5 out of nowhere productive individual seasons in Detroit Lions history

1. WR Mike Furrey (2006)

Furrey came into the NFL as a wide receiver with the Indianapolis Colts in 2000, spending that year on the practice squad. He played for the Las Vegas Outlaws in the first rendition of XFL in 2001, then made his way to the Arena League with the New York Dragons for two seasons (2002 and 2003). He came back to the NFL with the St. Louis Rams in 2003, before moving to safety for them in 2005.

The Lions signed him in 2006, and moved him back to wide receiver.

Furrey had 98 receptions (second in the league, on 146 targets) for 1,086 yards and six touchdowns in 2006 for the Lions. He was of course a major unexpected fantasy find, finishing as a top-20 wide receiver in standard scoring.

Furrey actually had a fairly decent follow up in 2007 with the Lions, with 61 receptions for 664 yards. But he had just 18 catches in 2008, his last season as a Lion, then he had 23 catches in 2009 with the Cleveland Browns as he was moved back to defensive back some. That 2009 campaign would be the last games he played in the NFL, as he didn’t last to the season with Washington in 2010.

Furrey moved into coaching after his playing career was over. He is currently in his second stint as the head coach at Limestone College in South Carolina. Most notably, he was wide receivers coach for the Chicago Bears from 2018-2021.

The 2006 season accounted for 44.3 percent of Furrey’s 221 NFL receptions, 47.3 percent of his 2,298 career yards and 85.7 percent of his touchdowns. A nearly 100-catch season for a guy who played in the XFL, played in the Arena Football League and played a lot of defensive back in the NFL is as out of nowhere as it gets, certainly in Lions history, if not league history.