It’s Go Time in Arizona
Patrick Daly
Sunday February 2, 2003
That’s the slogan for the 2003 Arizona Rattlers.
Since the crushing ArenaBowl loss in San Jose, the Arizona Rattlers have prepared for another shot at the title. On Sunday, February 2nd, the Rattlers will drop the gloves and take it to their biggest rival when the SaberCats come to town. With that slogan in mind, it’s the simplicity of the words that makes it powerful.
For the third season in a row, the Rattlers will open the season against San Jose. The difference this season is that the Rattlers get to host the opener against the team that sent them home without the title.
“I love it. Our last game was against them,” said Rattlers head coach Danny White. “It’s like it’s been just a long bye week. We’re strapping it up and getting after the same team again. That game is fresh in our memories and I love it. I think it’s the best time to play them.”
Thanks to the earlier start this season, the shorter offseason will enable the Rattlers to get back on the field with a shot to erase last season’s loss from their memories.
“You’re kind of glad the season came around as fast as it did, because there’s a bad taste in your mouth to get beat like that, especially by your rival, not to mention on TV in front of everybody,” said wide receiver/linebacker Hunkie Cooper. “We didn’t play well. We got dominated up front and our receivers weren’t able to get open, including myself. Those guys came out with the desire to win the football game. We just have to come out on Sunday and play the football game.”
As well the season went until ArenaBowl XVI, it’s easy to forget that the Rattlers were only sixty minutes away from claiming their third title.
“That’s always our plan, to go play in the ArenaBowl,” Cooper said. “Realistically, every year that I’ve been here since 1993, we’ve had a chance to go to the ArenaBowl and win it. We didn’t just go into San Jose and blow it. San Jose came to play and they took it to us. You’ve got to respect them for that, but that’s last year.”
When the game starts, you’ll see some changes, especially in the defensive backfield and along the line. Gone are defensive specialists Cecil Doggette, Jerrick Bledsoe and Derek Stingley. Lineman Stacy Evens signed with Georgia after being released during final cuts and linemen Joe Burch and Charlie Morris are out – Morris may be back in time for next week’s game. Also missing are linemen Lindsey Hassell and Nikia Adderson as each will spend at least two weeks on injured reserve.
One player to watch this weekend is defensive specialist Kelvin Hunter, who will get the starting nod in the middle of the defense. Like the quarterback on offense, the defensive adjustments fall to the man in the middle on defense. Ricky Parker also assumes a starting role, while newcomer Mark Ricks may not dress and Clarence Lawson, a big hitter who comes from Carolina, remains on injured reserve for at least two weeks.
“They all bring something different,” said White about the defensive specialist situation. “Clarence is a very physical player. Ricky is a great cover guy. The guy that’s been impressive in the whole bunch, more than anybody, is Kelvin Hunter. Kelvin, going into this game will be our starting defensive specialist. He’ll play in the middle and Ricky Parker will play on the edge. We haven’t decided yet if Mark Ricks will play on the backside or whether we’ll dress all three defensive specialists.”
If Ricks doesn’t dress, that will make room for an extra lineman on Sunday. That includes linemen Robert Stewart and Ben Crosland, who are late additions to the Arizona roster, but should make an immediate impact. Stewart was released by Colorado at the end of camp and needs only two and a half sacks to become the third player to reach 40 sacks. Crosland recorded ten sacks with Nashville during the 2001 season when the Kats lost to Grand Rapids in the ArenaBowl and spent 2002 with Chicago.
“Those are two veteran players who know the game,” White said. “They know the angles, they know the blocks that need to be made.
“I think we’re very fortunate to have them and they both look like they’re ready to go.”
A player everyone should be happy to see on the field is offensive specialist Chris Horn. After leading the league in points scored, Horn missed the ArenaBowl due to an injury suffered the previous week in the semifinal game against Chicago. It looks like the work he’s put in during the offseason may have made him an even bigger force this year.
“Chris looks great,” White said. “He’s the old Chris. I don’t think he’s lost a step. In fact, he was a little bit quicker in all of the tests that we did. If anything, Chris is faster and stronger than he was last year.”
Without the benefit of a full preseason, the Rattlers need a quick start to avoid digging a big hole in week one. While they were able to recover and beat San Jose in the second meeting last season, the SaberCats are not a team to play catch-up with.
“Once Sunday comes, we have to re-establish ourselves as a power in the west,” Rattlers quarterback Sherdrick Bonner said. “Right now, they’re the world champions, and they’re going to be until the end of this season.
“We’ve just got to go out and play our game and make plays early. That’s something we haven’t done. We get ourselves in a nice little rhythm and we’ll be fine from there.”
As one of the core veterans on the team, Hunkie Cooper summed up the top priority for Sunday.
“We just want to come out and play well, be physical,” Cooper said. “If we don’t control the line of scrimmage, the same result happens; we lose the football game.”
So, now that NBC figures into the mix as a broadcast partner that can provide exposure at a national level, is there a better time for the Rattlers to capture their third title?
“I’m very excited about this season,” Bonner said. “I’ve been waiting for a long time for people to be able to see the product that we have on a bigger scale.
“You never get a second chance to do something, so I’m going to make the most of this season and enjoy the time with the guys on team and try to bring them closer together so that when Hunkie and I leave there’s still a solid unit of guys that are going to take care of what we helped to get going in this town.”
And when it all comes down to it, there’s only one way to improve on last season.
“The only way to get better is to win the ArenaBowl,” White said. “We got there last year and we’re certainly not rebuilding, we’re reloading, and there’s a big difference.”
Now that the Rattlers have reloaded, there is only one thing left to say. It’s go time.
Rattler Bytes
Although defensive specialist Clarence Lawson won’t be on the field, look for some big hits when he gets into the lineup.
“My thing is you’ve to have a short-term memory,” Lawson said. “You’re going to get scored on a lot. Secondly, you’ve got to be physical. If you can beat a receiver up, you can slow their game down tremendously.
“Everybody has labeled me as a big hitter. I’ll go up and hit anybody. It doesn’t matter. Size doesn’t mean anything, it’s all about the fight.”
Like the saying goes, “it’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.”
With former UNLV graduates like Hunkie Cooper and Randy Gatewood on the team, lineman Pete Tramontanas benefited from the Running Rebel connection to get a look. However, once he got that look late last season, there’s no doubt why he remains on the roster in 2003.
“They tried to pick me up at the beginning of the season, because Hunkie Cooper did some commentating for UNLV,” Tramontanas said. “He knew of me and I wanted to see if anything would work out with the NFL. That route didn’t happen, but they called me up and brought me down for a two-day tryout, and I ended up making the squad. Some people ended up getting hurt and they just wanted me to fill in and do the best I could.”
Although he wasn’t active for the ArenaBowl, Tramontanas felt the same pain as those on the field and is ready to turn that loss into a positive.
“Sitting on the sidelines at the ArenaBowl, that just makes you sick,” he said. “It just really hurts. Even though you didn’t get to play, you still want to be out there. I think it’s time to redeem ourselves.”
Patrick Daly has been an Arena Football League enthusiast since he first stumbled across the late-night ESPN broadcasts and has followed the Arizona Rattlers since their inaugural season in 1992. He graduated from Arizona State University with an engineering degree and is currently a member of a web development team for Direct Alliance in Tempe. Patrick currently resides in the Phoenix suburb of Chandler, Arizona with his beautiful wife, son and a very large football helmet collection.
