Tribe Football Duo Offered Free Agent Deals

W&M’s Drew Atchison (TE) and Mike Potts (QB) Offered NFL Free Agent Deals

04/28/08 5:36PM

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - William and Mary senior football players Mike Potts (Middletown, Del.) and Andrew Atchison (Charlottesville, Va.) were offered NFL Free Agent contracts by the Pittsburgh Steelers and Dallas Cowboys, respectively, over the weekend.

Potts, a quarterback, saw starting action for parts of two seasons with the Tribe, making 11 starts in 25 career games. An accurate passer with an extremely strong arm, Potts has always had the proto-type professional frame, standing at 6-4, 225-pounds. He will graduate with a career completion percentage of .585 (234 of 400 attempts). He threw for 2,730 career yards and collected 20 TDs to just nine interceptions. After spending the 2004 season as the No. 2 starter behind eventual consensus All-American and Payton Award winning quarterback Lang Campbell, the Middletown High gradu-ate started five of the squad’s first six games of the 2005 season, helping the team to a 42-10 win over then No. 1-ranked New Hampshire. In his junior year (2006), he split the starting signal caller duties, making six starts in nine appear-ances. He set career highs in yards (1,559), TDs (10), attempts (216) and completions (124) that season and his 173.2 yd/game average was the seventh highest figure in the conference. As a senior, he was the top reserve to eventual all-conference quarterback Jake Phillips, seeing action in six contests.

Atchison, a walk-on to the program after the 2004 season, played in 26 career games for the Tribe, making 17 starts at tight end. One of the program’s hardest workers, Atchison made the long climb from walk-on to all-Virginia caliber tight end in just three short years. His combination of size (6-7, 260 pounds), speed (4.6 seconds in 40-yard dash) and outstanding hands caught the interest of scouts, while his numbers on the field (34 catches for 475 yards and six TDs) during the 2007 season were among the best at his position, both in the Colonial Athletic Association and nationally. He participated in the East/West Shrine Game this past January. Atchison ended his Tribe career with 46 grabs for 658 yards and eight TDs.

The pair is prepared to participate in their respective team’s rookie mini-camps, starting Thursday.