Sanders, Ware to get shots at NFL

Steve Guiremand

Monday, April 17, 2000 | 10:54 a.m.

Sunday brought great joy and excitement for UNLV football stars Quincy Sanders and Len Ware.

It also brought back some great memories.

"Quincy and I visited UNLV on the same recruiting trip in 1995," Ware, who finished No. 2 on the Rebels' career reception chart with 161, said. "We talked about that today on the phone. And look at us now. We both have a chance to achieve our dream of playing in the NFL now."

Sanders, the 1994 state co-player of the year at Reed High School in Sparks, became the 32nd player in UNLV football history to be drafted by an NFL team on Sunday when the Washington Redskins made him the 155th pick in the fifth round.

Meanwhile, Ware agreed to a two-year free agent contract with the AFC champion Tennessee Titans.

Sanders, who most mock drafts had going no higher than the seventh round, said he wasn't even watching ESPN when his name flashed up around 11:30 a.m.

"I had stopped watching it," he said. "Some people in my family were watching. And I got a call from Washington right before the pick."

The Redskins listed the 6-3, 200-pound Sanders as a free safety. That means he'll likely back up former USC star Mark Carrier, 31, who recently signed a five-year deal with the Redskins, and play special teams his first year.

"I'm not Nostradamus or anything, so I can't predict the future," Sanders said. "But everything looks good. A lot of people are saying Washington has a good chance to go to the Super Bowl."

Ware, who said he was told by the Titans that he would be their seventh round pick only to get passed over for Mississippi State offensive lineman Wes Shivers, said he still decided to sign with Tennessee despite a flurry of phone calls from teams such as Cincinnati, the New York Jets, Washington and Indianapolis right after the draft.

"(The Titans) told me I would just have to beat out one other wide receiver to make the squad," Ware said. "That seemed like my best chance to make a team. I didn't want to go someplace like Cincinnati where they had already drafted wide receivers like Peter Warrick and Ron Dugans. Tennessee didn't draft any wide receivers."

Sanders and Ware said they will be attending mini-camps for their new teams in the next two weeks.