Playing Mind Games in Chicago
Jeff Sims
Thursday February 12, 2004
The Chicago Rush came into Sunday’s home opener feeling prepared, yet nervous, to take on the Grand Rapids Rampage. After the nervousness and anxiety wore off, the Rush was able to cruise past the Rampage 50 – 30.
“We were anxious. It was the first game of the season, you know. We had to calm down. We had to execute our game plan and be more aggressive on the offense and we did it,” said Rush OS Jeremy McDaniel.
A number of players on the Rush roster were playing in the Allstate Arena for the Rush for the first time. The atmosphere was something for all of them to take in.
Said new Rush QB Raymond Philyaw, “I’ve come here the last three years as an opposing player, and I got a lot more boos then. It was nice to have the crowd scream out my name today.”
All of the anxiety and emotion were used as a positive almost immediately as the Rush returned the opening kickoff 29 yards to give the offense good field position to start.
“It’s always good to have good field position coming out. The plays are wide open that can be called and it makes you feel more comfortable. This is the same type of offense that we used in Indiana. I just need to get used to the way Coach likes to call his plays,” said Philyaw.
Get comfortable they did. The offense opened with a 23-yard drive capped by a 2-yard run by McDaniel.
The Rush defense and special teams appeared off-guard early as they gave up two touchdowns in the first quarter. Offensive specialist for the Rampage, Steve Smith returned the first Rush kickoff 54 yards for a score. He scored again on a 13-yard pass from QB Jeff Loots just before the quarter ended. Rush kicker Keith Gispert missed two out of his first three extra point attempts to start the game. He targeted his mental readiness for the early missed attempts:
“It must be mental (similar to a baseball pitcher, kickers can be superstitious). After I missed the first two, I asked Coach if Chad (Salisbury) could hold, and I did pretty good after that.”
Actually, that was the turning point of the game. Gispert did not miss another kick going 4 for 4 on extra point attempts and making his only field goal attempt from 27 yards out. The special teams and defense picked up as well giving up only 17 points across the final three quarters and limiting Steve Smith on return yardage. The team took advantage and scored on all three Grand Rapids turnovers, including an INT return for a touchdown by WR/LB Lindsay Fleshman, and never looked back to complete the win.
According to special teams coordinator Dave Witthun, “ (Grand Rapids) ran a wall-return, and we weren’t expecting that. So, we made some adjustments. We gave up one, but I was really proud of our guys and how well they made the adjustments. They didn’t get down or anything, they just made the adjustments and did a good job.”
The Rush will look to take this momentum into New York to face the Dragons this Saturday.
Jeff has been writing for ArenaFan.com since 2004. Originally from New York, Jeff has been living in the Chicago area for the past ten years and is an avid football fanatic. He holds a BA in communications from Hofstra University in New York and a sports management certificate from Loyola University in Chicago.
