In Pursuit of A Dream
November 21, 2003 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Wichita Stealth News Release
Each year around arenafootball2, teams hold open tryouts to try and find a diamond in the rough or an unknown who may put that team into the ultimate limelight, the ArenaCup championship game. For the Wichita Stealth, open tryout day is just around the corner and in the past it has been filled with some players who have gone on to become very successful contributors to the team.
On January 28th, 2001 (Super Bowl Sunday), the Stealth held their first ever tryout. It was a cold and icy morning and over 120 brave prospects showed up to showcase their talents for the Stealth coaching staff. This tryout was unique due to the fact that the team was an expansion entry into af2 for the 2001 season and they needed to fill an entire 35-man training camp roster. Of the 120 prospects, the one that stood out the most was a quarterback named Zack Siegrist. Siegrist (6-3, 225, Pittsburg State) played for the Wichita Warlords of the Indoor Football League (IFL) the previous season and was a former Kansas Top 11 player in high school at Andover (Kan.) High School.
Siegrist went on from open tryouts to win the starting quarterback job for the Stealth and enjoyed a successful season. He played in 15 games for the Stealth, completing 327-of-556 passes for 3,838 yards and 63 touchdowns. He was named the af2 co-offensive player of the week after his performance against the Bossier City Battlewings on May 27, 2001. In that game, Siegrist was 31-of-39 for 379 yards and nine touchdowns. His nine touchdown passes in a single game are still a Stealth team record.
One year later, the Stealth held their second open tryout and over 125 talented prospects showed up to compete for a spot on the team. The Stealth were coming off of a 7-9 season and head coach Land Jacobsen was looking to make some upgrades on his squad. The most notable prospect during the 2002 tryout was not a guy who was throwing passes to receivers or a guy who was catching the ball, it was one of the guys in the trenches, an offensive/defensive lineman named John Hesse (6-6, 287, Emporia State). Hesse was so impressive the coaching staff offered him a contract immediately following the tryout.
Hesse has gone on to play two seasons for the Stealth and looks to be back in 2004 for his third af2 season. He has played in 22 games and amassed 26 tackles (11 unassisted) and three fumble recoveries. Hesse has battled through various injuries to become one of the most relied upon lineman in Stealth history. He is also one of the only guys who has been around the Stealth for the entire 2002 and 2003 seasons.
Last season was unlike any other tryout the Stealth have ever had. The Stealth found themselves with a new coaching staff led by veteran Arena Football League (AFL) head coach Bob Cortese and they were coming off of an appearance in the af2 playoffs, so the talent level had been raised and the prospects at this open tryout may have found it tough to break onto this talent laden squad, that is unless your name was Michael Dritlein.
Dritlein (6-2, 205, Washburn), a former NFL player for the Kansas City Chiefs and New England Patriots, was looking to break into the world of arena football. Dritlein was not a total unknown before coming to the Stealth tryout camp, as he went to college at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas and had played in the Indoor Football League for the Topeka Knights. Dritlein amazed the Stealth coaches with his speed and his ability to catch the football. His talent was very evident and the Stealth coaches gave him a contract as soon as the tryout was over.
Dritlein began his first af2 season with a bang. In his first game, he caught five passes for 62 yards and three touchdowns, but this would not be the last time opponents would see the name Michael Dritlein in the headlines.
He would continue to run away from opposing defenses as he continued to rack up yard after yard and score after score during the 2003 season. He then began to show his elusiveness on special teams in addition to those on the offensive side of the ball. It was this quality that made him a true game breaker and helped him lead the Stealth to victory numerous times during the 2003 season.
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