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Tampa Bay Storm game notes

February 3, 2004 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Tampa Bay Storm News Release


TAMPA BAY STORM (0-0) vs. ORLANDO PREDATORS (0-0)

Feb. 8, 2004 3:00 pm NBC Sports
St. Pete Times Forum (19,200)
Tampa, Fla.

Overall record: ORL leads, 17-16
Regular Season: Tied 13-13
Playoffs: ORL leads, 4-3
RADIO – 620 AM WDAE
Jack Harris, play-by-play
Jason Dixon, analyst
TV – NBC SPORTS

STORM OPEN DEFENSE OF ARENABOWL CHAMPIONSHIP VS PREDS

The War on I-4 begins early in 2004, as the Tampa Bay Storm and Orlando Predators meet in Week 1 to open the 2004 AFL season. Arena Football's fiercest rivalry, the Tampa Bay-Orlando series is also the league's oldest rivalry, spanning 14 years and consisting of 33 head-to-head meetings. Aside from the two teams' proximity, the Tampa Bay-Orlando series also features two of the most successful teams in the history of the Arena Football League. Each team has six ArenaBowl appearances, with the Storm winning an AFL-record five ArenaBowl championships and the Predators claiming two AFL titles. Amazingly, either Tampa Bay or Orlando has played in the championship game in 10 of the 13 years that the teams have been in the league.

STORM BRING ANOTHER CHAMPIONSHIP TO TAMPA BAY

The Tampa Bay Storm brought a second professional football championship to the Tampa Bay area in 2003, following up the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Super Bowl win in January with an ArenaBowl championship in June. Tampa became the first city to ever win Super Bowl and ArenaBowl championships in the same season as the Storm defeated the Arizona Rattlers, 43-29, before 20,496 fans in the St. Pete Times Forum. The championship was the fifth for the Storm in six ArenaBowl appearances and the seventh for Storm head coach Tim Marcum, who is a veteran of 10 ArenaBowl championship games in his 15-year AFL coaching career.

WAR ON I-4

The storied rivalry between the Tampa Bay Storm and Orlando Predators resumes on Sunday as the two arch rivals meet for the 34th time. The series, which began in 1991, is amazingly close. The teams have split 26 regular season contests, each winning 13 times. The Predators hold a slight 4-3 advantage in the postseason and lead the overall series 17-16.

Tampa Bay leads the all-time points scored race, 1,390 – 1,358.

Last season the Storm and Predators split a pair of regular season games, with Orlando winning 54-51 in Week 2 and the Storm bouncing back with a 52-32 victory at the St. Pete Times Forum in Week 7. The two teams met for a third time in the semifinal round of the playoffs. In that contest Tampa Bay downed the Predators, 60-50, in route to the ArenaBowl.

Tampa Bay has won two straight contests in this series, marking the first Storm two-game winning streak against Orlando since the 1999 season.

The Storm have not won three straight games against Orlando since a five-game winning streak that stretched through parts of the 1994, 1995, and 1996 seasons.

MATCHING WITS AGAIN

Sunday's game between the Storm and Predators marks the return to the sideline of Orlando head coach Jay Gruden. Gruden, a former Storm quarterback, coached the Predators from 1997-2001 before making a comeback as a player. He quarterbacked the Predators for two seasons, leading Orlando to the semifinals twice, before once again retiring as a player and taking over as head coach.

Ironically, Gruden's first game back as head coach will be against his mentor and the AFL's winningest head coach, Tampa Bay Storm boss Tim Marcum. Marcum is by far the class of AFL head coaches, owning seven ArenaBowl championships in 15 seasons in the league. He has coached in 10 championship games and is the league leader in career victories, games coached, winning percentage, and playoff wins.

Two of the four championships won by Gruden in Tampa came with Marcum as the head coach. Gruden quarterbacked the Storm from 1991- 96, leading Tampa Bay to four ArenaBowl championships in six seasons.

He is the Storm's career leader in all passing categories and is a member of the AFL's Hall of Fame.

A FINAL LOOK BACK AT 2003

The Tampa Bay Storm won its league-record fifth ArenaBowl championship on June 22, 2003, when they defeated the Arizona Rattlers, 43-29, at the St. Pete Times Forum. The game was played before a crowd of 20,496, the second largest crowd to ever attend an ArenaBowl and the largest football crowd in the history of the St. Pete Times Forum.

After Arizona jumped out to an early 10-6 lead, Tampa Bay quickly shot ahead 20-10 on a one-yard touchdown run by Basil Proctor and a 26-yard fumble returned for touchdown by lineman Kelvin Kinney. The Storm would never relinquish the lead, despite having to turn the football over to backup quarterback Pat O'Hara early in the third quarter. O'Hara, subbing for an injured John Kaleo, completed 7-of-13 passes fro 103 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for a three-yard score in the fourth quarter. WR/LB Lawrence Samuels became the first player in AFL history to be named Game MVP and Ironman of the Game in an ArenaBowl after hauling in five passes for 109 yards and three touchdowns.

The Storm set a record in the contest by recovering four Arizona fumbles. Tampa Bay also became the all-time leader in ArenaBowl points scored and moved into second place on ArenaBowl history after recording their 11th ArenaBowl interception. O'Hara moved into fifth place in the all-time ArenaBowl passing attempts list with 71 in four games and moved into a tie for tenth in all-time ArenaBowl touchdown passes.

BACK-TO-BACK FACTS

It has proven to be extremely difficult to repeat as ArenaBowl champions, but there is a precedent for repeating, especially when Storm head coach Tim Marcum is involved. The last team to repeat as ArenaBowl champion was Tampa Bay, who under the guidance of Marcum won back-to-back ArenaBowls in 1995 and 1996. The only other team to repeat was the Detroit Drive, which actually won three straight ArenaBowl titles from 1988-90. In two of thoses seasons – 1988 and 1989 – Marcum was the Drive's head coach.

The closest a team has come to repeating as of late was the Orlando Predators, which won two titles in three seasons. The Predators claimed the 1998 and 2000 championships, with Albany downing the Predators in 1999 to avoid a repeat champion.

ARENABOWL HANGOVER?

The Tampa Bay Storm have had mixed success in the years following ArenaBowl championships. Following the team's first title in 1991, the Storm advanced to the semifinals of the playoffs, only to lose in overtime to Orlando. Following the 1993 championship, the Storm put together what was then their worst season ever, finishing 7-6 overall and exiting the playoffs after a first-round loss to Massachusetts. The Storm followed up their 1995 championship with a repeat performance in 1996, but the 1997 season saw another average campaign, as the team finished with a 9-7 overall record.

EARLY START

For just the third time in the 14-year history of the Tampa Bay-Orlando rivalry, the teams will meet in Week One of the season. The home team didn't fair very well in either contest, as Orlando won at Tampa Bay, 51-38, in the 1991 season opener, and Tampa Bay returned the favor, 39-32, at Orlando in the 1992 season opener.

OFFENSIVE OR DEFENSIVE GAME?

In a game that was created to produce offensive explosions, the Tampa Bay Storm have proven that defense is still the key. The Storm have been in the top 5 in the league in total defense in all five championship seasons, finishing second in 1991, 1993, and 1995, third in 1996, and fourth in 2003.

NEW LEADER FOR THE STORM

Tampa Bay's quest for a repeat ArenaBowl performance will have to be captained by a fresh face, as last season's starting quarterback is now throwing passes in Austin. After John Kaleo signed a free agent contract with the expansion Wranglers, the reins were handed over to Shane Stafford, who spent the 2003 season in NFL Europe. Stafford, however, is no stranger to the Storm.

He joined Tampa Bay in 2001 as Kaleo's backup and again entered the 2002 season as the No. 2 Storm quarterback. But after Kaleo suffered a season-ending knee injury in the first week of the 2002 season, Stafford stepped in as the Storm's starter. Stafford ended up starting nine regular season games in 2002, helping the team battle back from a 1-5 start to get into the playoffs. Led by Stafford, the Storm became the first-ever No. 12 seed to win an AFL playoff game. The next week Stafford nearly led the Storm to an improbable victory over the top-seeded San Jose SaberCats, but an 18-point third quarter lead evaporated and the Storm failed to score from the one-yard line on the last play of the game against the eventual champion SaberCats.

TRUE IRONMAN

Tampa Bay Storm lineman Kelvin Kinney embodies the Ironman image that the Arena Football League has come known for. Kinney, who is one of the top pass rushers in the AFL and has become one of the Storm's top pass blockers,

has spent precious little time away from the football field in the past few years.

From 2001-2003 Kinney played in 94 football games, an average of over 30 games per year. In 2001 Kinney was literally rushing the passer non-stop, beginning the year with the XFL's Las Vegas Outlaws.

After 10 games with them, Kinney moved on to the AFL, where he played in 11 games for the Detroit Fury. After the Fury's season was over in July, it was on to the Canadian Football League, where Kinney played in 13 games for the Toronto Argonauts. In 2002 Kinney played in 28 games, 14 with the Fury and 14 with the Edmonton Eskimos.

And in the 2003 calendar year Kinney added 32 more games played, 17 with the Tampa Bay Storm and 15 with Toronto and Edmonton of the CFL.

SUCCESSFUL SEASON

Kinney's year-round exploits have not slowed his production at all. In what will go down as his most successful year ever as a professional football player, Kinney recorded 6.0 sacks and won an AFL championship with the Storm in 2003 and then went north to wreak havoc in Canada. Splitting time between Toronto and Edmonton, Kinney recorded 12.0 sacks and won a Grey Cup championship with the Eskimos. The 2003 CFL championship game marked the third straight championship game that Kinney played in. He was with Edmonton in 2002 for their Grey Cup loss, then followed that performance up with back-to-back championship game wins in Tampa Bay and again with Edmonton.

ENCORE PERFROMANCE

Tampa Bay Storm wide receiver/linebacker Lawrence Samuels' ArenaBowl performance will go down as one of the best ever, as the 10-year AFL veteran put the Storm on his back and carried the team to the championship. Samuels hauled in three touchdown receptions, two of which came in the second half when the Storm were forced to go with their backup quarterback. Samuels was named both Game MVP and Ironman of the Game, marking the first time a player has been so recognized in an ArenaBowl. In all Samuels finished with five catches for 109 yards. One of his three touchdowns, a 43-yard fingertip grab, helped to widen the Storm lead in the fourth quarter.

Samuels also recovered a fumble in the game, one of an ArenaBowl record four fumbles forced by the Storm in the contest.

Samuels will have his work cut out for him in order to top that performance or the final number he posted in 2003. Samuels recorded regular season career highs in receptions (77), receiving yards (1,037), scoring (128), sacks (3.5), interceptions (4), and allpurpose yards (1,085).

RELOADED

The Tampa Bay Storm receiving corps was one of the deepest in the AFL last season, and the Storm are once again loaded with talent on the offensive side of the ball in 2004. Back is offensive specialist Freddie Solomon who set Storm single-season records for receptions (106) and receiving yards (1,553) in his first AFL season. Also back are Lawrence Samuels, David Saunders, Clif Dell, and TT Toliver. To further illustrate the Storm's wide receiver depth, Tampa Bay traded Gary Compton, one of the top receivers in AFL history and just the third player in the league to top the 10,000 receiving yards plateau, to Philadelphia after it was determined that he would see only limited action with Tampa Bay.

GET A PROGRAM

While much of the Storm offense returns in tact, the Tampa Bay defense, especially the Storm defensive backfield, is filled with new faces this season. Gone are defensive specialists Corey Sawyer and all-AFL performer Omarr Smith. Also gone is Keita Crespina, who was used mostly as a defensive player at the WR/DB position. The Storm have turned to a couple of Arena Football veterans, along with some newcomers, to fill the shoes in the defensive secondary. Four-year AFL veteran Del Lee and second year player Jonathan Ordway will likely get the opening night nod at the starting defensive specialist positions, with six-year vet Shea Showers available should any problems arise. Showers will also play the WR/DB position alongside returner TT Toliver. Tampa Bay also has nine-year veteran Carlos James in the fold, along with former NFL first round draft choice Antonio Langham. Both James and Langham, however, will start the season on the team's injured reserve list.

THE TRENCHES WILL BE KEY

Storm coaches will admit that much of the team's 2003 success can be directly attributed to the team's play at the line of scrimmage. The Storm led the league with 29 sacks, a mark that tied the Storm singleseason record. Tampa Bay also allowed only 10 sacks, good for fourth in the league in that category.

The Storm's play on the line will again be critical to Tampa Bay's success this season, and in order to reach the bar set by last year's team, some old faces on the Storm line will have to step their game up a notch, while some new faces will be asked to contribute in a big way.

Gone from last season's squad are five linemen that were critical in the trenches. BJ Cohen, a second-team All-AFL selection and an All- Ironman pick, signed with Southern Division foe New Orleans. Al Lucas, the team's nose guard and a solid pass blocker, signed with Los Angeles, while Eric Thomas, a solid center, signed with Austin. Sai Poulivaati, the team's starting center, and pass rusher Troy Wilson both retired following the 2003 championship run.

The Storm return Kelvin Kinney, who had five sacks a season ago, along with Nyle Wiren, Ernest Certain, Rod Williams, and Darion Conner. Newcomers include pass rushers Shawn King, a former NFL second round pick, Emil Ekiyor, and Cyron Brown. The Storm also signed Evan Pilgrim, a six-year NFL veteran, at center.

AND THE WINNNER IS ...

The Storm's kicker position last season appeared more like a kicker derby, with each of the league-record six kickers used by Tampa Bay playing a game of "survivor." Ian Howfield returned from a five-year layoff and put up by far the best numbers of any of the kickers who donned a Storm uniform in 2003, and for his efforts he earned the nod as the Storm's Opening Day kicker in 2004. Not that that means a whole lot as far as job security goes with Storm head coach Tim Marcum's propensity to shuffle through the kicking rolodex. But for now it's Howfield's job to lose, which is just fine with the Las Vegas resident who works for Sin City's NBC affiliate during the week and commutes cross country to Tampa on the weekends.

SUPER TIES

This weekend's Super Bowl pitted the New England Patriots and the Carolina Panthers, a matchup which featured some strong loyalties among members of the Storm. Tampa Bay's roster features three of players with ties to the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots. Quarterback Shane Stafford was signed by the Patriots in January 2003 and allocated to NFL Europe by the Patriots, where he played the 2003 season. FB/LB Andre Bowden enjoyed a three-year stint from 1994-96. Antonio Langham played for the Patriots in 2000 and also played under current Patriots head coach Bill Belichick while with the Cleveland Browns in 1994 and 1995. And, while not having direct ties to the two Super Bowl teams, Storm defensive specialist Del Lee played for Belichick while both were with the New York Jets in 1999. The Storm roster also features a pair of former Panthers in linemen Darion Conner and Shawn King. King was a second round draft choice by Carolina in the 1995 NFL draft, the 36th overall selection.

PRESEASON PROGNOSTICATIONS

The Tampa Bay Storm placed one player on the first-ever Preseason All-AFL team and was selected to finish second in the league. The two preseason "polls" were taken by the newly-formed Arena Football League Writers Association. Lawrence Samuels was selected as the preseason All-AFL pick at the WR/LB position. Also on the team was former Storm lineman BJ Cohen, now of the New Orleans VooDoo. The Storm placed second in the AFLWA's preseason picks as the eventual ArenaBowl champion. San Jose finished first in the voting, followed by Tampa Bay, Arizona, Los Angeles, and Orlando.

TIM MARCUM

Head Coach, General Manager, Director of Football Operations

It's only fitting that the Arena Football League's top coach lead the league's most storied franchise. Legendary AFL head coach Tim Marcum coached in his ninth season as head coach of the Tampa Bay Storm in 2003 and his 15th overall as an AFL head coach. A charter member of the Arena Football League Hall of Fame, Marcum's AFL coaching legacy is unmatched and his incredible on-field achievements continue to overwhelm.

Marcum is the winningest head coach in Arena Football history. He enters the 2004 season having won seven ArenaBowl championships and has coached in ten of the league's 17 ArenaBowls. Marcum is the only coach in Arena Football history to lead three different teams to ArenaBowl championships (Denver, Detroit, and Tampa Bay), and is the AFL career coaching leader in victories (158), winning percentage (.742), games coached (213), and postseason victories (25).

A two-time recipient of the AFL Coach of the Year Award (1987 and 1998), Marcum has overseen the Tampa Bay Storm's development into the league's flagship franchise. He was the first coach in AFL history to win more than 100 games and has missed out in playing for the league championship only five times in his career.

Incredibly, Marcum's AFL clubs have advanced to the postseason in every year he has coached.

After Storm owner Woody Kern purchased the team prior to the 1995 season, Kern brought four-time ArenaBowl champion Marcum aboard as his head coach. The Storm proceeded to put together a record-breaking two-year stretch, winning back-to-back ArenaBowls in 1995 and 1996. The Storm combined for a 28-4 mark during that stretch, and put together an AFL record 17-game winning streak from July 1, 1995, to June 29, 1996. Marcum, who also won the 2003 ArenaBowl in Tampa and led the Storm to the 1998 championship game, owns a 103-43 overall record in Tampa Bay.

His Tampa Bay teams have earned nine straight playoff berths, winning three championships, and are 89-37 in the regular season with a 14-6 postseason record.The first coach in pro football history to be elected to any professional Hall of Fame while still an active coach, Marcum began his Arena Football career in 1987 as head coach of the Denver Dynamite during the league's inaugural season. Marcum led the Dynamite to a 5-2 overall record and won the league's first championship. The following season Marcum took his act to Detroit, but the results remained the same. He won back-to-back titles with the Drive in 1988 and 1989.

After a one-year absence from the AFL, Marcum returned to Detroit in 1991 and returned the club to the league's elite by winning ArenaBowl VI in 1992. Marcum's five-year tenure in Detroit resulted in three ArenaBowl championships and a 50-10 overall record.

But Marcum's coaching crusades have not existed only in the Arena Football League. Like his father, the Snyder, TX, native began his coaching career in the high schools of West Texas. He landed his first collegiate job at Ranger College, and, in 1979, guided the school to the Junior College National Championship with an 11-0 record. As a prelude to his arrival in the explosive Arena League, Marcum's junior college champions averaged nearly 35 points per game.

In 1980 Marcum left Ranger and joined the coaching staff at Rice University as an assistant coach. From there he made his entrance into the professional coaching ranks, joining the San Antonio Gunslingers of the USFL as linebackers coach in 1984. Marcum was named the team's defensive coordinator the following season. A year before accepting the post in Denver, the coaching carousel continued, as Marcum was hired as the assistant head coach of the New York Knights of the World League of American Football.

In between stints as head coach of the Detroit Drive, Marcum coached linebackers for Steve Spurrier at the University of Florida in 1990. He then spent the 1994 season as a defensive assistant with the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League before new Storm owner Woody Kern lured him to Tampa.

A 2001 recipient of the Founder's Award presented by the Arena Football League, Marcum has coached a number of fellow Arena Football Hall of Famers, including Dwayne Dixon, Gary Mullen, Tate Randle, Alvin Rettig, Jay Gruden, John Roehlk, and Joe March.

Marcum honed his football skills while playing quarterback at McMurry University under head coach Grant Teaff. A starting quarterback for the Indians in 1965 and 1966, Marcum held for many years the school record for yards in a game with 328. Marcum, who transferred to McMurry in the fall of 1963 from Texas A&M, was a 2001 inductee into the McMurry University Athletic Hall of Honor.

Marcum resides in Tierra Verde, Fla. He is married to Lynn, who has two daughters, Kendra and Carly. Marcum also has two daughters, Mitzi and Michelle, and three grandchildren, Austin (7), Bryce (3) and Max (1).

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