Dusters starting QB Julian Reese also makes plays on defense
July 1, 2008 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Amarillo Venom News Release
AMARILLO, Texas The arena football 2 league features many talented athletes. These professional football players are all striving to be the absolute best they can be. Due to league regulations, every team has only a certain number of players that can suit up for a game. It is important to have the right players on the sideline to fill every position. Many players have to play multiple positions.
Julian Reese is the starting quarterback for the Amarillo Dusters. On Saturday, he filled that important role, but he also played the jack linebacker position on defense.
"Julian is a smart football player that has been around the af2 for a long time," said head coach Chris MacKeown. "He has the athletic ability to get the job done, and he is willing to do it." This is not the first time this season that Reese has played defense. In Stockton, fellow QB Joel Steele was back from injury and started the game. Reese came in at linebacker and got an interception.
"Jason Anderson was playing jack linebacker and he split his finger open. One of the coaches looked at me and told me to go in at jack," Reese said. "He told me to trust my instincts."
Reese said that he has a great time playing defense because he gets to be the one doing the hitting.
"Because of rule changes in the league, you have to really pay attention to the jack linebacker as a quarterback," Reese said. "When I am in on defense, I try to think of all of the things I would do at quarterback and just react."
"We are at the point in our season where we do whatever it takes to win," said. "I have the freedom to put Julian in on defense because I have confidence in our backup quarterback. If something were to happen, I know that Joel is more than capable to handle the game." MacKeown said that he doesn't know of any other team that uses their starting quarterback at a defensive position.
"He's good at it and he wants to do it," MacKeown said.
"Coach always tells us to see ourselves making a big play," Reese said."That is something I always try to do whether it's throwing, running, holding the extra point, making a tackle, or getting an interception. It could even be on the sidelines being the biggest cheerleader. Everything counts and that's why football is a team sport."
Catch Julian and the rest of the Dusters in their last home game of the season on July 21 against the Lubbock Renegades. Tickets start at just $16 and are on sale now. To reserve the best seats now, call the Dusters Box Office at 806.350.7277, visit www.dustersfootball.com, or stop by any Panhandle Tickets outlet. This is Dusters Country!
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