Steamwheelers add three more to 2005 Roster

December 1, 2004 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Quad City Steamwheelers News Release


DAVENPORT, Iowa — New Quad City Steamwheelers coach Rick Frazier has an eye for talent. That was proven over the past few weeks when Frazier brought back nine players from last season's Steamwheelers squad. On Wednesday, he added three new Steamwheelers to the team.

The arenafootball2 league office announced on Wednesday that they have assigned offensive specialist Travis Burns and fullback/linebackers Melvin Barnett and Scott Power to the Steamwheelers for the 2005 season. To date that brings the Steamwheelers roster to 13 players.

Burns and Frazier go back, at least the past two years. Frazier coached Burns in 2003 with the Norfolk Nighthawks (af2) and the following season both jumped up to the Arena Football League with the Grand Rapids Rampage. Burns was also with the Nighthawks in 2002 as well.

In the two years that Burns spent in the af2, he made his name known. In his af2 career he caught 173 passes for 2,665 yards and 56 touchdowns. He also rushed 52 times for 198 yards and nine scores. Burns also returned 75 kickoffs and averaged 23.1 yards per return with three going for touchdowns. On defense, he had 49 tackles (23 solo), an interception, three pass deflections and a fumble recovery.

Burns best season was 2003 where he put up numbers that rank in the top 10 of the af2's all-time leaders. They include: tied for second for most touchdowns (seven) and points (42) in a game against Greensboro on July 26, 2003, which was one touchdown shy of tying former Steamwheelers offensive specialist Shon King's record of eight; tied for third in average yards per reception (17.2) in 2002; third in kickoff return yards (1,601) in 2003; and second in all-purpose yards in a season (3,392) in 2003, just behind former Steamwheelers offensive specialist Ira Gooch's af2 record 3,472 set in 2002.

With the Rampage, Burns played in six games and accounted for 31 receptions for 276 yards and four touchdowns. He was second on the team in kick returns with 13 for 229 yards. His all-purpose yards total of 499 ranked fourth on the team.

Power showed his power while at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville and Hanover University. Power's career began at Platteville, where he started his freshman and sophomore years before moving on to Hanover.

In 2002, Power was second on the team in tackles with 91 and led the team in tackles for a loss with nine. He forced a fumble, recovered two and had three pass deflections. In 2003, again, he was second on the team in tackles with 118 with seven going for a loss. He added 3.5 sacks, an interception, four pass deflections and blocked a kick. Power helped guide the Panthers to back-to-back Heartland Conference titles, which qualified them for the NCAA Division III playoffs.

He was an All-American nominee his senior season, was a first team all-conference player and team linebacker of the year his junior and senior years. He was also invited to workout at Pro Day for NFL Scouts.

Barnett comes to the Steamwheelers after a solid career at Baylor University, which was good enough to get interest from the Oakland Raiders of the NFL. In 2002 and 2003, Barnett was a training camp cut for the bay area team.

The Steamwheelers are gearing up for their sixth season, as a charter member of the af2 under new coach Rick Frazier, a veteran head coach in the Arena Football League. The 2005 af2 season is set to kickoff the first weekend of April, with the Steamwheelers opening their season on the road the following weekend at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Their first home game of the 2005 season will come on Saturday, April 16, at 7:30 p.m., when they host the Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings. Season tickets are now on sale and can be purchased by calling the Steamwheelers office at (563) 324-4888 or toll free at 1-866-STEAMTIX (78326849).



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