Detroit Fury Resigns Core Group of Players for 2004

Published on July 7, 2003 under Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Detroit Fury News Release


AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -The Detroit Fury of the Arena Football League announced today that they have resigned 11 players from last year's team for the 2004 season.

The Fury, who finished the 2003 regular season with a record of 8-8, tied an AFL mark for the biggest single-season turnaround after the team went 1-13 in 2002. With one season under their belt as a team and under head coach Al Luginbill, the Fury have a strong nucleus of players in place for next year.

The resigned players are: WR/DB Herman Bell, DS Ron Carpenter OL/DL Curtis Eason, WR/LB Jason Kaiser, OL/DL Matt Keneley, FB/LB Frank Leatherwood, OS Junior Lord, OL/DL Jon McCall, OL/DL Matt Norwood, OL/DL Angel Rubio and WR/DB Reggie Waddell.

"We wanted to make sure that we kept the core of our players, especially our lineman, under contract for next season," said Fury head coach and General Manager Al Luginbill. "Our linemen were the strength of our team last year, and the young players we had learned a great deal and have the potential to be very good. We also wanted to make sure that our playmakers like Ron (Carpenter) and Jason (Kaiser) are under contract."

The returning players were key players in the Fury lineup. Eason, McCall and Keneley combined for 10 of the Fury's 14 sacks and anchored an offensive line that gave up the second fewest sacks in the AFL in 2003. Carpenter set a new AFL single-season record for kickoff return yards, and he tied an AFL playoff record when he returned two kickoffs for touchdowns in a single game. Carpenter also led all Fury defensive players in interceptions and tackles.

Along with the 11 players resigned, Fury QB Andy Kelly, WR/DB Kelly Snell and OL/DL Lucas Yarnell will all enter their second year of their contracts with the Fury.

The Fury will now turn their attention to one of the biggest free agent pools in AFL history to address and holes the team needs to fill before the start of training camp. AFL teams will be allowed to begin signing free agents in October.

"Our next step is fill some of our holes in free agency," said Luginbill. "We need to go out and get a proven defensive specialist to play the middle of the field, and we need a big, physical and durable two-way receiver. In this league, if you have good two-way lineman and two defensive specialists that can really cover, you will be successful. Right now, with our linemen resigned, we are only a few players away from where we would like to be."

The Fury finished the 2003 season in second place in the Eastern Division and advanced into the quarterfinal round of the ArenaBowl playoffs. 2004 season tickets for the Fury can be purchased by calling (248) 377-0100 or logging on to www.detroitfury.com.

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Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from July 7, 2003


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