Christmas comes early for the Buffalo Destroyers
Tom Ando
Friday December 21, 2001
“We targeted a lot of guys that we wanted and said ‘Hey, in a perfect world, if we could bring this guy in here, we’d like to do that,’ and things are just falling our way,” said Bentley, who will begin his second full season as head coach in April. “It’s gone very well as far as the guys that we’ve targeted, and guys that we have wanted. They are now here.”
Last season, Bentley’s Destroyers fell from the top of the division in a nationally televised contest against the Carolina Cobras. They never got back on track, missing out on the playoffs, finishing 6-8, and leaving glaring vacancies at numerous positions.
Who better to lead the Destroyers than the man who led his team to victory on that Sunday in Buffalo last season: Quarterback Fred McNair.
“We tried to see if Fred was going to be available, we knew he had a year left on his contract, so we couldn’t pursue him during free agency,” said Bentley. “But I got a call from the coach over there in Carolina, Mike Neu, he said ‘would you be interested in Fred McNair,’ and I had to scramble to pick up the phone and finish the rest of the conversation, because I couldn’t believe it was true.”
Although some questioned the decision to replace last year’s rookie quarterback star Jim Kubiak, Bentley didn’t hesitate. “I have nothing against Jim Kubiak, it was just a situation where I had evaluated Fred as one of the top quarterbacks in this league, and when he became available, I had to go get him. It was a no-brainer, really,” said Bentley. “Especially for that price, a dispersal draft pick? God, I almost had to go to confession after that one for stealing.”
McNair will be operating an explosive offensive machine for Buffalo in 2002, which gets back its number one target, Offensive Specialist Bobby Olive, who missed all but two games with a knee injury last year. Other main weapons are receivers Kevin Mason, Darrick Branch, Carlos James, and Hassan Probherbs. But for Bentley that wasn’t enough. Enter Thomas Bailey. In four seasons in the arena league, Bailey has 315 receptions for 3,676 yards and 66 touchdown receptions.
“I think that Thomas Bailey adds a lot of offense at that jack position, and that’s something I don’t feel we had enough of. We did when (Kevin) Mason was healthy but gosh, he’s been hurt every year he’s been here,” said Bentley. “You can’t ever have enough good players, and Bailey’s a real good player, and we had a chance to get him. We jumped on it.”
The passing game seems to be shaping up to be close to unstoppable, but what about the running game? Could Bentley possibly find a gem for his backfield as well? Jason Bratton could very easily be it. Last season, with McNair in Carolina, Bratton ran 43 times for 112 yards and 10 touchdowns.
“We’re very excited to have Jason here. The year before, when he was with Nashville (2000), I wanted to bring him in here but he wasn’t available. They actually worked a trade to get him into Carolina,” said Bentley. I didn’t think of that, I was hoping he’d be a free agent. He’s a former Buffalo Bills player, and I think the best running fullback in the Arena Football League. To me, in order to be successful in Arena Football, you’ve got to be able to punch it in when you’re in the red zone--you’ve got to run the football. With Jason back there we’re going to be able to do that now.”
So what else could Bentley possibly ask for to bolster the Destroyers all of sudden cutthroat offense? How about a top-notch kicker? Enter Steven McLaughlin.
McLaughlin, the former Lou Groza award winner from Arizona, was a remarkable 23 of 36 on field goals and 83 of 91 on extra points last season with the Nashville Kats. He holds a remarkable success rate of 257 out of 286 extra point attempts.
For McLaughlin, the situation just seemed right: “With Nashville going to Atlanta, things changed down there, and I was looking for a change. When (Bentley) started mentioning the guys that he was bringing in--he had the trade with Fred McNair--I was excited. I was like ‘man this sounds like it’s going to be a great team, hopefully I can come in and do well and help them out.’”
“We’re very excited about having Steve, because our kicking game was a very weak part of our football team last year,” crooned a satisfied Bentley. “That’s no longer the case. (Steve’s) an incredible weapon, 91% extra points [average] and he tells me he can throw and run too--we may have to put some fakes in for him this year.”
With the early additions of over 15 players, the Buffalo Destroyers are already looking like an Arena Bowl team; Ray Bentley will probably be the first to tell you: It’s going to be a good year for the Buffalo Destroyers with Fred McNair at the helm.
"Touchdown" Tom Ando is a free lance writer from South Buffalo, NY and has been covering the Arena Football League in one capacity or another since the 2000 season, when he was 17 years old. Tom Currently writes for Sports & Leisure Magazine in Buffalo covering the NLL's Buffalo Bandits and NCAA Division I football. In 2001, Tom was the only writer in the country to cover the Houston "Travelin' " Thunderbears, where he befriended his mentor John F. "Hondo" Hahn.
