Cohen and Dell Hoping for Cheers with the Storm
Eric Keaton
Friday January 31, 2003
The free agent veterans signed in the offseason and played the last three campaigns as teammates with the Orlando Predators.
”It’s all about winning championships,” claimed Cohen. The lineman won Arena Bowl XIV with the Predators along with Dell and now they want help the Storm earn its first title since 1996. “We are the front runners I think and I wanted to seize the opportunity.”
The duo expressed mix feelings about signing with Tampa Bay at first. Cohen is a relentless pass rusher and admitted it was a very hard decision leaving the Predators for the Storm.
Dell’s choice was a little easier since his home is in Tampa. Dell attended King High School and played for the University of South Florida.
”I talked with Coach (Tim) Marcum and player personnel director Ron Selesky (now Buffalo’s head coach) and they gave me a great opportunity so I decided to stay at home,” explained Dell.
Upon learning that Cohen was being recruited by the Storm, Dell tried to contact his teammate to tell him that he was jumping Orlando’s ship. Dell didn’t have the cell phone number, but fortunately for Storm fans Coach Marcum did.
“Coach Marcum has seen me play and we have been battling off-and-on during the I-4 War,” Cohen said.
Diehard Storm fans will watch the duo play in the season opener against Carolina. Cohen and Dell have made backbreaking plays against Tampa Bay in the past. Both hope that Storm fans forgive and forget and turn the former jeers into cheers.
“I hope (Storm fans) are receptive,” Cohen said.
“I’m part of the Storm team and I hope they will cheer for me,” Dell pondered.
Quarterback John Kaleo cheered the signings. First, he doesn’t have to worry about Cohen blind-siding him. Secondly, he has a speedy receiver in Dell to make plays.
“I tease him all the time and I call him: Clif ‘Just Makes Plays’ Dell,” Kaleo said. Dell caught 76 passes for 22 touchdowns last season. “A lot of people don’t respect him, and the next thing you know he’s running by them.”
On the defensive side of the ball Dell has been switched from linebacker to defensive back. Dell is asking Storm fans to be patient during the transformation.
“It’s not going to be easy,” Dell claimed when asked about the change in position. “I’m usually not back pedaling but I have been in the league long enough to know a team’s offense and I know from playing wide receiver.”
As for Cohen, he was brought on this team to put pressure on the quarterback. The four-year veteran has nine career takedowns. But Cohen is also a target at tight end. His 23 career receptions for 314 yards and seven touchdowns are world beater numbers in the AFL.
“That was all Jay Gruden’s doing,” Cohen said when referring to his former head coach/quarterback at Orlando. “(Gruden) would pick different schemes and he was great at picking the right time to call those plays.”
Tampa Bay’s fans may give these two defectors the cheers they deserve in game number one. But next Sunday the jeers could return when Cohen and Dell return to Orlando.
Eric Keaton is no stranger to the AFL (or to Storm head coach Tim Marcum, who calls him "Buster.") Eric enters his sixth season as a commentator on Time Warner Cable`s coverage of the Storm. He graduated from the University of South Florida in 1997 and he is the Sports Director for TW-TV47 in the Tampa Bay Area. Eric and his wife Maria live in Palm Harbor, FL.
