Like Father, Like Son

Published on October 29, 2010 under United Football League (UFL 1)
Florida Tuskers News Release


ORLANDO, FL - FRIDAY, Oct. 29, 2010 - The relationship between a young boy and his father can make or break the future of that child's life. Most boys get to that age where they want to play sports, but sometimes his father just will not allow that to happen.

So it is written in the ten commandments of the bible that we "honor thy mother and thy father," or be faced with the consequences. For Florida Tuskers cornerback Simeon Castille, this challenge faced him at a young age when his father Jeremiah Castille would not allow him to play pee-wee football.

His father spent time in the National Football League with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Denver Broncos. Jeremiah Castille is known infamously by Cleveland Browns fans as the guy who caused "The Fumble" in 1987 and prevented them from reaching a Super Bowl.

It was not long after then that Simeon would beg and plead with his father to let him play football just like his older brother Tim Castille played at the time.

Recently, Simeon Castille spoke with 40 Christian youth football coaches in the area and told the story of his father's plight to keep him off the football field as a child.

"From the age of six until I was about 10 I begged and cried to my father every year to let me play football just like my big brother," Castille told the group. "He never let me play and I hated him for it at the time, but once I did start playing he was my coach. He would always push me to compete with my brother and grow as an athlete. It wasn't till my junior year in high school that

I really came into my own and started getting noticed by college coaches."

The Castille family is a legacy at the University of Alabama where Jeremiah earned All-America honors. Tim also played at Alabama and played alongside Simeon for three seasons.

After NFL stints with the Cincinnati Bengals and San Diego Chargers, Castille landed with the Tuskers for the 2010 season. So far he has contributed two interceptions; both came in separate games against Las Vegas Locos quarterback Tim Rattay.

Five games into the season, the Tuskers sit at 2-3 where -despite their sub .500 recordmost likely still controls-- their own destiny. If they can manage to win their last three contests, Florida could be headed for a date in the UFL Championship Game on November 27 in Omaha, Nebraska.

That challenge begins Friday night with a visit from former NFL quarterback Jeff Garcia and the Omaha Nighthawks, who are also fighting for a spot in the title game. Last time out the Tuskers squandered a 10-0 lead against Daunte Culpepper and the Sacramento Mountain Lions taking a 21-17 loss.

Castille feels like if his team can keep Garcia in the pocket with their pass rush and manage to contain Maurice Clarett in the running game the Tuskers will have a great chance at victory.

"It all starts with our pass rush up front if we can stop the run and get to Jeff Garcia I think we have a pretty good chance at keeping their offense contained," he says. "That's one thing we weren't able to do last time out."

The Tuskers have managed only one win in their last four contests after opening the season with a victory in Las Vegas against the Locos. Since then, the injuries have mounted on the defensive side of the ball and the unit defensive coordinator Chuck Bresnahan sends on the field Friday could be much different than the one that opened the season.

Overall, Castille feels like he and his teammates have failed to play a game up to their potential so far this season and is hoping tonight is their time to shine.

"I don't think any of us can point to a game yet and say we've played up to our potential in any one of our games," says Castille. "We have to play up to our potential against Omaha this week so we can point at this game and say `hey, that's Tuskers football' and then it's pretty simple we

need to do that this week and then maintain that level of play for the rest of the season."

A Tuskers victory over the Nighthawks could go a long way to setting up a showdown the next time these two teams will do battle on November 20 in Omaha.

TUSKERS NOTEBOOK: Florida players report back to Rosen Shingle Creek Resort today after enjoying their second and final bye week of the seasonThe team will meet today, practice on Saturday and then take Sunday off before resuming practice on MondayUFL teams are flooding You Tube with behind the scenes videosfor a neat look at the UFL and its players, check out: www.YouTube.com/theUFL Tickets, starting as just $15, remain for Friday night's showdown with Jeff Garcia and the Omaha Nighthawkstickets are available at TICKETMASTER or by calling 407-377-6828Heading into this weekend, Tuskers running back Dominic Rhodes leads the UFL in scoring with 42 points on seven touchdownsRhodes has four more scores than any other player in the league and is also second in rushing and all-purpose yardage...Perhaps no other team in the UFL can boast the NFL pedigree that Omaha possessesBetween just eight players-- QB Garcia (125), WR Robert Ferguson (83), WR Michael Clayton (84), DB Corey Ivy (113), DB Jermaine Phillips (96), RB Ahman Green (148); LB Cato June (89) and DE Renaldo Wynn (182)the group has more than 900 games of NFL service...former NFL and current Omaha LB Nick Greisen is the brother of Tuskers back-up QB Chris Greisen.

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United Football League Stories from October 29, 2010


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