Former Kats Face New Kats
Charliy Nash
Friday February 4, 2005
Kelly, extremely popular in Nashville because of his playing days at the University of Tennessee, started every game for the earlier version of the Kats. Bratton, better known as "The Body", started the tradition of the dominant ground game. Ili, McLure, and Hamilton were all part of the Great Wall of Nashville. Neu began his coaching career in Music City.
That’s not all these teams have in common. These are two physical teams that like to run the ball. "I hope we’ll be physical," said Kats’ head coach Pat Sperduto, "I think we will be. I know they’ll be physical; they’re a good team."
The VooDoo have placed FB/LB Leroy Thompson on Injured Reserve, but this game still has the potential to break all Arena Football League records for rushing. "I’d like to see that happen," Kats’ FB/LB Levelle Brown said. "Being a running back it’d be nice to see the other side and let people know the ball can be run in the Arena League, that it’s not strictly passing." The Kats ran the ball 22 times last week and are prepared for New Orleans to run the ball Friday as well.
Then again, Sperduto added a little twist. "We might not run it at all, you never know."
Charliy Nash has covered both incarnations of the Nashville Kats, and now has make the 2 hour drive to Huntsville for an Arena Football fix. He also covers the Tennessee Titans as a blogger for nfl.com and still hopes this will eventually lead to a paying gig.
