BLOOMINGTON - Peter Warrick has caught passes in the Sugar Bowl and returned punts in a Super Bowl.

On Monday, he said he'll suit up with the Bloomington Extreme for the 2009 Indoor Football League season, becoming the biggest name-brand signing in the organization's four seasons.

Warrick, 31, was the fourth overall pick in the 2000 NFL Draft and finished sixth in the 1999 Heisman Trophy balloting after setting a Florida State all-time school record for touchdowns receptions with 31 during an All-American career.

He played six seasons in the NFL, most of which were with the Cincinnati Bengals. His best season was 2003 when he caught 79 passes for 819 yards and seven touchdowns. In his NFL career, he has 275 receptions for 2,991 yards and 18 TDs.

He returned four punts in the Seahawks' loss to Pittsburgh in the Super Bowl in 2006. He had 11 catches in 13 games that season as a receiver.

Warrick has spent much of the past two seasons trying to get back into professional football. After being cut in training camp by Seattle in 2006, he failed to catch on in 2007 with the Las Vegas Gladiators of the Arena Football League. Last June, he was released by the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League.

Extreme coach Kenton Carr said the signing remains significant on many levels.

"He's huge, not just for our organization, but for our league," Carr said. "It's an indication of where this league is going."

Many players looking to work their way back to the NFL - or the AFL, assuming it resumes a schedule in 2010 under a different business structure - have begun signing with lower-level leagues. The Extreme already has signed several players with major indoor experience.

"For us and the level that we've played at the last couple of years, it's tremendous marketing-wise," Extreme general manager Bart Rogers said. "He's, for sure, a big-time player who we can market around."

Rogers said season-ticket sales are at about 85 percent of last season's number, including a recent surge during the past two weeks as player signings have been announced.

Warrick, who lives in Atlanta, Ga., will begin preseason workouts in Cincinnati about two weeks prior to training camp, Carr said. The Extreme's only exhibition game is March 7. The regular season begins March 14.

"His presence in the locker room is going to be just as valuable as it will be on the field," Carr said.

Warrick was unavailable for comment Monday.

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2000 NFL Draft

Player, college Team

1. Courtney Brown, Penn State Browns

2. LaVar Arrington, Penn State Redskins

3. Chris Samuels, Alabama Redskins

4. Peter Warrick, Florida State Bengals

5. Jamal Lewis, Tennessee Ravens

1999 Heisman Trophy voting

1. Ron Dayne, Wisconsin

2. Joe Hamilton, Georgia Tech

3. Michael Vick, Virginia Tech

4. Drew Brees, Purdue

5. Chad Pennington, Marshall

6. Peter Warrick, Florida State