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Meet the Richmond Bandits – Part One

March 23, 2005 - American Indoor Football Association (AIFA)
Richmond Bandits News Release


After a season without the fast-paced indoor variety of football, the summer of 2005 marks the return of the professional arena football to Richmond. With the formation of the Atlantic Indoor Football League and creation of six teams, the hottest new league will begin play in less than a month.

Richmond, Va., is again home to an indoor football team. The Richmond Bandits rode into town to fill the football fans' void during the summer months. Of the six cities hosting teams this inaugural season of the AIFL, Richmond is one of three that has hosted indoor football before – Charlotte and Raleigh each took turns housing the now-defunct Carolina Cobras formerly of the Arena Football League.

Under the direction of arena football veteran head coach Rik Richards, the roster has been filling faster than the arena before a Bandits' home game.

"Richmond has been a hot-bed for talented football players for awhile," said Richards, who spent three seasons coaching against the former tenant of the Richmond Coliseum in arenafootball2. "We've done a lot of work in a short amount of time between hitting the phones, talking with contacts, and holding try-outs to fill this roster. I feel the fans of Richmond will be very excited to see this team out on the field this season."

Richards' first handful of signees includes four that all played at Virginia Tech. Lineman Lawrence Lewis, receiver Bryan Still, fullback/linebacker Mike Davis, and wide receiver/defensive back Chris Segaar. Lewis was a member of the 1993 Hokie squad that won the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La. The defensive end scooped up an Indiana fumble by quarterback John Paci and raced 20 yards to spark a Virginia Tech comeback just before halftime. Lewis went on to play for the Milwaukee Mustangs, formerly of the Arena Football League (AFL), tallying 24.5 tackles and a sack, while forcing a fumble and recovering two.

Still and Segaar were also members of Bowl-victorious VT Hokie teams. Still was on the 1995 Sugar Bowl squad that defeated Texas by 18 and Segaar played on the 1999 Big East and Sugar Bowl Champion squad. In the 1995 game in New Orleans, Still returned a punt 60 yards to pay-dirt just before the half to help Virginia Tech earn the come-from-behind victory. In the game, Still tallied a total of 199 yards on six catches.

Following college Still was selected in the second round of the 1996 NFL draft by the San Diego Chargers, where he would play four of his five seasons as a professional, with one year spent in Atlanta. Over his five years in the show, Still combined for 1,181 career receiving yards on 83 catches, an average of 14.2 yards per reception. He had two TDs, both coming in the 1998 season.

Segaar was a two-sport athlete, competing both on the football and soccer fields. In 2002, he was a member of the Charleston Swamp Foxes af2 team, where Richards was an assistant coach. Segaar primarily served as the teams place kicker, but was given the opportunity on numerous occasions to play receiver/linebacker. He tallied his first career touchdown on a 14-yard interception return, and then added the extra point becoming one of – if not the – first player to account for all seven points of a score without going for two. Two weeks later, Segaar scored his first offensive touchdown, hauling in a 34-yard TD strike and again adding the PAT. In that game, Segaar scored two receiving TDs, adding a 46-yard reception late in the fourth for a total of three catches for 91 yards.

Segaar finished the 2002 season with 168 yards receiving on 11 catches (15.3 avg.). On the flip side, he accounted for 23.5 total tackles with the one interception, one forced and one recovered fumble. Segaar also accounted for 56 total points for the Foxes connecting on three field goals and 27 PATs.

In addition to his professional football playing, Segaar has also spent a couple of seasons playing professional soccer with both the DC United and Northern Virginia Royals.

Another of Richards' players from that Charleston squad has moved north to play for his former skipper. Mike Davis, who also played for Frank Beamer in Blacksburg, is an arena football veteran who will help Richards this season as an on-field coach. Davis played for the Roanoke Steam (af2) in 2001 and two seasons, 2002 and 2003, with the Swamp Foxes. With the Steam, Davis finished fourth on the team in tackles with 27.5, 20 of which were unassisted, and had three and a half sacks for 14 yards. Offensively, he rushed for 80 yards and a TD at the fullback position.

After Roanoke disbanded, Davis made the move to Charleston. In two seasons with the Foxes, he rushed a total of 38 times for 139 yards and four scores, two each season. On defense, he accounted for 56.5 tackles, which 32 were solo stops, four sacks and a pair of interceptions.

On his four Virginia Tech players, Richards said, "I'm excited to have guys from a program like Tech where winning has become such a big part of their tradition. It's also great to have arena veterans like Davis and Segaar, who I'm obviously very familiar with, but also Lawrence (Lewis) with AFL experience, and you can never discount what Bryan (Still) accomplished by playing in the NFL."

The Bandits will open the inaugural 2005 season at the Richmond Coliseum on Saturday, April 16 at 7:05 pm versus the Carolina (Charlotte) Sharks. For more ticket information, including season and single-game tickets, fans can call the Bandits' front office at (804) 780-0383.



American Indoor Football Association Stories from March 23, 2005


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