Rattler-Sabercat Rivalry Cause Controversy, Flared Tempers
Daniel Frias
Monday April 23, 2001
It started with Arizona’s first drive of the game, which took them to the San Jose six-yard line. On the fourth down field goal attempt, Arizona missed and recovered the football, but they were called for interfering with the kick-returner.
So San Jose took over and Dutton went 3-3 for 45 yards and a touchdown. Jason Wells missed the extra point and both Baker and Cooper went for the recovery. This is when the tensions began and the players were on the brink of hostility. Baker and Cooper got into a shoving match in the corner end zone. Players from both side started pushing each other and trash talking. Some players even cleared the benches in support of their teammates. I thought the ‘Cats and Rattlers were about to have their own Wrestlemania. The crowd’s roar proved I wasn’t the only one.
Arizona’s DS Cecil Doggette and San Jose’s WR/DB Barry Wagner exchanged a few words on the field. Doggette even gave him an obscene gesture. (Maybe Cecil was upset at Wagner for giving him bad stock advice by telling him to buy Copper Mountain).
Former Rattler Bob McMillen and current Rattler Bo Kelly engaged in some dialogue as well. I don’t think they were exchanging recipes either. McMillen had some choice words for Kelly.
“You know, it was just my adrenaline pumping threw me, and I’m sure it was Bo’s too,” said McMillen about the incident. “Bo and I have been good friends through our whole careers and I think our adrenaline just got the best of us tonight. I got nothing bad to say about Bo.”
Shalon Baker expressed similar views about his altercation with Cooper. “That was just a little friendly competition,” said Baker with a smile on his face. “Anytime you get into a game of this magnitude you’re going to have high emotions. He and I both play the same position. So were always battling against each other. But it’s just a little friendly competition. There were no bad intentions.”
But the fun wasn’t over. On the next play, Cooper returned the kickoff for a touchdown. Just after he received the ball, he fell (actually it looked like he was tripped by OL/DL Ken Talanoa), got up and ran the length of the field. The Sabercats’ players thought he was down but the play stood. Chalk up six points for the visitors.
WR/DB Omarr Smith was upset because he thought Hunkie was down by contact. “Man that was bull,” he said. “That was bull crap man. Because he was running, [Talanoa] tripped him up, he went down and I touched him on his helmet. So he was down. But he got up. You know every time Arizona plays here, the referees give them some cheap calls. But that’s just the way it goes man.”
That’s the way it goes, and that’s the way it went. The rivalry between these teams builds every year. And when it comes directly from the players, you can bet it’s serious. I can`t wait to see what happens the next time these two teams meet.
Daniel Frias was a writer for ArenaFan Online from 2001 to 2002.
