): All-league Honors
- 1991, National Recipient of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame Scholar Athlete Award,
- 1991, one of seven finalists for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award
- 1991, All-Big East Conference Second-team Selection
Records
edit- Virginia Tech: Most Pass Completions – 494
- Amsterdam Admirals: Most Passes Attempted in a Season – 368 in 1996
References
edit- ^ a b Sullivan, Tim (April 27, 1992). "Will Furrer says Pullman got him to the big time". Moscow-Pullman Daily News. (Idaho-Washington). p. 3C.
- ^ Bunch, Jeff (October 26, 1985). "Greyhounds have it their way, blast Bantams". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 1B.
- ^ "Cheney wins 1st Frontier crown, 17-8". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). November 8, 1985. p. 25.
- ^ Devlin, Vince (November 13, 1985). "Greyhound drives go flat at goal line". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. C1.
- ^ "1992 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved May 7, 2023.
- ^ Colston, Chris: Tales from the Virginia Tech Sideline, page 70, ISBN 1-58261-728-7, Sports Publishing 2003
- ^ [1] Florida Times-Union, October 2, 2009, "Briefs: Boselli marketing firm opens Jacksonville site"
- ^ "Q2 | Solutions Designed to Transform Financial Experiences".
- ^ [2], Hokie Sports website, June 13, 2006, "Will Furrer to Be Honored by Fork Union"
External links
edit- IF marketing & advertising
- Fork Union Military Academy Hall of Fame Archived January 21, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
- Career statistics from NFL.com · Pro Football Reference