Rattlers Fall Again
Brian Knapp
Monday June 23, 2003
“Tampa Bay is a good football team”, Rattler receiver Hunkie Cooper said. “We came in, the same situation as last year, and we lost again. And you have to take your hat off to Tim Marcum and those guys. We didn’t make mistakes because we wanted to, they forced us to make mistakes, and what you have to do with that is get your veteran players and just take the lead and get it done, and we didn’t do that tonight.”
Going into ArenaBowl XVII, the confidence in the Rattler locker room was high, and players and coaches alike were all but convinced that they would be coming home to the valley with their third AFL title.
The Rattlers had been building their momentum for over two months, which saw them win 9 of 10 games, including two of the most exciting playoff victories in franchise history over intra-division rivals Los Angeles and San Jose, consecutively.
Following their thrilling semi-final victory over the defending champion SaberCats, the Rattlers were faced with a two-week break before the ArenaBowl, a break that would prove costly to the outcome of the championship game.
Although very few players will admit it just yet, Arizona’s momentum was hurt by the bye week, which was set so that NBC could cover the U.S. Open golf tournament. “Maybe it did take a little bit out of us, who knows?” Gatewood said. “Ultimately, tonight those guys had a better game plan, and executed better than we did.”
Despite the extra time to heal up some injuries and tighten up some loose ends, it was obvious from the get-go that this was not the same Arizona team that bulldozed its way through the playoffs.
Rattler quarterback Sherdrick Bonner scratched and clawed his way through the first half against the Storm. However, he never found a rhythm, completing just 6 of his first 17 passes. Despite multiple mistakes and turnovers made by the Rattlers in the first 30 minutes, they were able to remain within striking distance, down by only seven at the break, 23-16.
Due to an injury suffered by Storm quarterback John Kaleo, Tampa Bay head coach Tim Marcum was forced to use his emergency quarterback Pat O’Hara. This move seemed to finally give the Rattlers some much needed momentum, as the Storm appeared to be on their heels.
Little did the Rattlers know that O’Hara, a former starter for the Orlando Predators, still had plenty of gas in the tank, as he went 7 for 13 for 103 yards and 2 touchdowns in less than two quarters.
“At this level, you’ve got to give credit to Tim (Marcum) and to the Storm, because they just never let us breath, they never let up, they never gave a chance to get back in the game,” White said. “When they lost their quarterback (Kaleo), we thought we finally got a break and Pat O’Hara just stepped in and made some big plays.”
Arizona’s fate was finally sealed late in the fourth quarter as Rattler Ironman of the Year Randy Gatewood fumbled the ball on the Tampa Bay 2-yard line. Tampa Bay recovered the fumble, and never looked back en route to yet another ArenaBowl championship.
The future of the Arizona Rattlers is unclear at best, as Bonner, Gatewood, and Cooper, (who only caught one pass for eight yards in the ArenaBowl) must decide if Phoenix is where they will finish their careers.
“The fact still remains that I am a free agent,” said Cooper. “Arizona will have the first opportunity to sign me back. I would love to finish my career there, but if they choose to move in a different direction and they want to get some younger guys in there, then I accept that whole-heartedly, like I said, I am a professional.”
Brian Knapp was a writer for ArenaFan Online from 2003 to 2005.
