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Texas talent strengthens Dorados

February 9, 2004 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Rio Grande Valley Dorados News Release


TEXAS TALENT STRENGTHENS DORADOS

PRESTON HARTFIELD AND RICO GARDNER ASSIGNED TO DORADOS

HIDALGO, TX: February 9, 2004 – The Rio Grande Valley Dorados of arenafootball2 (af2) have announced that the af2 has assigned wide receiver / linebacker Preston Hartfield and wide receiver / defensive back Rico Gardner to the Dorados 2004 roster.

"Preston was a jack of all trades when I worked with him at Texas Tech,", said Dorados Offensive Coordinator Rodney Blackshear. "It didn't matter if he had to run the ball as a fullback, run a pass route as a receiver, or block, he did it all. He is very hungry to play this season. Gardner impressed me with the way he ran his routes, and then come to find out he was mostly used as a running back in college, which really surprised me. He was planning on joining the Baltimore Ravens last season, but something fell through so he wants this opportunity to play and show off his receiving skills to get to the NFL."

Hartfield, a 6'1" 210-pound wide receiver/ linebacker comes to the Dorados for his first season in the af2. He recently turned pro last summer, signing as a free agent with the NFL's Washington Redskins. The Alvord, Texas native turned pro after closing out his college career with Texas Tech University in the 2002 Tangerine Bowl with Clemson, where he had 4 receptions for 64 yards. At Texas Tech, Hartfield started out in the backfield before transitioning into an inside receiver and completing his senior year (2002) with 207 yards receiving on 21 receptions. The 23 year-old was a multi-sport star at Alvord High School. Outside of receiving All-District MVP honors in 1998, 1997 District Offensive Player of the Year and two Second Team All-District awards (1995,1996) for his efforts on the gridiron, Hartfield was also a four-time all-district selection in baseball and basketball. He attended Northwestern Oklahoma State University (NWOSU) in 1999 and helped lead the program to a NAIA National Championship before transferring to Texas Tech.

Gardner, a 24 year-old native of Avinger, Texas will also seek his first year of af2 experience with the Dorados. Gardner was a standout athlete at Howard Payne University in Brownwood, Texas. The 6'0" 205-pound wide receiver / defensive back played from 1999 - 2002 at HPU and started out as a defensive player before heading over to the offensive side of the ball, where he racked up several accolades. Gardner left HPU as the programs all-time career leader in rushing yards (1668), rushing touchdowns (24), yards per rush (6.49), all-purpose yards per game (118.3), average yards per punt return (11.35), kick return yards (809), kick returns (35), kick returns for a touchdown (1). He also ranks in the top four in 10 other offensive categories. Gardner tallied 30 touchdowns over his HPU career and in all in his last 30 games with the program. Of the 30, 24 were for rushing, five for receiving and one in the special teams department. He was an American Southwest Conference First Team All-Conference selection in 2001 and 2002 and received All-Conference Second Team honors in 2000 as a special teams specialist.

Hartfield and Gardner are the fifth and sixth players announced to the Dorados roster, joining Marcus Bradley (Def. Specialist), Will Burch (QB), Spencer Conley (Off./Def. Lineman), and Raymond James (Off/Def. Lineman).

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