As the NFLPA and the NFL owners meet to determine the fate of civilization argue over what percentage of the billions of dollars we the fans provide (and TV networks too, but since we pay our cable bills, it’s really just us) that each side gets, it gets tedious quickly. There is no actual football, even personnel moves (except the draft, I guess), until they come to some decision. Fortunately, there is another Pittsburgh football team starting their season tonight! Unfortunately, you might not know a lot about it.
I could explain Arena Football, or just link to the Wikipedia page…fine…It’s 8-on-8 (typically 3 OL, 3 WR, a QB, and a RB/FB on offense, 3 DL, 2 LB, and 3 DB on defense) with a 50-yard field. The same 4 downs/10 yards rule applies, and the general game is the same. The only other differences are: the goal posts are closer together and closer to the field of play, drop-kicked FGs/XPs are worth one extra point, there’s no punting, and any ball that hits off the net in the back of the end zone is in play. To get a taste of the style of play, I did a YouTube search and found a highlight video. Watch, if you can stand the music.
I personally think Arena Football is the future of the NFL. It’s almost all passing and almost no running (the leading rusher last year only had 21.8 yards per game, though the leading rushing scorer had 26 TDs). The Colts and Patriots have been prepping the league for this style of play for years (Peyton Manning would be an unstoppable Arena Football QB, so would Ben Roethlisberger, really). It’s not “typical Steeler pound the rock football”, but the Steelers themselves haven’t been that way the past few years. Now that doesn’t mean there aren’t any hard hits that would make Roger Goodell want to ask for a check: here are some.
Having said all that, jump it for the preview of the Pittsburgh Power roster, so you know who the guys are when you watch or listen to the game tonight (against the rival Philadelphia Soul!)
Quarterback
The starter is Bernard Morris, who threw for 3,149 yards his senior season at Marshall and did very well as a backup last year for the Jacksonville Sharks. The backup is Kevin McCabe, a star a California University of Pennsylvania who beat out Anthony Morelli, probably the most known player on the initial roster, for the job.
Fullback
The pounding fullback is Josh Rue, who starred for Duquesne a decade ago. This should be a sign of how much running is valued, no offense to Rue.
Wide Receiver
The WR of most local interest is Mike Washington, who starred for Aliquippa and the University of Hawaii. The other starters are Eddie Thompson and Jason Willis. There is a WR on the Physically Unable to Perform list that went to a Pro Bowl: Jerome Mathis, who was a Pro Bowl kick returner in 2005.
Offensive Line
The starters are: C Jamar Foulks, from Mansfield College, LT Chris Terrell, from Marshall, who was on Morris’ O-line his junior year (will that help?), and RT Nick Zeck, from Lakeland College. But you won’t be watching the offensive line.
Defensive Line
Nose Tackle: Terrance Reese, who had three sacks and 11 tackles for loss in his senior season in 2009 at the Citadel.
Defensive Tackles: Neil Purvis, a good DT at Virginia St. 2002-05, and Terrence Carter, a good DT at Colorado 2002-05.
Linebackers: Gary Butler, who had 12 sacks for California (PA) his senior year, and Caleb Bostic, who had lots of tackles in his career at Miami (OH).
The linebackers appear to be the best defenders on the team. Would you expect anything else from a Pittsburgh team?
Defensive Backs
The two cornerbacks are Carlos Campbell (Notre Dame, physical but no INTs his senior year) and Tyrrell Herbert (Toledo and Penn Hills, two INTs his senior year). The safety is Royce Adams (Purdue, he was such a good cornerback he was moved to WR his senior year).
Kicker
I really should have put the kicker near the top, because other than Morelli, Paul Edinger is the first name I recognized. He is best known for being the one of the few NFL kickers to have a fairly long career and not miss a single extra-point attempt, and also for a kickoff style in which he faces perpendicular to the ball. Unfortunately, he abandoned that style in his attempt to rejoin the NFL.
If you made it this far, congratulations! You now know a thousand times more about the Pittsburgh Power than you did ten minutes ago. When someone asks you by the water cooler, “Have you been following that arena team?”, you can say yes, and rattle off names like Bernard Morris and Mike Washington that will either impress or creep out your coworker.
