They Might Have No Home, But the Rush Have the Hearts of Champions

Adam Markowitz
Saturday June 1, 2013

The 2013 Chicago Rush have been through things this season that no team should be stuck going through. They have had three different owners, one of which was essentially run out of the league, one of which is a convicted felon, and one of which is now the league itself. They lost the man that was slated to be their starting quarterback before the season started. They played two home games with absolutely zero amenities. Now, they are stuck essentially playing a full slate of road games.

However, the story of the 2013 Chicago Rush, amidst all of the problems, is currently written as six wins against five losses. They beat the Orlando Predators 63-55 on Saturday night at the Amway Center for their second straight road win, and they are now a full game up in the Central Division with seven games to play in the regular season.

This win in Orlando was a microcosm of the Rush's season. At the end of the first quarter, they lost Jorrick Calvin, arguably the team's defensive MVP to a neck injury. He was down on the field for a solid 10 minutes before being stretchered off. Fortunately, as our Jeff Sims reported just after halftime, Calvin has the use of all of his limbs and was conscious, and it was later stated that all of Calvin's preliminary tests came back negative.

In the third quarter, DJ Woods, who was only picked up by the team this week, was ejected for some after-the-play activities. On the same play, Carson Coffman, the team's starting quarterback was injured and had to be replaced for a play by Luke Drone. After Coffman came back into the fold, Drone ended up being split out at wide receiver.

With all of that said, this was a game that a significantly weaker team from a mental standpoint would have just given up and gotten blown away in the fourth quarter. Instead, right away on the first play of the fourth, Coffman hooked up with Reggie Gray on a 36-yard touchdown pass on 4th down that pushed the lead up to 56-41. Orlando never got closer than eight points again.

"It's just the character of guys that we have in that locker room. They've been fighting adversity all year, especially with the situation that we've had down in Chicago," said Head Coach Bob McMillen. "These guys have bonded together as a collective unit."

Just for good measure, the last touchdown of the game for the Rush? A catch by none other than Drone, whom many in the Chicago locker room referred to as the "AFL's version of Tim Tebow."

The task isn't nearly done this season for the Rush at this point, and the argument could be made that the hardest part of their season is only getting started. No, it's not just the fact that the team still has to play against four teams with winning records on the road. It's the fact that the club won't have a legitimate home game for the rest of the year.

Chicago's last three home games will all be played in Rockford, 70 miles away from where the team is stationed at in Rosemont. And yes, from this point forward, I'll be referring to this team as the Rockford Rush.

"It's just like going up to Milwaukee and playing a game," said McMillen.

I dared to ask the man I believe should be the hands down Coach of the Year the question as to whether this team really just played better ball on the road than it did at home. I received a smirk and a coy response. "I don't know. I think that the guys have just come accustomed to it… I think they bond a lot more [on the road] instead of when they're back at home with their own lives and their own families."

One thing is for sure, and that's that the Rockford Rush shouldn't be forgotten. Save for the franchise being folded or otherwise barred from the playoffs, absolutely nothing is going to keep this team from succeeding, and that was clearly on display on Saturday night.

They might not have real owners. They might not have superstar plays. They might not even have a home. But what the Rockford Rush do have is a ton of heart, and they have each other.

If they keep that up, they might have the Foster Trophy by the end of the season as well, whether they have a home to put it in or not.