United They Stand

Jeff Sims
Wednesday March 14, 2012

The players for the Chicago Rush went to sleep on Friday night not really knowing what would lie ahead the following evening. They were scheduled to play their home opener against the Tampa Bay Storm on Saturday night.

Friday evening, the Arena Football League Players Union, AFLPU, had administered a work stoppage just prior to the season opener with the Orlando Predators and the Pittsburgh Power, a game that was mostly played with replacement players on national television on the NFL Network. Not necessarily the best of scenarios for the league in its 25th anniversary season.

Many of the players did not know that the work stoppage had been lifted very early Saturday morning by AFLPU Executive Director, Ivan Soto until they woke up the next morning.

"I woke up this morning and saw the message that they (the Union) wanted all of the players to play," said Rush wide receiver Reggie Gray, who was the temporary spokesman for the Rush players. Gray had been individually mentioned by Soto as a player that was going to strike if the players did not receive better compensation from the league.

"I support the Union and I support my (AFL) brothers," said Gray. "If my (AFL) brothers did not want to go out and play, I support my (AFL) brothers. When it came down to it, my (Rush) brothers in the locker room, they didn't want to do it, so I am with my brothers in the locker room. There is definitely team unity and we went with the majority. There were no individual things going on here. It was all about the team."

Rush jack linebacker Kelvin Morris also confirmed that the team met as a group and decided to play no matter the circumstances.

"Soto had sent a message that (Gray) was going to strike," Morris said. "That's a bunch of garbage because I talk to Reggie every day and he was down with whatever we decided to do as a team. We knew all along we wanted to play."

The whole situation put a sour taste in Gray's mouth regarding the AFLPU.

"I (had) no say so in the executive meetings," Gray said emphatically. "They would give me a call and tell me how they feel about certain things and I would just address it with my teammates. I (had) no pull whatsoever and I would never put myself in a situation where my teammates cannot trust me. We really don't know what (was) going on. I have (now) cut off communication with the Union because I am here to play ball. My focus is strictly with the Chicago Rush."

The Commissioner of the AFL, Jerry Kurz, was on hand speaking with the players before the game to ensure that there would be no further issues like there was the night before in Orlando.

There would be no issues on this night, just football.

With the work stoppage concluded, the Chicago Rush went out and focused and played as a unified group as they defeated the Storm 70 - 48 at Allstate Arena.

"When we went out and built this team for this season, we had to have our core group back," said Rush head coach Bob McMillen. "We were successful in doing that. We got Russ back. We got K-Mo (Morris) back. We got Vic Hall back. We got Reggie Gray back and we got TJ Watkins back. That's all we brought back. When we decided to do this, we went out and got character guys that have played this game, guys that we heard nothing but good things about that would come to work every day. We got good character guys that want to come out and compete."

The character from this group showed as all they wanted to do was go out and play football as a team, led by their core group from last season.

Gray continued where he left off last season as he caught seven passes for 80 yards and four touchdowns.

Quarterback Russ Michna completed 24 of 37 passes for 247 yards and set a new franchise record with eight touchdown passes in the game.

Morris intercepted Storm quarterback Stephen Wasil twice. The first was only two minutes into the game and was returned for a 26 yard touchdown to give the Rush an early 7-0 lead. His second interception came midway through the fourth quarter and iced the game when he picked off Wasil again for a 23 yard score.

"I caught (Wasil) throwing off his back foot a couple of times," Morris said. "I was able to get a good read on the ball and make the picks."

While a little more subdued off the field, Morris is expected to lead a fresh group of rookies on the defensive line and be more vocal in his role this season after taking over for the beloved DeJuan Alfonso last season.

"I'm comfortable now," he said. "Last year wasn't my first year in the league, but it was my first year with coach Hous (defensive coordinator and assistant head coach). Hous is demanding and you need to get used to that. They have asked me to step up and be more of a leader. I like to be a leader on the field. I speak up more now, especially with a team full of rookies you have to do that. I try to get them to look up to me and do the right thing."

Vic Hall led the team with eight tackles.

"This is what we worked for during the training camp," McMillen said. "The first week these guys busted their butts out there, and all the credit goes to (them)."

With a unified team and a core group of leaders ready to play football, the Chicago Rush look to be a group focused for the season.

The team has an early bye in week two and then faces the Orlando Predators at home in a rare Thursday night game on March 22nd.

Other Game Notes

Thank goodness the work stoppage was over. Chicago Bears head coach Lovie Smith was in attendance taking in the game and scouting players.

The Rush defense caused 6 turnovers on the evening. Last season, the Rush defense set a new AFL record with 56 turnovers in the 18 game season.

Morris's two interceptions for touchdowns matched his total from all of last season. In 2011, Morris had nine interceptions with two returned for scores.

Morris had to receive x-rays on his right thumb after the game. X-Rays were determined to be negative and he was diagnosed with a deep bruise in his hand. Morris says he will be ready to play in week three.

In polling players randomly before and after the game, most say they want Executive Director Ivan Soto removed as Union head of the AFLPU. According to a tweet sent by Soto on Saturday, approximately 90 percent of all AFL players are part of the AFLPU. After his actions on Friday evening and after speaking with the players on these two teams, it the opinion of this writer that either one might not last much longer.