Firebirds Looking to Avoid Headache
Matthew Pickut
Monday February 23, 2004
“We’ve lost two games and nobody is panicking,” says head coach Steve DeBerg. “We’re not going to have wholesale changes in personnel or the system. If you took the entire season and visualized it as a football game, we are 0-2, which means were in the first half of the first quarter and we have thrown some incompletions, but the whole game is yet to be played. I still believe that we have a chance to have a good football team. I’ve seen where teams lose their focus and start bickering—that won’t happen. This week at Detroit, this is the best team that we’re going to play. They’re a good football team. We have to bring our A-game.”
Last week, quarterback Tony Zimmerman struggled early on, going 0 for the first quarter versus the New Orleans Voodoo and missing deep receivers early.
“I felt like they were vulnerable [deep], and we had Horacek open deep in the first quarter,” recounted DeBerg. “We went 0-5 throwing the football and it should have been three touchdowns. I’ve been kind of frustrated with all the quarterbacks and their ability to hit the deep ball even through training camp. We’re trying to figure out ways to get there.”
Already, in two short weeks the Firebirds quarterbacking corps have been stretched with the injury to the season’s starter Kevin Daft. Daft injured his arm in the first game of the season, but it’s healing slowly.
“He felt like maybe in a month [he’ll be ready]… it’s coming along real slow,” said DeBerg. “He’s started throwing again but he still has numbness. It’s not just a stinger.”
Taking the back up spot this week after coming off injured reserve is rookie quarterback Adrian McPherson. McPherson is still learning the AFL game, but coach DeBerg remains positive.
“He’s a unique talent; he’s a rare athlete at the quarterback position,” DeBerg explained. “I haven’t seen many quarterbacks in my career who have his athletic ability. Of course, he’s young. He’s only 20 years only and he’s only been doing Arena Football for only two weeks. He’s still going through that learning curve.”
Like all his other quarterbacks, DeBerg knows that McPherson needs to work on his ability to deliver the ball with touch.
“Touch is the #1 thing I work with Adrian McPherson with,” revealed DeBerg. “He has an extremely strong arm and a quick release. He reminds me of John Elway when we played together. John Elway could not throw the ball soft. He could not arc the ball over a linebacker. He’s one of those quarterbacks that when he wants to throw the ball as accurate as he can he throws it as hard as he can. McPherson is like that—when he wants to throw the ball as accurate as he can he throws it as hard as he can. In Arena Football, the field is so small you can absolutely throw the ball too hard, so I’m constantly working with McPherson on trying to take a little bit off of it. Even though he feels like he’s more accurate when he throws hard, it’s hard to catch.
“I have him short arm the ball. I’ve never really had to work with someone to teach them to throw the ball with touch as much as I have with McPherson. At first, when I told him to throw it with touch he threw it in slow motion. You have to figure out a way to have it come out fast and soft. The thing that has worked is that he short arms it – you just don’t extend to the final release point, because, when he does, that ball is smoking.”
It is not just the beginning of the game that concerns Coach DeBerg, however.
“I’ve been trying to have an emphasis on finishing the game right. The fourth quarter specifically in Arena Football reminds me of an NBA basketball game where you’re never really out of it and the game can change so fast late in the game. You can be 12 points down with two minutes to go and still win the game. It’s easier than in the outdoor game,” said DeBerg looking back on his first two regular season games. “In the first game we played we had the game in hand, and then made so many mistakes and lost the game. We did better in our second game, but we came up one play short. It’s been an emphasis to be more focused in the second half and fourth quarter.”
Matthew Pickut is a pastor in northern Indiana and a long time AFL fan. He also writes for his own website: The Brown Paper Blog. He graduated from Taylor University in Upland Indiana (class of `96) with degrees in Biblical Literature and Sociology as well as a healthy respect for the medicinal properties of coffee.
