Roster Unknown: Maurice Price

Jun 18, 2008, 3:00:52 AM by Bob Gretz - FAQ

At this time of year, the rosters for NFL teams headed to training camp are at their maximum. This year that number is 80 players. Each team will have 53 players when the pre-season is completed. On every one of those 32 teams are players who arrived with little fanfare, but will end up making the final roster.

The Chiefs have a lot of unknowns on their camp roster. Today and Friday, we’ll look at two players who may rise above their unfamiliar status to play in a red and gold uniform come September. Today, we look at an offensive player. On Friday, it’s the defensive side.

Ironically, both of these players have the same first name: Maurice.

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Generally when a college free agent is injured during the NFL pre-season, he’s sent to the injured reserve list to clear him from the roster and ultimately released once he gets over his injury. Sometimes he’s released outright with an injury settlement.

The Chiefs did not do that in 2007 with Maurice Price. They sent the wide receiver to the injured reserve list when he suffered a shoulder injury. That’s where he stayed throughout the ‘07 season.

We saw during the team’s OTA workouts over the last month why Price was kept around. The unknown out of Charleston Southern University showed enough during the months of May and June that he must be considered a legitimate threat to make the Chiefs roster at wide receiver.

Right now, the picture there has Dwayne Bowe and Devard Darling and then it’s a pretty wide open battle for the final two or three spots. Veterans Jeff Webb and Bobby Sippio are in the fight, as is draft choice Will Franklin.

And then there’s Price, who at 6-1, 197 pounds, has something special in that group of players fighting for a job: speed.

“He’s fast and he’s athletic,” Chiefs head coach Herm Edwards said of Price. “We saw some of that last year, but he’s come back a much more confident player. He’s contributing. If he keeps it up …”

If he keeps it up, he’s going to make the team. That would be a pretty remarkable chapter to Price’s story. He came out of Olympia High School in Orlando, Florida and although he was a good high school player, there were not a lot of big schools interested in Price.

“We were a new high school,” Price said of Olympia, which opened in 2001, his sophomore season. “There wasn’t any history there and we didn’t get a lot of attention. We didn’t have the notoriety that a lot of the other schools in Orlando.”

Price was a very productive high school player, but the interest in him was from Division 1-AA schools like Howard, Tennessee-Martin, Illinois State and Tennessee Tech. He ended up at Charleston Southern, a school that started football in 1991 and moved up to Division 1-AA in 1993.

In 26 games over three seasons for the Buccaneers, Price became the school and Big South Conference’s leading career receiver. He ended up catching 202 passes for 2,429 yards and 19 touchdowns. He led the nation in 2006, both Division 1 and 1-AA, with his 103 catches. That made him only the seventh receiver in 1-AA history to catch 100 or more balls. That 103 total tied Price with a receiver named Jerry Rice, who caught 103 passes for Mississippi Valley State in 1984.

Not many Division I-AA players leave school early, but Price said he never had any second thoughts about his decision, even after he was not drafted.

“I thought about it a long time and I prayed over it and when I made the decision, I was right with it and I haven’t changed my mind,” Price said. “I think spending the year here will help me more in making the team this year than if I had spent the year back at Charleston. Once I made the decision, I never looked back.”

Injuries problems kept Price from making any dent on the game sheets for the four pre-season games last summer. He was inactive for one, did not play in two and finally played in the final game against St. Louis, but did not contribute a catch. That’s when he suffered his shoulder injury that kept him on the sidelines all year.

“Even though I was out all of last year, I feel like that gives me an edge this year because I went through everything before I got hurt,” said Price. “This year was my second round of OTAs and this will be my second training camp coming up. That takes some of the mystery out and I just have to go out and perform.

“Being around the guys and learning and getting mental progression really helped,” Price said. “Being around guys like Tony (Gonzalez) and Eddie (Kennison) was helpful. I got a lot of tips from Tony about being a pro and what business I needed to take care of myself.”

Price’s long-term goal is simple: he wants to be the best receiver in the league. His short-term goal is to begin his NFL career in 2008 as part of the Chiefs roster.

“This offense is made for a guy like me, who can make plays,” said Price. “I’m looking forward to camp.”

On Friday, we’ll look at a roster unknown from the defense.

The opinions offered in this column do not necessarily reflect those of the Kansas City Chiefs.

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A former beat reporter who covered the Pittsburgh Steelers during their glory years, Gretz covered the Chiefs for the Kansas City Star for nine years. He is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Board of Selectors. He has been the senior columnist for the Chiefs web site since its inception.