Rampage Hold Open Tryouts
Randy Snow
Tuesday December 9, 2003
Among those trying out were two players from nearby Grand Valley State who were part of the team that won the Division II National Championship last year, Sidney Lewis and Melvin Estes. Lewis also played Defensive Specialist in nine games last season for the Green Bay Blizzard of the af2 and is looking to move up to the next level this year. “I took incompletes in all my classes last semester so I could play for Green Bay,” Lewis said. He is now back at Grand Valley continuing his studies. Estes was named the defensive MVP of the Division II championship game for Grand Valley last year. He is also back at the school getting ready for finals. “I only need five credits to complete my degree,” said Estes.
Coincidentally, on the same day as the Rampage tryouts, Grand Valley beat Texas A&M-Kingston 31-3 in Kingsville, Tennessee in the Division II playoffs to advance to the national championship game for the third straight year.
Lewis wore a Green Bay Blizzard sweat suit to the tryouts, but there were others trying out who were also sporting items with af2 logos on them. One player wore an Albany Conquest jacket and another had a Peoria Pirates gym bag.
All the participants were run through a series of non-contact drills. They bench pressed some weights, were timed in the 40-yard dash, had their distance measured in the standing long jump and ran through a speed and agility drill called the shuffle drill. After those were complete, they were broken up into different groups for more drills specific to their positions: quarterbacks, receivers and defensive backs, linemen and linebackers and finally, kickers.
There was also a woman among the participants. Angela Edwards played running back last season for the Southwest Michigan Jaguars of the National Women’s Football Association. Edwards has played for the Jaguars for two seasons. She rushed for over 1,000 yards last year and scored 15 touchdowns.
For the $50 registration fee, participants received a T-shirt that read “Rhino Hunt” on the front and a participant number on the back. When those workouts were over, Rampage head coach Bob Cortese and his staff called out 35 numbers and those participants were asked to remain for an additional round of drills. Edwards’ number was not one of the numbers called, but Lewis and Estes’ numbers were. Lewis had previously tried out for the Chicago Rush and made the final cut after those tryouts also, but as of yet has not received a call offering him a spot on the roster.
Overall, Coach Cortese was impressed with the size of the turnout and the abilities of some of the participants. “I didn’t think there would be that much speed here today,” Cortese said after the tryouts. “We had more guys run in the 4.4’s than I thought, so there was some speed here and some size. Guys came a long way to try out. A couple of them were pretty good and a couple of them wasted their time.”
Now the waiting game begins for the final 35 hopefuls. Only four or five could actually receive a call from the Rampage in the next couple of weeks and be invited to training camp, which begins in January.
Randy Snow covered the Grand Rapids Rampage of the Arena Football League for ArenaFan from 2003-2008. He also covered the Fort Wayne Fusion of arenafootball2 in 2007. From 2004-2008 and in 2010, he was a member of the Arena Football League Writer’s Association and, since 2011, has been a member of the Professional Football Researchers Association. Randy lives in Kalamazoo, Michigan but will travel just about anywhere for a football game or a great football story. He runs the web site www.theworldoffootball.com and hosts a podcast with his son, Adam, called “This Week in The World of Football.”
