Cobras Post-Game Comments
April 27, 2002 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Carolina Cobras News Release
The Carolina Cobras bounced back from a season-opening loss to an expansion team to knock off the Georgia Force, 55-44, in Atlanta on Friday night. The win was only Carolina's fourth road victory in three seasons in the Arena Football League. Georgia, which moved from Nashville to Atlanta in the off-season, are the former Nashville Kats, who have been to back-to-back ArenaBowl games. Friday's win was also the first career AFL victory for first-year head coach Mike Neu. Here's what the players and coaches had to say in a joyous Cobras locker room.
Head Coach Mike Neu
(on the win at Georgia)
"Our guys took it to them up front all night long and they fought for four quarters and came out with a win. We were a little bitter when we came into this place because their coaches were making some comments that we needed some help up front, so we made that a know fact to our group and we came out with a win. No matter how you get it, it's a win."
(on if he thought the team broke down by allowing the Force to come back late in the game)
"We didn't break down, that's Arena Football. The biggest thing is that our football team showed a lot of character and resilience to come back and get the win."
QB Connell Maynor
(on the game)
"It's always good to get a win, especially on the road. If you can go on the road and win and stay focused in adverse situations, that's certainly a sign that you've got something going. The first thing is to just get the "w" and we got that. Offensively, we looked like a machine in the first half and in the second half we kind of sputtered. They had two stops in the second half and that's two too many for us because we expect to score on every possession, but we'll get those wrinkles worked out."
(on what the wins does to the team)
"It was a big win for us because we were 0-3 (0-2 in preseason and lost season-opener vs. Dallas) even though two of those games were preseason games. It was good for us to finally jump out in front and get a lead because we had been trailing in all the other games. But, when they tied the game up, it really showed the character of this team go back down and get that score, that was huge."
WR/LB Cory Fleming
(on what it means to beat his old team)
"It's pretty sweet. I was really excited to play them because I think they looked at us and thought that they would just come in here and have their way with us. But, you always have to respect a professional athlete on all levels and they made some comments about our guys up front so it was sweet. I like to play against my old guys and I was fortunate to make some good things happen out there. Some of those guys in that organization (Georgia moved from Nashville in the off-season) thought they didn't need me anymore so for that reason, it was real sweet."
(on if coach Neu challenged him during the week)
"I really didn't say anything after the first game because I really don't worry about how may balls I get. I just need to worry about getting involved in the game. Coach Neu came to me and asked me what I would feel comfortable with in order to get me in the flow of the game. I put some plays down and he told me that we were going to work it. I have confidence in him and that was one of the main things that brought me here. I know he's going to get guys that are going to play ball. I look at guys like Carl Bond and Aaron Bailey, they bring their "A" game every week. There are going to be enough balls to go around, and what makes it so great is that nobody is selfish, everybody makes plays. We're all going to have those days where it's just not happening, but what we have to do is just be consistent. Tonight we played an all-around good game and we made a few mistakes, but we're coming around and making the plays that we have to make."
WR/DB Carl Bond
(on the win vs. Georgia)
"This is probably the biggest win, confidence wise, ever for us. It's probably going to be even bigger once we look at it on film. We made some mistakes to let them back in the game, but if we can eliminate those mistakes, there's no limit to where this team can go."
(on making the big catches on 3rd down)
"I guess right now, I've been kind of making a living on that. I like to make big plays and I consider third downs a pretty big play. If it's 3rd and 1 or 3rd and forever, if I can make a play, I'm going to make it."
(on the special teams touchdowns)
"It was very important because the coaches talked about it all week, that we needed to win the special teams battle. We feel that we have just as good special teams as any team in this league. I feel that with our three guys returning (himself, Aaron Bailey and Clarence Lawson), we've got a three-headed dragon. Most teams have one guy but we have three guys that are always fresh. Every time someone kicks off to us, they're scared because there's a fresh guy back there. Even when we were on kickoff coverage, we were going down and making plays. Special teams was really a big key for us tonight."
Carolina returns home to the Entertainment & Sports Arena next Saturday, May 4, 7 p.m. to host the Tampa Bay Storm.
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Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from April 27, 2002
- Arena Football League Transactions - AFL I
- Cobras Post-Game Comments - Carolina Cobras
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