Kurt Rocco's Serious Approach, Work Ethic Pace New Orleans
Published on April 13, 2012 under Arena Football League (AFL)
New Orleans VooDoo News Release
NEW ORLEANS (April 13, 2012) - It was the first offensive series for the New Orleans VooDoo in the second half against Utah in Week 3; Kurt Rocco dropped back to pass, stepped up in the pocket quickly to avoid the pass rush and found Josh Bush in the corner of the end zone for a 27-yard score. Everyone celebrated the touchdown; everyone expect Kurt Rocco.
After the touchdown, Rocco went straight over to VooDoo Head Coach Pat O'Hara, who was clapping and encouraging the offense after the score that put the team up 40-28 early in the third quarter.
"Kurt came over and started pleading with me. He said 'Coach, Josh was supposed to run a wiggle route; he went straight post and it forced me to hurry up and get rid of it.' .And I didn't understand at first what was going on," said O'Hara of the play.
"I just looked at him and said 'Kurt, relax man, we just scored; no explanation needed; we scored, you did a great job' and it was after that I realized why he was pleading with me. He was upset with himself that the play didn't happen exactly how we drew it up, showing how serious and how big of a perfectionist he is."
Rocco's serious approach to his craft has helped the VooDoo claw back from a 0-2 start on the season to an even 2-2 mark, including a 66-47 win last week in The Graveyard against divisional foe Tampa Bay. Rocco was 24-of-25 passing for 305 yards and 5 touchdowns in the victory, helping end a 12-game home losing skid dating back to 2008.
Rocco also finds himself atop the AFL in passing (333.8 yards/game) and total offense (337.5 yards/game) - both showing how hard the second-year player has worked on improving his game. Even Rocco will admit that he has come a long way since his first two-day workout with the Cleveland Gladiators in July of 2010.
"It was Fourth of July weekend and I was hesitant to go in because I had family in town from all across the country," said Rocco. "My family told me to go and I went in. After the two practices, Coach (Steve) Thonn said that he liked me and that he wanted to bring me into training camp the following season. So I trained in the offseason and signed with Cleveland for 2011."
The Cincinnati, Ohio native made the team in Cleveland in 2011 and was slated to back up AFL great John Dutton. Rocco was set to learn from one of the game's best until the unplanned happened.
"In the first game at Spokane, (John) Dutton was having a great game and then all of sudden with less than two minutes left in the game, he went down and I was sent in," said Rocco.
A few running plays later brought up a crucial third down and Rocco was forced to throw his first AFL pass.
"I can still remember being nervous and Coach Thonn telling me 'throw the fade route; throw it high because if he misses it, it will go in the stands.' And then as the play developed, I saw the two DB's go with Victor (Williams) on the fade, and I hit Troy Bergeron underneath for the touchdown," recalled Rocco.
That was the only pass that Rocco needed to throw in the Gladiators 61-55 win over Spokane. He finished 1-for-1 passing for 12 yards and a touchdown.
With Dutton being sent to the injured reserve, Rocco took over the reins as a full-time starter, guiding the team to the American Conference East Division Championship and a 9-8 regular season record. After the season ended with a playoff loss to the Georgia Force, Rocco went into the offseason knowing that Dutton was going to be back to playing health for 2012 and that his chances of starting were slim.
"I have a tremendous amount of respect for Coach Thonn, and he told me that they were going to bring Dutton back and wanted me backs as well, but as a backup. I totally understood; Dutton is a legendary quarterback, and Thonn understood that I wanted to go somewhere I could compete for a starting opportunity," said Rocco. "Spokane and New Orleans called, and I talked to Coach Thonn about both, and he told me how great of a coach Pat O'Hara was and kind of pointed me in that direction."
O'Hara called Rocco on a Monday morning, and expressed to him that he could help him with his maturation in the AFL and that he would have an honest opportunity to compete for the starting job in training camp. For Rocco, that was 'all the words he needed to hear' and signed on the following Tuesday morning.
"I watched a lot of film on Kurt and saw a lot of potential and felt like I could help him with his game," said O'Hara. "I told that to Kurt when I was trying to get him to sign with us. When we were in training camp, I had a lot of time with our quarterbacks and Kurt improved every day."
So far, all Rocco has done this season is throw for 300-plus yards in every game with the VooDoo - not bad considering he only had three 300-plus yard passing games all of last year in Cleveland.
But the most important stat of all lies in the win column with the VooDoo standing at 2-2 and tied for first in the American Conference South Division, and all Rocco wants to do is 'win games and bring home a championship.' Rocco will face one of his toughest tasks yet when the VooDoo travels to take on the San Antonio Talons and the ageless wonder that is Aaron Garcia on Friday night.
Garcia, who tossed his 1,000th career touchdown pass last week, is the League's oldest starting quarterback at 41 years old, while Rocco is the League's youngest starting quarterback at 24. To put it in perspective, when Garcia signed his first AFL contract with Arizona Rattlers in 1995, Rocco was only in the first grade.
"It is weird when you look at it like that," said Rocco. "I have a tremendous amount of respect for him and guys like Dutton and Grieb for helping make the AFL a great league. We know that this week's game will be a tough one and we will need to play at a high-level to keep pace."
Will the age and experience of Garcia prove victorious, or will the youth and vigor of Rocco win out on Friday night in the Alamodome on the NET10 NFL Network Game of the Week? The war between the walls will decide - all the more reason to tune in on Friday night at 7 p.m.
Arena Football League Stories from April 13, 2012
- Utah Defeats Arenabowl Champs in Offensive Shootout - Utah Blaze
- VooDoo Fall to San Antonio Talons on Friday Night - New Orleans VooDoo
- Sharks Defeated in See-Saw Tilt, 75-67 - Jacksonville Sharks
- Gladiators Fall in Tampa - Cleveland Gladiators
- Wasil Carries Storm To 69-48 Victory Over Cleveland - Tampa Bay Storm
- Soul Battle SaberCats for AFL Dominance - Philadelphia Soul
- Talons's Garcia Named Week 6 National Guard Community MVP - AFL
- Predators Sign WR Bobby Sippio - Orlando Predators
- Tonight's Game - What You Need to Know - Jacksonville Sharks
- Kurt Rocco's Serious Approach, Work Ethic Pace New Orleans - New Orleans VooDoo
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