Lopez Arrives in Wichita
May 23, 2002 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Wichita Stealth News Release
Wichita, KS - With nine games left in the season, and the defending Quad City Steamwheelers up next, the Wichita Stealth needed to make a drastic change. Today they did that with the assignment of former Arena Football League quarterback Ron Lopez.
Lopez will be reunited with his former head coach Bob Cortese. Both were members of the contracted Oklahoma Wranglers of the AFL. Lopez has been in the Arena Football League for eight years. He led both the San Jose SaberCats, in 1998, and the Oklahoma Wranglers, in 2000, to the Arena Football League playoffs. In 2000 the Oklahoma Wranglers went 1-1 in the playoffs. Lopez threw for 458 yards and 9 touchdowns in those two playoff games combined. The 6-5, 215lb. quarterback graduated from Utah State. Lopez signed with the Arizona Rattlers after the contraction of the Wranglers.
Before joining the Wranglers for the 2000 season Lopez tried out for the San Diego Chargers. Lopez ranks 13th on the all time list for pass attempts in the AFL with 1667. In his career, Lopez has passed for over 11,712 yards and 187 touchdowns. He has played in 60 games with 6 different teams including the Iowa Barnstormers, Anaheim Piranhas, Florida Bobcats, San Jose SaberCats, Portland Forest Dragons, and OklahomaWranglers.
"He knows this offense. He has the experience and leadership that we need. He can't do it all by himself, but he will help turn this thing around," said head coach Land Jacobsen. "The improvements that have already been made by our players and our coaching staff will be benefited by the addition of Ron Lopez."
"We are extremely excited to have this type of player as a part of our team," says Stealth General Manager Mike McCoy, "I think that it is a great opportunity for us to turn things around, and a great chance for Ron to stay in competitive form."
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