Thonn Big on New-Look Thunderbears
Patrick Daly
Saturday May 5, 2001
This week, they’ll play a regular road game in Arizona where they face off with Rattlers (1-1) at America West Arena on Saturday night. The ThunderBears have not beaten Arizona in their previous four matchups, which includes a 50-36 playoff loss in 1998.
Quarterback Todd Hammel, a ten-year veteran of the AFL, directs the Houston offense in his first season with the team. Hammel was signed in the offseason to replace Robert Hall and he has been an important acquisition according to Houston Head Coach Steve Thonn. “It’s nice to have a veteran guy there that knows the game,” said Thonn of his starting quarterback.
What does Houston concentrate on against Arizona?
“The basic thing about Arizona is that they’ve got a lot of veteran players,” said Thonn. “They know how to win games. They find a way every week to put themselves in a position to win games. Against a team like that you really have to be mistake-free. We’re going to try to do our best to not have any turnovers, and we have to create some turnovers.”
As important as it is to have Hammel run the offense, the ThunderBears need a healthy Ben Bronson. “When Ben is healthy I think he’s one of the top receivers in the league,” said Thonn about Houston’s top offensive specialist. “Our biggest concern is keeping Ben healthy.”
What about the rest of the receiving corps?
“I think our other receivers are coming along now, too,” added Thonn. “It’s taken us a few weeks to start jelling and I think they’re finally coming around and getting more comfortable with each other.”
In addition to Hammel, defensive specialist Carl Greenwood has also made his mark as a newcomer to a team that would rather win a low-scoring game that lose in a shootout. After two seasons in Nashville, Greenwood has grabbed three interceptions in the first three games, one of which he returned for a touchdown. “I think Carl Greenwood has done a good job,” said Thonn. “He’s leading the league in interceptions already. That was a good pick up for us from Nashville and he’s done a real good job on defense.”
“Our defense has improved,” continued Thonn. “That’s really the key to our season, keep our defense going and improve it every week so that we can hold some teams down in the 30’s and 40’s and win a couple of games that way. We’ve scored 60 and 70 too many times and lost the game. I’m tired of those. I’ll take a 38-35 game any time -- as long as we win.”
Despite the disadvantages presented to Houston this season, the ThunderBears have accepted the challenge, which is all you can ask of a group of professionals. “We’re at a real disadvantage,” said Thonn. “We’re just trying to do the best we can and get as many wins as we can.”
Patrick Daly has been an Arena Football League enthusiast since he first stumbled across the late-night ESPN broadcasts and has followed the Arizona Rattlers since their inaugural season in 1992. He graduated from Arizona State University with an engineering degree and is currently a member of a web development team for Direct Alliance in Tempe. Patrick currently resides in the Phoenix suburb of Chandler, Arizona with his beautiful wife, son and a very large football helmet collection.
