Bright: Bummer about Carolina and Rome, but let's sign their players
October 19, 2006 - World Indoor Football League 2 (WIFL 2)
Daytona Beach Thunder News Release
DAYTONA BEACH , Fla. - At first, Daytona Beach Thunder Head Coach Leon Bright was sad to hear that the Rome Renegades and the Carolina Bombers will not play in the World Indoor Football League's inaugural season.
Then, 2.745 milliseconds later, he was on the phone seeing if any of the former Renegades or Bombers would like to spend a few months in the beautiful sunshine on the World's Most Famous Beach .
"It's a business, baby," Bright said. "When it comes to talent, we're like sharks sniffing fresh blood, and this is going to be a frenzy.
"If I wasn't trying to snatch up some of that talent, I wouldn't be worth the big bucks my owner's paying me to put a winning team on the field," Bright added.
"If I wasn't trying to snatch up some of that talent, I wouldn't be worth the big bucks my owner's paying me to put a winning team on the field," Bright added.
Both Rome and Carolina were playoff teams in another indoor football league in 2006. Bright attended the championship game hosted by Rome . Dude has to steal other team's player to win. Let's see how far that goes. " Rome had a solid quarterback [Bo Bartik] who just had a bad game that night, a tremendous wide receiver [Gerald Gales], an awesome kicker [Danny Marshall] and great size on both sides of the line," Bright said. "I saw the Carolina team [then known as the Raleigh Rebels] and they had a great receiving corps. Darn right I'm going after that."
Such is the life of an indoor football coach during the off-season, trying to find new talent and keeping other coaches from raiding your roster, like Osceola's Marquette Smith is trying to do on the Thunder.
"I expect that from Marquette Smith because he knows he has to have my talent for any chance to be successful in this league," Bright said. "Oh, yeah, he was 8-6 in the NIFL, but that's like going 8-6 in a pick-up softball league. You don't exactly have to be Bill Parcells to rack up a couple of forfeits and blowouts against teams that don't have matching helmets.
"He's 0-2 lifetime against Ervin Bryson, do I need to say anything else?" Bright added.
"But that's Marquette . I've known him since he was a really small fry, only a couple inches shorter than he is now. And I remember how he was always getting injured. He's the only player I know to go on the disabled list after spraining his wrist opening a tube of toothpaste," Bright continued.
"And you want to talk about a journeyman career? He's been in every league ever created. He even tried out for the Justice League, but Aquaman and Green Lantern cut him because he spent too much time running north-south.
"I am actually looking forward to playing Osceola a couple of more times in this four-team league because that's a couple more times we can whomp up on Marquette's squat little butt. What's he going to do, punch me in the knee? Bring it on Marquette , the Thunder's waiting," Bright concluded.
The Thunder begins its second season in February 2007.
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World Indoor Football League 2 Stories from October 19, 2006
- Bright: Bummer about Carolina and Rome, but let's sign their players - Daytona Beach Thunder
- WIFL commissioner: indoor football is in flux - WIFL 2
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