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PACKERS ADD EXPERIENCE AT TIGHT END, SIGN 9-YEAR-PRO TROY DRAYTON
posted 07/29/01
Adding depth and experience at tight end, the Green Bay Packers have signed nine-year veteran Troy Drayton as a free agent, Andrew Brandt, the team's director of player finance, announced today.
The 31-year-old Drayton joins second-year professional Bubba Franks, a starter as a rookie in 2000, rookie David Martin of Tennessee, a sixth-round selection in this year's NFL draft, and first-year pros Adam Newman of Boston College and Stevan Fontana of Northern Arizona, at the position.
Six-year veteran Tyrone Davis also is on the training camp roster but is unable to practice at this point, following recent hamstring surgery, and his availability remains uncertain at this point.
Drayton, a veteran of 122 NFL games with 91 starts, has caught 243 passes for 2,645 yards and 24 touchdowns over his eight NFL seasons. He spent the 2000 campaign with the Kansas City Chiefs, following three-plus years with the Miami Dolphins, and became an unrestricted free agent at season's end, after catching 8 passes for 70 yards and playing in all 16 games, with one start.
The 6-3, 265-pound Penn State alumnus, originally a second-round selection of the then Los Angeles Rams in 1993, snared a career-high 47 passes for 458 yards, a 9.7-yard average, and 4 touchdowns for the Rams in 1995, their first year at St. Louis. He also was the only Rams offensive player to start all 32 of the team's games over the 1994-95 seasons. Additionally, Drayton has started 89 of his last 106 NFL regular-season games.
Traded to the Dolphins on October 1, 1996, he subsequently posted his most productive season from a yardage standpoint in 1997, amassing 558 yards with 39 receptions (a career-best 14.3-yard average) and 4 touchdowns.
A four-year letterman and two-year starter under the legendary Joe Paterno at Penn State, Drayton closed out his collegiate career with 48 receptions for 692 yards (a 14.4-yard average) and three touchdowns, setting a school record for tight ends as a senior in 1992 with 36 catches for 488 yards (a 13.6-yard average) and one TD.
Drayton, who joined the Packers on the practice field this morning, has been assigned jersey number 40.
In another transaction, tight end Jason Freeman was placed on waivers.
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