Rampage head to Oklahoma City for open tryout

Published on September 20, 2004 under Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Grand Rapids Rampage News Release


The Grand Rapids Rampage Arena Football team will be holding an open-player tryout at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond, Oklahoma (a suburb of Oklahoma City) on Sunday, October 17. Rampage Head Coach Sparky McEwen is also guaranteeing that at least one attendee from the tryout will be signed to a contract and will attend the team's 2005 training camp. The tryout will take place at Central Oklahoma's football stadium.

Cost of the tryout is $60 and pre-registration is highly recommended. A tryout form can be found online at Rampagefootball.com.

McEwen was the Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator for the Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz in 2004 before getting the head coaching position with the Rampage. Under McEwen's guidance, the Yard Dawgz was ranked second in the af2 in points scored and finished third in total yards and passing yards. McEwen and his coaching staff will be on hand to evaluate all players at the tryout camp.

"Oklahoma City is a hot-bed for finding pro football players because of the proximity of the Big 12 schools, other colleges and really good af2 teams in the surrounding states," said McEwen.

The team can bring 38 players to training camp for the 2005 season and are looking heavily on open tryouts to full these roster spaces. Some big names in Rampage players and AFL legends have come from open tryouts. These include: former Rampage WR/DB Willis Marshall, two-time NFL Most Valuable Player Kurt Warner, New Orleans Saints All-Pro kick returner Michael Lewis and AFL legend George LaFrance.

Coach McEwen's offenses over the last four years have scored more points and gained more yards than any other coach in all of Arena Football. He is looking for quick, elusive receivers and quarterbacks with accuracy and lightning-fast releases to spark his re-vamped Rampage offense.

All Rampage football candidates are required to wear appropriate attire for non-contact football drills, i.e., shorts or sweats and turf shoes. There will be no helmets or shoulder pads in the workout. Tryout will start promptly at 9am. Registration will begin at 7am.

Potential players will go through various non-contact drills such as a 40-yard dash, short shuttle, 225-pound bench press test, as well as individual and team drills.

Possible positions are quarterback, offensive specialist, defensive specialist, offensive/defensive lineman, wide receiver/linebacker, wide receiver/defensive back, fullback/linebacker and kicker.

For more information, please contact the team's tryout information hotline at 616.975.7708, extension 19.

To reserve season tickets at Van Andel Arena for eight games of hard-hitting, high scoring, non-stop of Rampage football, please make the toll-free call to the Rampage offices at 1.888.595.4878.

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Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from September 20, 2004


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