Iron Sign First Four Players To 2010 Roster
November 18, 2009 - Arena Football League (AFL)
Milwaukee Mustangs News Release
MILWAUKEE - The Milwaukee Iron have begun to build their roster for the 2010 Arena Football season. Arena Football One announced that the Iron have been assigned quarterback Anthony Morelli and offensive linemen Brandon Barnes, Kheon Hendricks and Raymond McNeil. Iron general manager Jason Clark stated,
"I am very pleased with the caliber of players that Coach Landsee and our staff is bringing to the Milwaukee Iron. These players are very talented and will help us compete for a championship at the highest level of Arena Football in the country as a member of rena Football One."Â
ANTHONY MORELLI, QB, 6'4"Â, 232, PENN ST TE
Coming out of Penn Hills High School in suburban Pittsburgh, Anthony Morelli was rated the No. 2 rated quarterback in the country and was named to the USA Today Top 25 Supreme Team. He was heavily recruited out of high school and chose to play in the Big Ten Conference for legendary head coach Joe Paterno and the Penn State Nittany Lions.
At Penn State, Morelli was a two-year starter who threw for 5,275 yards and 31 touchdowns, while helping to guide the Nittany Lions to three bowl games, which included the Orange Bowl, the Outback Bowl and the Alamo Bowl. His junior season he led PSU to an impressive Outback Bowl victory over #17 Tennessee. In that game he threw for one touchdown and 197 yards, which ranks as the 6th best passing yardage total in bowl history for a Penn State quarterback.
Morelli signed a NFL free agent contract in 2008 with the Arizona Cardinals and played in all four preseason games that year. He was invited to work outs in 2009 with the Buffalo Bills and the Green Bay Packers.
BRANDON BARNES, OL, 6'2"Â, 315, GR ND V LLEY STATE
Offensive lineman Brandon Barnes had a stellar career as an All-American lineman at NCAA Division II powerhouse Grand Valley State University. Barnes won the 2007 Gene Upshaw Award, given annually to the top offensive lineman in NCAA Division II, and was a top sleeper pick by Dallas Morning News NFL writer Rick Gosselin entering the 2008 NFL Draft. Barnes was an Associated Press and Daktronics First- Team All-American in his junior and senior seasons at GVSU.
Professionally, Barnes went on to sign a NFL free agent contract with the Baltimore Ravens in 2008. After being released from the Ravens in training camp he moved on to play in the arenafootball2 league in 2009 for the Green Bay Blizzard under Iron Head coach Bob Landsee, starting two games with the Blizzard before the Indianapolis Colts noticed his talent and signed him to a free agent contract during training camp.
KHEON HENDRICKS, OL, 6'1"Â, 295, DEL W RE
Kheon Hendricks started for three consecutive seasons on the offensive line at the University of Delaware, including two seasons for current Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco.
In 2006 Hendricks became the starting left guard and played in 11 games for a Delaware team that ranked ninth in NCAA Division I-AA in passing. In 2007 Hendricks anchored the Delaware line and moved to the center position to lead an offense that led the conference in scoring, passing, and total offense and ranked sixth in the NCAA in total offense with 460.6 yards per game. In his junior season, Hendricks was selected to the First team All-Conference and was an Honorable Mention All-American. Prior to his senior season in 2008 he earned first team pre-season All- merican honors by Phil Steele's College Football Preview Magazine and second team pre-season All-American laurels by Lindy's College Football Preview and Consensus Draft Services. His senior season brought more accolades with Second-Team All- Conference honors as well as a Third-Team All-American selection. He was also named honorable mention on the College Sporting News Fabulous Fifty Division I FCS All-American and the Sports Network FCS Football All-America teams. Professionally, Hendricks has had two private workouts with the Baltimore Ravens.
RAYMOND MCNEIL, OL, 6'2"Â, 315, FORT VALLEY STATE
Offensive lineman Raymond McNeil brings three years of all-pro Arena Football experience to the Milwaukee Iron, the past two seasons with the Green Bay Blizzard playing for Iron Head Coach Bob Landsee.
For his stellar play, McNeil earned first-team all-af2 honors in 2008 and 2009. Last season in Green Bay, McNeil anchored a line at center that allowed only 16 regular season sacks ranking seventh best in the league. Behind McNeil, he Blizzard also had one of the league's top rushing attacks. While playing his college football at Fort Valley State, McNeil was a SIAC All-Conference Selection and played in the Magnolia Gridiron Classic All-Star Game.
Arena Football League Stories from November 18, 2009
- Iron Sign First Four Players To 2010 Roster - Milwaukee Mustangs
- Barnstormers Sign Three More Players For 2010 Season - Iowa Barnstormers
- Arena Football One Accepted as "Stalking Horse" Bidder for AFL Assets - AFL
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
