University of Connecticut Athletics
Three Huskies to Sign NFL Free Agent Contracts
4/30/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
STORRS, Conn. (April 30, 2007) -- Three former University of Connecticut football players, defensive tackle Ray Blagman, tailback Terry Caulley and tight end Dan Murray, have all agreed to terms on rookie free agent contracts with National Football League franchises. The deals will become official as the three report to their respective teams’ rookie mini camps.
Blagman will sign with the Arizona Cardinals, Caulley with the Washington Redskins and Murray with the Jacksonville Jaguars. The trio will be joined in upcoming NFL camps by their teammate Deon Anderson who was selected in the sixth round of the NFL Draft on Sunday by the Dallas Cowboys.
In addition, defensive end Jason Ward has signed with the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League.
A native of Roosevelt, N.Y., Blagman played in 33 games for the Huskies with 13 starts in the trenches. Mainly a run stopper, Blagman made 59 career tackles, including 6.5 for a loss, 1.5 of which were sacks. As a senior in 2006, he started every game at defensive tackle and turned in his most productive season, making 36 stops while also recording four tackles for loss and shared a sack. He made a career-high five tackles on three separate occasions (vs. USF, Army and Pittsburgh) while making four tackles against both West Virginia (Oct. 20) Wake Forest (Sept. 16).
Caulley, who grew up not far from Washington, D.C. in Lusby, Maryland, is the holder of nearly every major rushing record in school history. He leaves UConn with 570 attempts for 3,187 yards (5.6 average) and 31 touchdowns after an injury-marred career. Caulley had a school record 13 career 100-yard rushing games. A steady third-down back due to his blocking ability, he also caught 85 passes for 579 yards and three more scores. Caulley played in 36 games with 31 starts at tailback for the Huskies. He served as a team captain in 2006, starting seven of the 10 games in which he played carrying the ball 120 times for 674 yards and three touchdowns while catching 19 passes for 117 yards and a touchdown. Caulley was a Freshman All-American in 2002 after leading the nation’s freshmen with 1,247 rushing yards. He was the nation’s leading rusher overall through four games in 2003 when he suffered a severe knee injury on Sept. 27 at Virginia Tech which kept him out of the UConn lineup until 2005.
Murray came to Storrs from Gloucester, Mass. where he was mainly known as a basketball player but used his time wisely at UConn to become an NFL prospect at tight end through hard work in the weight room and a great improvement in his blocking ability. Murray played in 44 games with 26 starts for UConn, catching 70 passes for 928 yards and 10 touchdown. The 10 touchdown catches tie for second-best in school history amongst tight ends. This past fall he was hampered by an ankle injury suffered during fall drills, forcing him to see limited action in many of his nine games played. He made his lone start of the year in the season finale at Louisville (Dec. 2) and led UConn with 35 receiving yards. His lone touchdown catch of the year tied the Pittsburgh game (Nov. 11) with three seconds left in regulation as UConn rallied for a dramatic 46-45 win in double overtime. Murray was an All-BIG EAST pick in 2005.
Also, north of the border, Ward, who missed the entire 2006 season due to injury, has signed with the BC Lions. Ward is a native of Montreal and was drafted by the Lions in the sixth round of last spring's Canadian College Draft. CFL teams retain a player's draft rights throughout his time at an American college. Ward appeared in 25 career games at UConn, recording 36 tackles and 3 sacks from 2003 to 2005. He will report to Lions’ Training Camp starting on June 4.
