Chicago Rush is Back
Kevin Sheller
Wednesday February 26, 2003
A few things. In the week leading up to the game against Los Angeles, the players reminded each other of an important mantra.
“Big players make big plays.”
The return of big player Lindsay Fleshman at WR/LB is one of many. I know, it seems weird that such a seemingly no-name player would make any difference. If you don’t follow the Rush closely, you are probably asking, “Who the heck is Lindsay Fleshman?”
He quietly became a vital member of the team last season, and it wasn’t until he disappeared from the roster due to an injury for last year’s Arizona playoff game and his wrist injury before the season began, that his value could truly be measured. But the truth is as simple as this: The Chicago Rush have lost every game they’ve played without him since the 2002 playoffs, and they’ve won every game with him.
His energy on and off the field has had quite an affect on his teammates.
“He can play. He’s a beast,” said DS Cedric Walker. “He plays with a lot of energy. He brings a lot to this team. He came back and gave our offense a big jump than we needed. I really think [Fleshman and Anthony Ladd] are the best one-two jacks in the league.
“Fleshman was just phenomenal out there,” said FB/LB Jamie McGourty. “He’s just non-stop, and he brings such intensity to the team. Other players feed off of that. It was apparent today.”
Along with Fleshman, QB Billy Dicken returned after a game-and-a-half trip to the bench. Head coach Mike Hohensee decided that Dicken would be back under center after a 23-point performance by Chad Salisbury against the Indiana Firebirds.
“I had given Big Country – Chad Salisbury – I think every opportunity to prove that he was our guy,” said Hohensee. “I talked to him before the game [and] told him the things I wanted him to do [and] didn’t want him to do. That didn’t happen.
“I think it was good for Billy [Dicken]. Just watching Billy on the sidelines during that game, he had a lot more to say than he usually does. He was vocal. He was into it. He tried to help Chad out. He was seeing things. I think it slowed the game down for Billy to actually see that this is much simpler than he’s making it. Billy is a very intelligent football player. Sometimes he tends to over-think a situation.”
Did the benching do Dicken any good?
“I’ve been asked that question all week and I don’t know how to answer that,” said Dicken after the game. “I don’t know if it did me any good or not. I know it pissed me off. Maybe motivated me. Obviously I didn’t have very good games in the first two. It wasn’t the first time I’ve ever been benched. It probably won’t be the last.”
The last three weeks of losses have been difficult, but the players had not given up. They wanted to make a difference. They wanted to help.
“They’ve come to me and said, ‘What can I do, coach?’ As individuals they’ve come to me [and] as a group of captains,” said Hohensee. “These are men. These are leaders.”
Perhaps the players put a few too many demands on themselves.
“In the previous three games I think they felt they had to win. Because of the pressure of going into the season [with] the accolades we had gotten from the press and the way we finished last year, I think they felt they had to win every game. They are probably the cockiest group of players that are in the league.”
“It feels good to win,” said Hohensee. “I think our guys believed they were going to win this game more than theirs did from the get-go. What you saw tonight is what we expect every week after this.”
Big plays were made by big players, and the first big game was won.
The Wiley Chicago Rush DS
It figures that after finally settling on Marvin Taylor at the second DS spot, the second-year player gets injured during practice the week prior, and once again, the defense is revamped to compensate. What was the result? Walker, as always, at DS; DeJuan Alfonso and Cornelius Bonner sharing the WR/DB spot; and low-and-behold, Dameon Porter at DS.
“That might be something in the working right now,” said Walker. “For one, Alfonzo stepped up and had a good game. I really think what you saw back there with me and Damion might be the start of something new.”
It’s so obvious. As a coach, you always want your best eight men on the field at all times. In the case of Porter, making him a defensive specialist allows him to play defense for every snap. When playing WR/DB, Porter misses out on many defensive series during a game. A definite shortcoming: Not only is the team’s career interception leader off the field, but the defense is made up of the third and fourth best deep men, instead of the top three.
Hohensee promised that if Taylor was healthy, he’d be back in the DS spot, but it’s hard to say. When the nature of Taylor’s injury is fully understood, then a decision will be made. But until then, the duo of Walker and Porter at DS will keep the team’s top two defenders on the field for every defensive snap.
Kevin Sheller ia founder of Arenafan Online and was the principal owner until 2004. Kevin graduated from the University of Akron with a degree in technical writing, and has been a member of the Arena Football Internet community since 1993. He has worked as a professional web programmer and is also the executive producer for a computer/video game company. The most recent Xbox title to his credit is called Hunter: The Reckoning.
