Locker Room Reflections—350 Miles From Richmond
David Chappell
Thursday July 3, 2003
To say that the week leading up to the game with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton was tumultuous for the Speed is probably a bit of an understatement.
After beating the Cape Fear Wildcats the previous Saturday in Richmond’s biggest win of the year, head coach Richard Davis had major post game issues with Speed owner BK Katherman. The following week became a daily saga in the local media of Davis versus Katherman and Davis’ coaching status with the team, rather than a focus on the upcoming critical matchup between the Speed and the Pioneers.
Richard Davis entered the 2003 season as arenafootball2’s leading active coach in number of victories. Davis took over a 0-5 Speed team in 2000 and nearly got it into the playoffs. In 2001, Davis took Richmond all the way to the Arena Cup championship game. Last year under Davis, Richmond was a 12-4 playoff team.
But the 2003 season was a struggle for Davis and the Speed on a number of fronts, and much of that simmering pot boiled over last week. As a result, for the first time since the 2000 season, the Richmond Speed took the field in Wilkes-Barre for an af2 game without Richard Davis at the helm.
Immediately after Richmond’s 48-33 loss to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, a loss which dropped the Speed’s record to 5-7, several key members of the Speed in the First Union Arena locker room reflected on the events of last week, their performance against the Pioneers and the future of the Richmond Speed.
QB Roy Johnson
Johnson threw for three touchdowns against the Pioneers, but fumbled the ball away for a safety in the third quarter with Richmond ahead 33-26. With Richmond down only 41-33 with under a minute to play, Johnson was intercepted and Wilkes-Barre ran it back for a 26 yard TD to put the game away.
Last Week: “The stuff during the week didn’t affect us tonight.”
Performance Against The Pioneers: “It all came down to the turnovers that occurred. I can’t drop the ball and I can’t throw interceptions. Those two turnovers were the difference makers in the game and they just can’t happen, especially in games that we have to win. We came in with a good game plan, and were doing a great job early executing it, but I guess in the second half we got lax and felt we were just going to walk away with it.”
The Future: “We just have to hurry up and correct things, and hope for the best in terms of our remaining games and us winning those games. We have to keep our heads up and keep going out and playing hard. There are teams left on our schedule that are still trying to make the playoffs. We want to get into the playoffs, and if we have to beat those teams to get there then we need to do that. Also, you want to play spoiler and sometimes a spoiler can turn into Cinderella at the same time. You never know what might happen at the end of the season. We play Norfolk (6-6) this week, the War on 64, and we’ve got to go down there and win. We’ve never won in Scope and now is a good time to start. They’re one of the teams that we’re chasing to try and make the playoffs.”
OL/DL/TE Lawrence Lewis
Lewis is a member of the original Richmond Speed, and has played in Richmond throughout the existence of the franchise except in 2001 when he was in the AFL. Lewis is arguably the most popular and respected player on the team.
Last Week: “There was a big distraction this past week, but it’s still not enough of an excuse for us to use that as a crutch for our performance tonight.”
Performance Against The Pioneers: “We went back to the things that have been beating us pretty much all year. We’ve been beating ourselves. People watching tonight, they didn’t see us getting beat by that team. Don’t get me wrong; Wilkes-Barre is a very good team. But you look at the mistakes that we’re making, and it’s pretty much us not doing the things we’re supposed to do.”
The Future: “We’re taking things one game at a time. We’re not so much looking at schedules and wins and losses, but we’re just looking at getting better. But we do have Norfolk next, and that is pretty much our chance for the playoffs against them next week. Plus, that’s a big game for me because I’m going back down to the area where I’m from. It’s also big because we’ve never won a game in Norfolk in the four years the Speed have been together. It would be a great Fourth of July holiday to go down there and get a win—that would be the best feeling in the world.”
FB/LB Rodney Sledge
Against the Pioneers, Sledge was named Ironman Of The Game, as he ran for a touchdown and caught a touchdown pass in the first half. However, in the second half, Sledge made several miscues that cost Richmond dearly. An All-af2 performer last season, Sledge has battled through an injury-plagued year in 2003.
Last Week: “That shouldn’t have anything to do with our play or anything. This is professional football, and you have to prepare each week like you do every week and be ready to play.”
Performance Against The Pioneers: “Personally, I let down. Mentally, I had some mistakes I shouldn’t have made and I take responsibility for them. Every time I messed up I tried to make a play here and there and get it back. But as soon as we get it back, we make more mistakes. We got ourselves behind the eight ball. We have to work on finishing games strong, like we did against Cape Fear. That’s all we needed to do tonight, but we just didn’t focus enough to do it.”
The Future: “One game at a time; one play at a time. But the next one is Norfolk, and we’re going to be pumped up for them.”
Coach Chad Davis
Due to the situation last week involving his older brother Richard Davis, defensive coordinator Chad Davis was requested by Katherman to also become offensive coordinator and to call both sides of the ball, with all other assistant coaches maintaining their roles as before. In Wilkes-Barre, while not named interim or head coach by Katherman, Chad Davis was the Speed’s on-the-field leader against the Pioneers.
Last Week: “With all the distractions and everything that was going on throughout the week, we tried to tell the team that it’s one game at a time and we wanted to focus on Wilkes-Barre and that’s all we did. But this has been a really, really rough week for myself, the other coaches, the team and for Mr. Katherman. It’s been rough for everybody. This kind of change is hard to deal with for any football team at any level. When you have a leader who’s led you for so long and done so many good things for an organization, won so many games as their leader, and when bad things happen with him or the organization and these guys don’t have him to look to anymore…it’s unfortunate that those things happened. But no excuses here. I don’t want to use the events of the week as an excuse for our play here tonight. Players can’t worry about what they can’t control. They’re still professional football players and they need to play.”
Performance Against The Pioneers: “Too many turnovers, too many mistakes and a lot of undisciplined stuff that was out of character. When you do those things you’re not going to win. But as I said before: no excuses. Wilkes-Barre beat us…they physically beat us up front. I feel like they out-coached us too. They did a good job. They prepared well, they played well and they deserve all the credit. My hat’s off to them, they outplayed us in the fourth quarter.”
The Future: “If we really have learned from what Richard has taught us as a team and as an organization, his teachings will prevail. We’ll fight back. These kids will have to dig down deep and find that character, look themselves in the mirror and get better and go play. We have Norfolk next, and we’ve never beaten them over there at Norfolk. Coach Frazier does a real good job for them. I expect a barnburner against them if we play well, which we haven’t done for most of this year. The Richmond Speed organization has won a lot of games and has done a lot of very, very good things, but we’ve struggled this year. When you struggle, it’s how you deal with adversity. And we’ll figure out a way to deal with it. I’m going to keep sailing on this ship as long as I can and do what I’ve been asked to do by Mr. Katherman. I’ll try to teach these kids the same things that Richard has taught me as a coach and our other coaches. We will regroup and we won’t give up. We’ll keep fighting and do the best that we can to come out on top the next four weeks.”
David Chappell is a native of Richmond, Virginia. He has closely followed local sports in Richmond and vicinity for over thirty years, and Arena Football 2 since its inception. David currently writes extensively for a website that he co-founded which documents professional wrestling in Virginia and surrounding areas from 1974-1986. A former elected prosecutor, David is currently a practicing attorney in a large downtown Richmond law firm.
