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The "Big Man" is Back on the Blitz Line

February 10, 2004 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Bakersfield Blitz News Release


Bakersfield, Calif. – The Bakersfield Blitz of the af2 have announced that the league office has reassigned offensive/defensive lineman Phil Blackmon to the team. Blackmon played for the Blitz in each of their prior two seasons in Bakersfield.

Blackmon, 25, was placed on reassignment from the Central Valley Coyotes last week. The Coyotes maintained his rights, as well as the rights of several other former Blitz players when the franchise was relocated to Fresno this winter. He appeared in ten games last year, missing six games with a torn MCL in 2003.

A native of Los Angeles, California, Blackmon now resides in Bakersfield. At 6'6", 315 pounds, he is easily the biggest player in Blitz history. He spent two seasons playing offensive line at Utah, and two seasons at Santa Monica Junior College. Blackmon played in the Las Vegas Bowl in 2001, when Utah defeated USC.

"I'm happy to get this done; I can't wait for the season to start," said Blackmon. "Hopefully we can get a lot of our players back and get past the first round. I'm challenging myself this season to be just as good on defense as on offense. And I'm hoping that I can catch a couple passes too and I'll be happy the rest of the year."

"Phil is so good offensively," said Head Coach Rick Van Horne. "He's one of the best pass blockers in arena football with great size and great technique. It's so important in this game to have that on your line. And he's been training hard to improve his defensive game and it would really be a boost to the team this season."

Blackmon joins Steve Wofford as players who have committed to the Blitz this season.

Blitz Also Add Fullback/Linebacker

The Blitz have also been assigned fullback/linebacker Corey Middlebrooks from the Cape Fear Wildcats. Middlebrooks, 25, stands at 6'2" and weighs in at 250 pounds. Last season was his rookie year in the pros after completing a college career at Georgia Southern. He played in seven games between both the Richmond Speed and Cape Fear, making 11 tackles and scoring one rushing touchdown.

Assigned players rights are owned by the team, but until a contract is signed are not officially on the roster.

Season tickets for the Blitz upcoming season start at just $63, and are on sale now by contacting the Blitz office at 716-BLITZ (2548) or by stopping by the Bakersfield Sports Entertainment office located in Centennial Garden. The Blitz and Condors have also teamed up for special discounts for those purchasing ticket packages for both teams. All Condors season ticket holders can receive 25% off a Blitz package containing the same number of seats.

Extra Points: The Blitz official website is online, while it continues to be developed. Log on to www.bakersfeildblitz.com to keep up on recent press releases, contact members of the front office and coaching staff, or even check out the view from different areas of the arena while selecting your season ticket packages.



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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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