Williams Back for Fifth Season; 'Wheelers Make Moves

February 13, 2004 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Quad City Steamwheelers News Release


DAVENPORT, Iowa — The Quad City Steamwheelers added some more steam to the boiler on Thursday with a variety of roster moves.

The Steamwheelers have been re-assigned five-year veteran offensive lineman/defensive lineman Damon Williams and assigned another Arena Football veteran defensive specialist Chazz Moore. The Steamwheelers placed wide receiver/linebacker Tony Burrier on re-assignment and defensive specialist Leo FenceRoy on recallable reassignment. The Steamwheelers also announced that offensive lineman/defensive lineman Corey Brown has retired.

Williams will join Steamwheelers fullback/linebacker Josh Fourdyce as the only two members to return to the Steamwheelers for a fifth season. Both players have played in each of the Steamwheelers previous four seasons.

In his four years with the ‘Wheelers, Williams has been a major piece of the Steamwheelers puzzle on both sides of the ball. Playing in 35 games over the four seasons, Williams has 14 receptions for 138 yards, one went for a touchdown.

On the defensive side of the ball, Williams has accumulated 49 tackles (31 solo), four tackles for a loss and seven sacks. He added two quarterback hurries, three pass deflections, three forced fumbles, and recovered two of them.

The 6-4 300 lbs.Williams will have a two-day tryout with the Arena Football League's Colorado Crush later this month. If successful, he would leave the af2 for the AFL.

"He's got good experience and has been a very productive player here for four years now and I was very happy with the way that he played last year," Steamwheelers head coach Rich Ingold said. "Hopefully he goes out to Colorado and does well, but if it doesn't work out, I am looking forward to having him back.

"With his experience and his size, he is a productive player."

Not returning to join Williams and Fourdyce for a fifth season is fellow linemate Brown. Brown, 6-1 290 lbs., has decided to retire after four full seasons with the Steamwheelers. In those four seasons, the former Iowa Hawkeye standout Brown played in 50 games, and recorded 79 tackles (35 solo), seven going for a loss. He had five sacks, two quarterback hurries, an interception returned for a touchdown and four forced fumbles. He added a safety and blocked kick.

"After last season, it was something that I thought would happen," Ingold said. "He played four solid years, he is a big reason why the Steamwheelers were successful.

"I'd like to know how many guys have played af2 and had that kind of record."

In efforts to add more meat to his defensive backfield, Ingold has picked up Moore. Moore comes to the Steamwheelers via California State University-Northridge and brings plenty of Arena Football experience to the table as well.

Moore, who stands 6-2 215 lbs., spent the 2001 season with the Los Angeles Avengers of the AFL and the 2003 season with the af2's Tennessee Valley Vipers and Peoria Pirates, the Steamwheelers two biggest rivals.

In seven af2 games, Moore had 14 receptions for 196 yards and three touchdowns. On the defensive side of the ball, Moore had 28 tackles (22 solo), one going for a loss. He added an interception, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.

"I am very blessed to have the opportunity to play with a team that is of such high caliber and strong winning tradition," Moore said.

The Portland, Ore. native played his college ball at Cal. State Northridge, prior to the Matadors dropping the football program. Moore was named All-Big Sky Honorable Mention in both 1998 and 1999. In those two seasons he combined for 97 tackles (59 solo), nine tackles for loss, 17 pass deflections three forced fumbles an interception, as well as returning a kickoff 22 yards.

He started his college career at Eastern Arizona Junior College as a running back in 1996 out of Jefferson (Ore.) High School. From there he transferred to Allen Hancock College in 1997, where he had 103 tackles as a strong safety. He then moved on to Cal. State Northridge.

"He is a big physical corner and he is capable of playing a two-way position, too," Ingold said. "He knows the game, an excellent tackler and he is physical and that is what I like out of the defensive backfield."

Due to a back injury, Burrier will not enter the 2004 season on the Steamwheelers roster. However, Ingold plans to bring Burrier, 6-4 215 lbs., back once he is 100-percent healthy and able to play at full speed.

"We're just trying to do the right thing for him health-wise," Ingold said. "He is a competitor and wants to come in and play, but right now his back is not ready to go.

"I want to let him get healthy and once I get down to the numbers, I want to bring him back, but I don't want him to rush into anything and I don't want to jeopardize anything."

Last season for the Steamwheelers, Burrier played in 10 games and had a 10-yard reception for a touchdown on offense. On defense he had 21 tackles (11 solo) and a sack. He had an interception returned 12 yards for a score, a pass deflection and a forced fumble.

The fleet footed Burrier was a special teams standout last season, making a number of hard-hitting tackles on kick returns as soon as they fielded the ball.

Ingold placed FenceRoy on recallable reassignment. As such, another af2 team who wants to claim FenceRoy must contact the Steamwheelers and work out a suitable trade. If nothing comes about, FenceRoy will remain a Steamwheeler.

In 2003, the 5-9 215 lbs. FenceRoy had 56 tackles (34 solo) and two interceptions to go along with two forced fumbles in ten games. He recovered a fumble and returned it 27 yards for a touchdown.

The arenafootball2 league is in its Fifth Anniversary season and serves as the AFL's developmental league. The arenafootball2 (af2) league consists of 25 teams in medium-sized markets with the purpose of training players, coaches and officials for higher levels of football. Several former af2 coaches have joined AFL teams and more than 175 players have advanced to the AFL over the past three years.

Several players have moved on to the NFL from the af2 including the ‘Wheelers standout defensive rush end in 2003, Asa Francis, who last month signed with the Buffalo Bills to play in NFL Europe this spring.

The Steamwheelers are gearing up for their Fifth Anniversary season as one of the charter members of the league. Season tickets are currently on sale starting as low as $54. Fans interested in purchasing season tickets may contact Steamwheelers Director of Ticket Sales Brian Forth at 563-324-4888 or toll free at 1-866-STEAMTIX. For all the up to the minute Steamwheelers news, visit www.steamwheelers.com.



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