Grand Rapids trades Chris Jackson to Georgia
Randy Snow
Thursday March 31, 2005
Here are just some of the transactions that took place during the last month;
March 3 – The first rumblings of change were felt when the team signed two former players, FB/LB Travis McDonald, who had been released by Chicago two days earlier, and OL/DL Rod Manual from Philadelphia’s practice squad
March 17 – Traded FB/LB Sedrick Irvin to Columbus in exchange for DS JoJo Polk, another former Rampage player, as well as future considerations
March 20 – Following a 72-48 loss at San Jose, dropping their record to 1-6, Rampage assistant head coach Robert Lyles and defensive coordinator Brian Young were relieved of their coaching duties
March 24 – Signed DS Damon Mason to the team after he was waived by Orlando
March 28 – Traded OL/DL William Carr to Orlando in exchange for OL/DL Cecil Caldwell and future considerations
March 29 – Traded OL/DL Paul Laquerre to Tampa in exchange for WR/LB David Saunders. Also received OL/DL John Hilliard from New Orleans in exchange for future considerations
March 30 – Traded OS Chris Jackson (the team’s leading receiver) to Georgia in exchange for WR/DB Dialleo Burks and future considerations
Another transaction that was almost lost in the wake of the surprising Jackson trade was the announcement that OL/DL Tony Bowick has retired of as a player after 13 years in the AFL. He will now be the team’s line coach. Bowick returned to the Rampage this year for one final season as a player. He planned to seek a job as a coach in the league next year, but when coaches Young and Lyles were let go, he and Coach McEwen decided the time was right for him to join the Rampage staff. Bowick was one of the original members of the Rampage in 1998 and helped the team win the Arena Bowl in 2001.
If the saying about March holds true (in like a lamb, out like a lion), will April transactions bring fan satisfaction? We’ll just have to wait and see.
LION IN THE HOUSE
Speaking of coming in like a Lion, Detroit Lions running back Kevin Jones will be on hand at this Sunday’s Rampage game against the Nashville Kats. He will sign autographs for an hour prior to kickoff.
RADIO SHOW
The announcements of the Jackson trade and Bowick’s retirement and addition to the coaching staff were revealed publicly for the first time during Coach McEwen’s weekly radio show broadcast live on WBBL 1340 AM from Vitale’s Sports Bar in Comstock Park. It was the first time I had ever been to see the show in person and if Wednesday night’s program is any indication of what happens during the broadcast, I may have to make the one-hour drive from Kalamazoo more often! (The radio station’s signal is hard for me to pick up in Kalamazoo)
Randy Snow covered the Grand Rapids Rampage of the Arena Football League for ArenaFan from 2003-2008. He also covered the Fort Wayne Fusion of arenafootball2 in 2007. From 2004-2008 and in 2010, he was a member of the Arena Football League Writer’s Association and, since 2011, has been a member of the Professional Football Researchers Association. Randy lives in Kalamazoo, Michigan but will travel just about anywhere for a football game or a great football story. He runs the web site www.theworldoffootball.com and hosts a podcast with his son, Adam, called “This Week in The World of Football.”
