Former Tarpon Hicks happy to be home
March 25, 2006 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Florida Firecats News Release
ESTERO -- Life on the fringes of pro football can make for an itinerant existence. For the past two years, former Charlotte High star wide receiver Elgin Hicks went where the work could be found.
Indianapolis. Memphis. Winnipeg. Back to Memphis. And now, home.
Hicks stood in street clothes Friday during the Florida Firecats' second day of two-a-day workouts in preparation for the arenafootball2 season. He strained some ligaments in his ankle Thursday, but he expects to play Sunday in the Firecats' first intrasquad scrimmage.
The former Tarpon, who once caught 34 touchdown passes his junior year of high school, is happy to be home.
"This is my comfort zone," Hicks said. "I know everything here, so it's great to be back."
Playing with the Firecats allows him to see his family more often, including his children, D'Andre and Aryana. Homesickness was Hicks' biggest issue the last two seasons, as he had to go far from home to play pro football.
He spent 2004 on the practice squad for the Indianapolis Colts. In 2005, Hicks started the season with the af2 Memphis Xplorers, then left the team to go to training camp for the CFL's Winnipeg Blue Bombers. That didn't work out, and Hicks returned to the Xplorers in time to help them in their push to the Arena Cup championship. Only, Hicks didn't play in that game. A hamstring injury kept him out of the Arena Cup lineup as a wide receiver/linebacker.
"It was tough (not playing), but I didn't want to get out there at 85 percent and make a play that could cost the team the game, when we worked so hard during the season," Hicks said.
Hicks came home and wasn't sure where to go next with football, until he ran into an old friend -- former Charlotte High quarterback Justin Midgett, who is also on the Firecats' roster. The two started playing flag football together to stay in shape and later went to a Tampa Bay Storm tryout camp, where they each drew the interest of Firecats head coach Kevin Bouis.
Bouis remembered Hicks from Memphis and from the receiver's playing days at the University of South Florida, where he caught seven touchdown passes his senior year in 2003.
"I hated seeing a Florida guy, most specifically a USF guy, leaving the state and go play in arena2," Bouis said. "He wanted to be closer to home."
Signing with the Firecats offered Hicks a perfect opportunity to continue his pro career -- and do so without having to leave his family for an extended time.
On the road, Hicks knew barely anyone. With the Firecats, he has an extended football family. Along with Midgett, former Tarpon Bruce Gipson, who also played at USF, is on the training camp roster. Additionally, three other USF products are in camp -- linemen Greg Walls and Cedric Battles and fullback Clenton Crossley.
If you think it doesn't make a difference, think again.
"(Training) camp isn't the best thing for anyone, and once you get down, if you have someone you can go to that you knew from childhood, or spent five years in college with, it can make it feel like home and make things more relaxed," Hicks said.
Bouis said Hicks should make the team, saying he's among the top five or six wide receivers on the roster. Hicks played mostly linebacker for the Xplorers, so he's hoping for more playing time at wide receiver this season.
Whether he makes the team or not, Hicks isn't giving up his day job as a delivery man for DHL. Most of the Firecats have their own day jobs, such as quarterback Mike McQuagge, who missed Friday's second practice for a court date. He's an attorney.
But Hicks says he isn't in camp for the money.
"At this level, it's about how much you love the game and getting an opportunity to play," Hicks said. "You play and you hope you get noticed by Arena Football or the NFL, and that (contract) will hopefully give you a chance to take care of your family."
And family is why Hicks is back in Florida in the first place.
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- Former Tarpon Hicks happy to be home - Florida Firecats
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