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AFL I Arizona Rattlers

Arizona Rattlers game notes

February 28, 2007 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Arizona Rattlers News Release


QUICK FACTS:

Game: Arizona Rattlers vs. Georgia Force

Date: Saturday, March 3, 2007

Kickoff: 7:00 p.m. (Mountain)

Site: Phoenix, Ariz.

Arena: U.S. Airways Center (16,321)

Television: FOX Sports Net - Arizona (Dale Hellestrae, Glenn Parker, Jody Jackson)

Radio: ESPN Radio 860 (Kent Derdivanis, Dan Manucci, Craig Grialou, Valerie Morgan)

Internet: www.azrattlers.com

Series Record: Tied 1-1

Last Meeting: Georgia 61, Arizona 47 - February 12,

2005 at Philips Arena, Atlanta, Ga.

Officials: Dennis Lipski (R), Rick Nelson (U), Kavin McGrath

(HL), Darrel Leftwich (LJ), Rich Wilborn (BJ)

Head Coaches: Arizona - Gene Nudo (second season, 8-8); Georgia - Doug Plank (fifth season, 38-24)

RATTLERS IN REVIEW: The Rattlers enter their 16th season on the heels of their 13th playoff appearance in franchise history, advancing to the second round. Despite a slow start that saw the Rattlers drop their first three contests, Arizona found life down the stretch, finishing on an 8-5 swing, including a season-high four-game winning streak. The 2007 campaign will once again be guided by second-year head coach Gene Nudo. Nudo, however, is no newcomer to the game as he has been a part of the Rattlers front office for the past 13 seasons. Arizona returns a number of starters from last season, including QB Sherdrick Bonner, who is one of the league's most prolific passers. Returning for his 13th season and 14th year in Arena Football, Bonner ranks tops all-time among league leaders in post-season passing yards, touchdowns, attempts, completions and wins. Another veteran returnee, WR/LB Randy Gatewood continues to excel year after year as he took home the second "Ironman of the Year" honor in his career last season. The Rattlers also feature a strong group of veterans in the middle, including linemen Wendall Gaines, Kelvin Ingram and Vince Amey. Defensively, the team will count on DS Erin Damond to take a leadership role in a backfield that includes five-year veteran Joe Todd and rookie Keyuo Craver. K Gary Kral returns to handle the kicking duties for Arizona.

THE SERIES: This will be the third overall meeting between the two teams with each team taking a game (1-1). The last meeting was on Feb. 12, 2005, when the Force downed the Rattlers 61-47 in Georgia. This is the first meeting between the clubs in Arizona. Despite being in different conferences and separated by thousands of miles, the franchises share a common bond. Force head coach Doug Plank, now in his third season at the Georgia helm, previously served as Arizona's defensive coordinator from 2002-04.

ARIZONA RATTLERS (0-0)

Date Opponent Time(AZ) TV

Mar. 3 Georgia 7:00 FSAZ(delay)

Mar. 10 Utah 7:00 FSAZ

Mar. 16 @ Colorado 7:00 None

Mar. 23 Las Vegas 7:00 None

Mar. 30 @ Kansas City 6:00 None

Apr. 6 @ Los Angeles 7:30 None

Apr. 14 Nashville 7:00 None

Apr. 20 @ Utah 6:00 None

Apr. 28 @ New York 4:00 FSAZ

May 5 San Jose 7:00 None

May 12 Austin 7:00 FSAZ(delay)

May 18 @ Tampa Bay 4:30 None

May 26 Chicago 7:00 FSAZ

June 3 @ Las Vegas 3:00 None

June 11 Los Angeles 7:00 ESPN2

June 16 @ San Jose 7:30 FSAZ

June 18-24 BYE WEEK

GEORGIA FORCE (0-0)

Date Opponent

Mar. 3 @ Arizona

Mar. 11 Austin

Mar. 17 12Mar @ Tampa Bay

Mar. 24 San Jose

Mar. 30 @ Columbus

Apr. 9 @ Philadelphia

Apr. 15 Las Vegas

Apr. 21 Dallas

Apr. 27 @ New Orleans

May 4 Orlando

BYE WEEK

May 19 @Los Angeles

May 26 Tampa Bay

June 2 Columbus

June 9 @ Austin

June 15 @ Orlando

June 24 New Orleans

RATTLERS HEAD COACH: Gene Nudo enters his second season as the Rattlers head coach. Nudo, the third head coach in the franchise's 16-year history, joined the Rattlers coaching staff in 1995 as an assistant head coach before becoming a part of the team's front office in 1996. A true pioneer in the AFL, Nudo coached the first-ever Arena Football games in Rockford, Ill. (1986) as well as its "Showcase Game" in Rosemont, Ill. (1987). He would later serve as the Director of Player Personnel and assistant coach for the Chicago Bruisers (1987-88), helping guide them to a berth in ArenaBowl II.

THIS WEEKS QUOTES:

Rattler head coach Gene Nudo on training camp: "Camp was extremely competitive, which made it hard for us when it came time to cut down the roster. All in all, I think we made a lot of progress. We have a good group of guys, but now it will just be about putting the pieces together. I give credit to all our coaches for having a productive camp."

Nudo on Georgia: "They're a very good team with a veteran core group of players. Everybody's picking them to go to the ArenaBowl, so we'll get to find out right away where we are as a team."

Nudo on the key to the game: "We know that Coach (Doug) Plank is a coach who stresses physicality first above anything else, so we have to be ready for that."

NEXT GAME: The Rattlers host another familiar face next Saturday night (Mar. 10) as former head coach Danny White and the Utah Blaze head back to the state where he led the Rattlers to a pair of ArenaBowl championships. Kickoff is at 7:00 p.m. The game will be televised live on FOX Sports Net Arizona can be heard over the air on KMVP 860 AM.

THE "IF" SECTION

If the Rattlers defeat Georgia it would:

- be their first win vs. the Force since 2002 (51-40 @ Georgia)

- be their first opening day victory since 2005 (58-38 @ Grand Rapids)

- be their first opening day victory at home since 2000 (56-48 vs. Iowa)

Rattlers Coaching History

Season - Head Coach Record

1992-2004 Danny White 141-57

(playoffs 20-10)

2005 Todd Shell 7-9

2006- Gene Nudo 8-8 (playoffs 1-1)

SLOW STARTERS: The Rattlers have hardly been known for breaking out of the gates quickly in recent years, though they've finished strong. In their last four seasons, Arizona is a combined 12-20 during the first half of the season. Despite the slow starts, the Rattlers were still able to make championship runs in 2003 and 2004 and advance to the American Conference semifinals.

Player to Watch: WR/DB Randy Gatewood: The AFL's reigning "Ironman of the Year" and two-time recipient of the award returns for a 12th season with the Rattlers. Though an experienced veteran, 2007 shapes up to be unlike any other for Gatewood with the introduction of free substitution. While he'll be prepared to play defense, Gatewood expects to see plenty of action on the offensive side of the ball. That shouldn't be a problem for the talented receiver, who paced all Rattlers in scoring last season with 214 points on 35 touchdowns. Appearing in all 16 games, he led the team in receiving with 1175 yards and 89 receptions.

Rattlers line coach Mark Tucker will coach in his first Arena Football League game after a 10-year career as a player on the Rattlers frontline. Tucker totaled 47 tackles in his illustrious Rattlers career, helping to lead Arizona to a 55-33 victory over the Iowa Barnstormers in ArenaBowl XI.

Drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the seventh round of the 1991 draft, Tucker spent the following season in training camp with the Indianapolis Colts before being allocated to the Frankfurt Galaxy of NFL Europe. He went on to sign with the Arizona Cardinals in 1993, playing in 24 games over two seasons with the Cardinals. Tucker was selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 1995 expansion draft.

The Rattlers active roster features three players who played college football in the state of Arizona. Both OL/DL Vince Amey and Albrey Battle suited up at Arizona State, helping to lead ASU to an undefeated PAC-10 season and a trip to the Rose Bowl. Rookie OL/DL Brandon Phillips is a Chandler native who played his high school ball at Tempe's Corona Del Sol before going on to the University of Arizona. Two former Sun Devils - WR/DB Josh Golden and WR Justin Taplin - are on the Rattlers practice squad. Taplin is also an Arizona native who graduated from Tempe High School.

The New Orleans VooDoo resume play this season after a one-year hiatus. The VooDoo will compete within the National Conference's Southern Division, while the Kansas City Brigade will realign to the American Conference after spending their inaugural 2006 season in the Southern Division. The Rattlers will do battle with their new conference foe on Mar. 30 in Kansas City.

GENE NUDO

Rattlers Head Coach: 2nd Season Regular Season: 8-8 (.500)

Postseason: 1-1 (.500)

Gene Nudo, the AFL's only three-time Executive of the Year, is celebrating his 13th season with the Arizona Rattlers and second as the team's head coach.

In his first year at the helm, Nudo led the Rattlers to their 13th playoff appearance in franchise history. He guided the Rattlers to the American Conference Semifinal after a Wild Card Round playoff victory over the Utah Blaze.

Nudo, who joined the Rattlers as an assistant head coach in 1995 after serving as the Arena Football League's Vice President of Football Operations, became the team's Vice President of Administration the following season. Nudo has also served as the team's Vice President of Operations for eight seasons before becoming general manager in 2004.

While overseeing day-to-day football operations, Nudo helped the Rattlers earn five consecutive commissioner awards for the AFL's "Best Organization" (1996-2000), while earning an unprecedented three "Executive of the Year" awards (1997, 1999, 2000). Formerly a member of the AFL Board of Directors Executive Committee,

Nudo has also served as the chairman of the AFL's Rules and Competition Committee and as a member of the league's Labor Relations Committee. Nudo is currently the chairman of the rules and competition subcommittee. He was instrumental in helping the AFL and its players enter into an interim collective bargaining agreement in 2000.

Nudo began his coaching career in 1981 as head coach of the River Grove Cowboys of Chicago's Metropolitan Football League. As a head coach, he won five championships in six seasons, including the 1984 AFA Semi-Professional National Championship in Mobile, Ala. He would later lead Chicago's Driscoll Catholic High School to an undefeated 1991 Illinois State High School Championship. In 1992, Nudo earned nomination into the Minor League Hall of Fame.

DOUG PLANK

Force Head Coach: 3rd Season Regular Season: 19-13 (.594)

Postseason: 3-2 (.600)

Doug Plank enters his third season as head coach of the Georgia Force. In his first two seasons as Georgia's head coach, he has led the Force to a 22-15 overall record and a trip to ArenaBowl XIX in 2005. Under Plank's tutelage, Georgia has made consecutive playoff appearances for the first time in franchise history. In 2005, Plank was voted AFL Coach of the Year after leading the Force to a league best 11-5 regular season record and a 13-6 overall record.

In his second season as the Force's head coach in 2006, Plank drove the team to an 8-8 record and their second consecutive playoff berth. Plank secured his third playoff win in two seasons when the Force defeated New York in their Wild Card Game. His opportunistic defense returned seven interceptions for touchdowns during the regular season. The seven returns marked a franchise-high and tied an AFL record.

In 2005, in his first season as a head coach, Plank led the Force to an 11-5 record. The 11-5 mark was the best record in franchise history and secured the Force's first Southern Division Championship and the number one seed in the playoffs. The Force went on to win the inaugural National Conference Championship game by defeating the Orlando Predators. The victory secured Georgia's place in ArenaBowl XIX.

Plank has coached in four of the last five ArenaBowls. He helped lead the Arizona Rattlers to three ArenaBowls as their defensive coordinator. In his final season with the Rattlers, the team finished with an 11-5 record and earned the top seed in the AFL playoffs. While playing for legendary coach Woody Hayes, Plank played in three consecutive Rose Bowls (1973-75) for The Ohio State University. His physical style of play and knowledge of the game paved the way for Plank to continue his playing career with the Chicago Bears.

Plank brings with him a wealth of football experience that includes an impressive career in the NFL. He was selected by the Chicago Bears in the 12th round of the 1975 NFL draft and started at safety for eight seasons. The "46 Defense" created by Buddy Ryan was named for Plank's jersey number and aggressive style of play. Plank was also the first Bears rookie to ever lead the team in tackles.

(courtesy of the Georgia Force)

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