Kansas City, Mo ? Eric Crouch, who won the 2001 Heisman Trophy as a quarterback at Nebraska, has signed with the Kansas City Chiefs as he continues his efforts to make the NFL as a defensive back.

The Chiefs will look at Crouch as a safety and plan to send him to NFL Europe this spring.

Coach Dick Vermeil said Crouch “has made the commitment to play defense.”

“He said he would do whatever we wanted him to do,” Vermeil said.

In 2002, Crouch was a third-round draft choice of the St. Louis Rams, who saw him as a receiver, but he left the team in training camp when he wasn’t given a chance at quarterback. He later had a couple of trials with the Green Bay Packers, once as a quarterback and then as a safety, but he was released before training camp last season.

His agent, Jim Steiner, said Crouch “has no more desire to play quarterback.”

“He’s fired up about this,” Steiner said. “I’ve noticed a change in his attitude about things. He’s as excited about this opportunity as he’s been than about anything since he was in college.”