Kats Earn One for the Gipper
Charliy Nash
Sunday June 3, 2001
The first TD was scored by FB Rupert Grant. Rather than doing his celebratory “Dogghead” dance in the endzone, he went directly to the bench to present the ball to the coach. The bad snap on the ensuing PAT was one of the few things that wrong for the Kats that night. The passing game was sharp. QB Andy Kelly was able to connect with game MVP Tyronne Jones consistently, including a 45-yard bomb for a TD. The running game was unstoppable, scoring three times. The defense got two turnovers, stopped the Bobcats from scoring after having a first down at the four-yard line, and stopped them twice on fourth down attempts. Steady Steve McLauglin added a field goal and game Ironman Jarrick Hillery ran a kickoff back for a touchdown.
Quite an Adjustment
During the pregame warm-ups I spotted rookie FB/LB Travis Reece standing alone in the endzone while everyone else was running drills. I asked him why he was slacking off and he told me that his helmet was being adjusted. Note to Kats equipment manager: make that adjustments to everyone’s helmet! Reece played his best game of the season. On the Bobcats’ first drive he made the hit of the game, diving over the pile to take down Florida FB Steve Gorrie. Later in the same series Reece sacked QB Ricky Foggie for an eight-yard loss. Typically, he described the play by giving credit to someone else, “All those guys up front opened it up. It was a call for the nose [tackle] to basically take one for the team. He [James Baron] got blocked by two people and left me open. JB [Baron] did a good job and I just came around the corner and got one.”
He also scored a touchdown while rushing for 16 yards. He made four tackles, including a key stop on a goal line stand. Then there was the path he cleared for Jarrick Hillery’s rushing touchdown. “I knew he would still be running because he has such good feet. It’s kind of like when I was in Detroit with Barry Sanders. No matter what, you’ve go to keep blocking because you never know where the ball could go. I felt him still running.”
Jar/rick Hil/le/ry
Before moving to Nashville I worked at a small ministry in Virginia where my job was Researcher/Writer/Editor/Desktop Publisher/Sound Technician/Photographer/Lifter of Heavy Objects. Some of the Kats make that seem tame.
Versatile players seem to be the norm in Nashville. From big Anthony Hicks who plays lineman and FB/LB, to the omni-talented Jeff Russell who has played just about everything but lineman, to QB/WR James Brown; it’s not unusual to see one of the Kats playing a position other than the one listed on the roster. Defensive specialists often return kicks and play receiver. Last season OS Tyronne Jones played a few games at WR/DB, and did it well enough to earn Ironman honors in one game. Friday night was C.J. McLain’s first action at LB for the Kats. Used mostly as a DE this season, McLain also played in several different positions on the line in this game. “We’ve got a lot of athletes on our team, a lot of guys who can just play football.” he explained, “So we try to move them around and see what positions look better for them.”
One of those athletes who keeps adding those slashes to his position is WR/DB/FB/KR Jarrick Hillery. Highly regarded by many Arena Football experts, Hillery was already a threat to run from the WR position. This season he’s taken a few snaps at FB, keeping defenses even more off balance. So is it time to start calling him Slash? “You can call me what you want to call me. I just come out here every week and do my job.”
Quick Updates
WR/DB/etc Jeff Russell is off crutches and expects to be playing golf in a few weeks.
DS Kirk Pointer has an injured plantar fascia (the sheet of muscle along the bottom surface of the foot). He is now practicing with the team, but soft tissue injuries like this heal slowly. (Can you tell I’ve had this injury before?)
I almost didn’t recognize former Kats communications director Denny Petro, now with the Florida Bobcats. He lost a lot of weight after his heart attack and now looks very healthy and fit.
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.
