QB Shane Stafford re-signs with Storm

Published on June 18, 2004 under Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Tampa Bay Storm News Release


TAMPA, FL -- Tampa Bay Storm quarterback Shane Stafford signed a two-year deal that will keep him in Tampa Bay through the 2006 season, head coach Tim Marcum announced.

Stafford led the Storm to their 14th consecutive playoff appearance in 2004. It was his improvement in the second half of the schedule that sparked the Storm's six-game winning streak to close out the regular season. Tampa Bay went from 3-7 to 9-7 over that span, earning the Storm a berth in the postseason as the No. 7 seed.

"We're happy that Shane is going to continue to be our quarterback," said Marcum. "This past season was really Shane's first shot at entering the season as the starting quarterback. He had a couple of bumps along the way, but he always bounced back and by the end of the year he was a pretty darn good quarterback."

Stafford becomes the fifth player to re-sign with Tampa Bay since the end of the regular season. The Storm announced the re-signings of offensive specialist Freddie Solomon, wide receiver/defensive back TT Toliver, and defensive specialists Tramain Jones and Jonathan Ordway earlier in the week.

Stafford started 13 of the Storm's 16 regular season games. He finished the season having completed 278-of-441 passes, or 63% of his throws. Stafford threw 67 touchdown passes in those 13 games and had 13 interceptions. He also rushed 20 times for 36 yards and five touchdowns.

The three-year AFL veteran had a career day during the Storm's contest against against the Los Angeles Avengers on May 9. Stafford's 27 completions and and 321 passing yards were career highs, and his eight touchdown passes tied a career high originally set against the Georgia Force earlier in the season.

Stafford ranks fourth in Storm history in career completions, attempts, passing yards, and passing touchdowns. He has a chance to move past PT Willis and John Kaleo into second place in those categories with a solid year in 2005.

With Stafford signed, the Storm now have one quarterback under contract for the 2005 season. Pat O'Hara and Stoney Case, who served as backups in 2004, remain unsigned. Tampa Bay has until June 30 to negotiate exclusively with those two players and the remaining free agents from the 2004 squad. After July 1, all free agents become unrestricted free agents and can negotiate with any team once the free agency period starts in October.

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Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from June 18, 2004


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