By Southern Pigskin Staff
SouthernPigskin.com

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Furman’s 2000 recruiting class included three players that would go on to enjoy NFL careers.

n15 years ago, the Furman Paladins had a program-defining recruiting class that included three players that spent time in the NFL, a back-to-back CFL Grey Cup-winning receiver, two Southern Conference championships, an NCAA 1-AA National Runner up team in 2001, 38 wins, a record-breaking kicker, four All-Americans and eight players named to multiple All-Southern Conference teams under coaches Bobby Johnson and Bobby Lamb.xc2xa0

nBrian Bratton (Evans, GA), a member of the Furman University Athletic Hall of Fame, former NFL player, two-time Grey Cup-winning wide receiver with the Montreal Allouettes and current North Greenville University wide receivers xc2xa0coach said, xe2x80x9cOne thing about this class – you look at guys like Ced Ritter, Cam Newton, Danny Marshall, Mike Killian, Isaac West, myself and even TJ Wilson – those are all guys that had the ability, if they wanted to, to play at the next level. Whether they chose not to or it didnxe2x80x99t work out, we had a lot of guys from this class with that kind of athletic ability.xe2x80x9d

nThe 2000 class of signees for Furman also included former Atlanta Falcon, Carolina Panther and Arena League Georgia Force safety Cam Newton (Bennettsville, SC), three-time All-Southern Conference linebackers Mike Killian (Atlanta, GA) and Cedrick Ritter (Allendale, SC), former All-American kicker Danny Marshall (Atlanta, GA), former Philadelphia Eagle, Pittsburgh Steeler, and two-time All-Southern Conference wide receiver Isaac West (Augusta, GA), and former All-American lineman Ben Bainbridge (Acworth, GA).

nToday, Furman signed 14 players to national letters of intent in hopes that this class, along with 18 returning starters from a disappointing 2014 campaign, will lead Furman back to a Southern Conference title and the FCS Playoffs.

nWritten by Robbie Ross.