Post by Banana Cat on Oct 18, 2010 12:22:51 GMT -5
www.theindependent.com/articles/2010/10/18/sports/commentary/doc4cbbbbc12ce47184422501.txt
Indoor team looking for top players
By Bob Hamar / theindependent.com
October 17, 2010
You may have heard of the Nebraska Danger by now.
It’s the new indoor professional football team that will begin play at the Heartland Events Center in February, but there is a lot of work for general manager Mike McCoy and the coaching staff to do before the Danger is ready to take the field.
One of the first orders of business is to find some players. That’s what McCoy, head coach Sean Ponder, assistant head coach Mike Davis and line coach Ed Flanagan will be looking for when they hold open tryouts on Sunday at the 4-H exhibition building at Fonner Park.
For $40, prospects can work out for three hours. They will at least receive a free Danger T-shirt. They might even get a contract offer.
McCoy will be there with contracts in hand just in case he sees a player or two who can help the Danger.
“I can tell you story after story about tryouts all over the country,” said McCoy, who has been involved with indoor football for 12 years. “I’ve been to those and run them for the league before. If you can find one guy that can help you win a championship, you sign him. Sometimes you’ll find two or three.
“If we can find two or three guys I can sign at these tryouts on the 24th, we’d be thrilled, because I’m taking contracts with me. If they’re that good and they test out good, I’ve got really quick ways of finding out where they’ve been, what they’ve been doing, what their back ground is. We check them out head to toe — police records and everything — and I can get that done real quick.”
There is no question what McCoy and the coaching staff will be looking for at the tryouts. The indoor game is all about speed, speed and more speed.
“This is a different game,” McCoy said. “It’s indoors. It’s speed, man. It’s speed. It’s lots and lots of speed. I say that because our receivers are so gifted and so fast and run a myriad of routes. The quarterbacks are just big people who can thread the ball, timing and this and that.”
And there will be even bigger people up front on the offensive and defensive line. McCoy said the offensive line will likely average around 350 pounds. The nose guard will be 360 or 370. The two rush ends will be around 270 and the middle line backer about the same.
McCoy said fans can expect to see a high-quality brand of football. There will be a number of players on the roster with their eyes on the NFL.
After all, there are only 32 NFL teams and each has 53 roster spots. That leaves a bunch of other quality players who are interested in playing football somewhere.
Some of those will end up in Grand Island.
“There are so many neat kids out there who want to keep playing,” McCoy said. “There are thousands of kids who come out every year who are extremely gifted players. If you want to get better, you keep playing so you have a chance to get into the NFL.”
Most of the players McCoy signs will have had four years of college playing experience. That’s kind of the rule of thumb, because those players have more experience and training.
McCoy doesn’t rule out signing players without college experience. He did that three years ago in Wichita with a player who was a great high school player, but joined the armed forces and served four years in Iraq.
So if you think you’re a football player, you can come on out to Fonner Park from 9 a.m. to noon on Sunday.
You just might end up with a contract offer. You won’t get rich — each player who is on the roster gets $250 a game — but it could be fun.
By Bob Hamar / theindependent.com
October 17, 2010
You may have heard of the Nebraska Danger by now.
It’s the new indoor professional football team that will begin play at the Heartland Events Center in February, but there is a lot of work for general manager Mike McCoy and the coaching staff to do before the Danger is ready to take the field.
One of the first orders of business is to find some players. That’s what McCoy, head coach Sean Ponder, assistant head coach Mike Davis and line coach Ed Flanagan will be looking for when they hold open tryouts on Sunday at the 4-H exhibition building at Fonner Park.
For $40, prospects can work out for three hours. They will at least receive a free Danger T-shirt. They might even get a contract offer.
McCoy will be there with contracts in hand just in case he sees a player or two who can help the Danger.
“I can tell you story after story about tryouts all over the country,” said McCoy, who has been involved with indoor football for 12 years. “I’ve been to those and run them for the league before. If you can find one guy that can help you win a championship, you sign him. Sometimes you’ll find two or three.
“If we can find two or three guys I can sign at these tryouts on the 24th, we’d be thrilled, because I’m taking contracts with me. If they’re that good and they test out good, I’ve got really quick ways of finding out where they’ve been, what they’ve been doing, what their back ground is. We check them out head to toe — police records and everything — and I can get that done real quick.”
There is no question what McCoy and the coaching staff will be looking for at the tryouts. The indoor game is all about speed, speed and more speed.
“This is a different game,” McCoy said. “It’s indoors. It’s speed, man. It’s speed. It’s lots and lots of speed. I say that because our receivers are so gifted and so fast and run a myriad of routes. The quarterbacks are just big people who can thread the ball, timing and this and that.”
And there will be even bigger people up front on the offensive and defensive line. McCoy said the offensive line will likely average around 350 pounds. The nose guard will be 360 or 370. The two rush ends will be around 270 and the middle line backer about the same.
McCoy said fans can expect to see a high-quality brand of football. There will be a number of players on the roster with their eyes on the NFL.
After all, there are only 32 NFL teams and each has 53 roster spots. That leaves a bunch of other quality players who are interested in playing football somewhere.
Some of those will end up in Grand Island.
“There are so many neat kids out there who want to keep playing,” McCoy said. “There are thousands of kids who come out every year who are extremely gifted players. If you want to get better, you keep playing so you have a chance to get into the NFL.”
Most of the players McCoy signs will have had four years of college playing experience. That’s kind of the rule of thumb, because those players have more experience and training.
McCoy doesn’t rule out signing players without college experience. He did that three years ago in Wichita with a player who was a great high school player, but joined the armed forces and served four years in Iraq.
So if you think you’re a football player, you can come on out to Fonner Park from 9 a.m. to noon on Sunday.
You just might end up with a contract offer. You won’t get rich — each player who is on the roster gets $250 a game — but it could be fun.