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Utah Blaze DL Maurice Fountain preparing for 2009

October 13, 2008 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Utah Blaze News Release


SALT LAKE CITY - Maurice Fountain, a member of the 2008 AFL All-Rookie Team, has high hopes for this year, especially after the type of season he had last year.

In 2008, Fountain (6-4, 270, Clemson), was second on the team in sacks with four in just nine games with the Utah Blaze in earning the postseason plaudit.

"I felt honored," he said. "It's a pretty big deal. A lot of those guys (on the All-Rookie Team) had 16 games to get ready for that. I felt honored to be nominated."

Fountain, who plays defensive line, spent a short time with the Miami Dolphins and was released just before the start of the 2008 NFL season. While there he learned a lot and hopes to bring that knowledge to the Blaze this year.

"It just created another level of confidence," he said, despite being released "I'm coming back with a whole bunch of confidence. I'm taking the techniques and tools I learned there and I'm going to translate them into Arena (League)."

Even though he played just nine games for the Blaze last season, he was happy with his performance. Along with the four sacks he tallied 14.5 tackles, including five for loss.

"My toughest critic is probably myself," he said. "I felt like there were a couple of plays I could've made and should've made, but overall, I feel good about my performance. I'm always looking to get better, which I intend to do this season."

He hopes to improve in a couple of areas this season both individually and as a team.

"I look to being top-ranked in sacks and I look to being top-ranked in wins as a team," he said.

Fountain's goals for himself and the team are set high, and he believes they can be accomplished.

"I expect to win the division. That's the first chopping block you have to go through when you try to put together a productive season," he said. "You've got to win the division first and everything else falls into place: Earn a playoff spot and, of course, ArenaBowl."

Individually, he wants to perform well, make a difference and tally up some sacks.

"This year playing in 16 games, I hope to be in double-digits at least," he said. "All of it depends on the way the defense plays as a whole. When all of that happens that's when you get your sacks, your turnovers, your interceptions and everything else like that."

All that, he believes, will help the bottom line, which is to win games.

"I'm going to show up for training camp in shape and ready to win some games," he said.

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