Grey Cup Champ to Compete for Rampage Starting QB
Randy Snow
Tuesday December 7, 2004
About 34 players participated in the three-day event, and while new head coach Sparky McEwen was very pleased with what he saw, he said he is far from finished rebuilding the team.
“I want to get a couple more guys in here to see what they can do. You’re always looking to upgrade your roster,” said McEwen. “That’s the way you get better as a team.” In October, McEwen spent three weeks in Canada scouting players in the CFL.
Naturally, there are a lot of new faces on the Rampage, who went 1-15 last year. QB Michael Bishop, however, will be back. As an AFL rookie last year, Bishop played in five games and started two of them as a backup to starter Anthony Buich. Bishop was the starter for the team’s only victory in 2004, a win over the Detroit Fury. Buich was released in the off-season.
Bishop recently concluded a very successful season playing in the Canadian Football League for the Toronto Argonauts. On November 21, the Argos beat the British Columbia Lions 27-19 to win the CFL Grey Cup. As the backup quarterback, Bishop started eight games during the regular season in relief of injured starting QB Damon Allen, the brother of NFL great Marcus Allen. For his efforts, Bishop earned CFL Player of the Week honors in August. He has played for Toronto for the past three seasons and has spent the last two seasons playing both Canadian and Arena football. He should receive his Grey Cup Championship ring sometime in March or April. During his scouting trip to Canada, McEwen and Bishop met in person for the first time.
Bishop is not the only player on the Rampage roster who has recent experience playing football north of the border. OL/DL Teto Simpson has played with the CFL Montreal Alouettes the last two years as well.
When asked if he would play in the CFL again next year, Bishop said, “I haven’t made up my mind right now. I’d like to spend a lot of time with this game right here and try to be the best that I can be in this game. If I get a chance to play and play well, I may just stick with the AFL and try to make a career out of it.”
There are currently two other quarterbacks competing for the Rampage starting position, AFL veteran Nick Browder and rookie Curt Anes.
2005 Season
The Rampage will open training camp for the 2005 season on January 3. Their first game is set for Friday night, January 28 at home against the Arizona Rattlers.
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.”
