Kats leave eight unprotected for expansion draft
September 13, 2005 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Nashville Kats News Release
NASHVILLE (Sept. 13, 2005) - The Nashville Kats have left eight players unprotected for the 2006 Arena Football League Expansion Draft, including five from the team's active roster. FB/LB Dan Alexander, OS Fred Coleman, OL/DL Jonathan Ingram, DS Eric Joyce, QB Adrian McPherson, OL/DL Ritchie Owens, QB Scott Rislov and DS Tony Scott are among the 95 players from around the AFL which the expansion Utah Blaze will have to select from when the draft is conducted on Sept. 26.
Each AFL team could protect 16 players whose rights they control. That includes players on the Kats' active and exempt rosters, as well as those designated with having left the squad. Nashville's active roster recently expanded from 17 to 21 when four players on the team's exempt list were released by NFL clubs. That included Joe Minucci, who was an All-Arena lineman for the Kats last season; as well as OL/DL Anthony Herron, DS Eric Joyce and OL/DL R-Kal Truluck, all of whom spent all of the Kats' 2005 expansion season on the exempt roster. That recent roster expansion left the Kats needing to expose five players from the active roster rather than the one they would have had to leave unprotected.
Of the five active players left unprotected, four played for the Kats in 2005. Alexander led the team in rushing and was selected to the AFL's All-Rookie squad. Coleman led the Kats in receiving last season, while Rislov served as the backup quarterback in the team's last four games. Scott was active for two games last year and spent much of 2005 battling injuries. Only Joyce, a former Tennessee State star defensive back, did not play with the Kats at all last year. He spent the season playing in NFL Europe.
The remaining three players left unprotected have never suited up for the Kats. McPherson, a former AFL Rookie of the Year, was drafted by the NFL's New Orleans Saints and did not play arena football last year. Ingram is still on the roster of the Kansas City Chiefs, and Owens left the Kats midway through training camp last season after deciding to end his long professional career.
Other players available to be drafted by the expansion team include: two former Lineman of the Year - Carlos Fowler of the Los Angeles Avengers and Sam Hernandez of the San Jose SaberCats; and two former All-Arena starters - OL/DL Fred Ray of the Los Angeles Avengers and FB/LB Keala Keanaaina of the San Jose SaberCats.
"We have been looking forward to this day," said Blaze head coach and general manager Danny White. "The talent in the AFL has improved dramatically from my first years in the league where now teams are deep enough that they can't protect everyone. On top of that, the free-agent market is loaded with players that have solid arena experience. We just held our first open tryout last month and hosted over 200 quality players. This is going to be fun, starting from scratch and building a competitive team."
Utah may choose a player from any current team who is designated as being "unprotected." Each team protected 16 players whose rights they control. All other players whose rights they control are deemed "unprotected" and, hence, eligible to be selected by the Blaze.
The draft, which is conducted via telephone conference, begins at 1 p.m. (ET) on September 26 and consists of maximum of 20 rounds. A maximum of five minutes per selection is allowed in each round. If the time limit expires, the pick is forfeited. Trades between the expansion team and other clubs may be made at any time prior to and during the draft. Once a player is selected from an existing team, that team will be allowed to pull back one player. Therefore, if one of the Kats' unprotected players is selected, then Nashville would immediately be allowed to pull back one of its unprotected players.
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