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Pre-season Game 1 (3/30/00): Albany vs Carolina |
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'Birds ring in season
ALBANY -- The Albany Firebirds were given their Arena Football championship rings on Wednesday night, picking them up from team officials at Pagliacci's restaurant and wearing them proudly the rest of the day.
"Me and Joe Jacobs were at the mall and people were just stopping us because they were drawing that much attention," said lineman Mark Valvo, who's every bit of 6-foot-5, 315 pounds. "It was really cool. You draw attention because you're big to begin with and all of a sudden people look at the hands and they see these big rocks."
The Firebirds then took the field Thursday night and played like a team deserving of those gold rings with the diamond-studded league logo and their uniform number on the side. After a slow start, Albany routed the expansion Carolina Cobras 65-27 in a preseason game before an announced crowd of 2,646 at Pepsi Arena.
"We were a little flat," Valvo said. "Typical preseason, I'll put it that way. I thought the fullbacks played extremely well. Tim Brown came in probably in the best shape I've ever seen him, and so did Leroy Thompson, (rookie) Anthony Jenkins and Mike Waldron (of Saratoga Springs). In years past we've had a depth problem, getting hurt by injuries, but this year, any of those guys can play."
Quarterback Jeff Loots, getting the start because of Mike Pawlawski's contract dispute, completed 15 of 24 passes for 179 yards and two touchdowns. However, Pawlawski was on the Firebirds' bench after flying in from San Ramon, Calif. and should return as the first-stringer soon.
Team doctor Joe Marotta said it's basically a formality for Pawlawski to pass an examination of his surgically repaired neck because Pawlawski's already been cleared by his own doctor, Clement Jones. Once Marotta approves, the All-Arena quarterback will be able to sign a contract. He could be back practicing as soon as Saturday.
The Firebirds gave star offensive specialist Eddie Brown some rest by not starting him, though Brown still caught six passes for 88 yards and two touchdowns.
Rookie Angelo Harrison of Virginia Tech got the start in Brown's place and caught two passes for 19 yards and rushed for one touchdown.
Since Brown's the specialist, though, Harrison said he knows he has to make the team as a wide receiver and a defensive back. He played some defense and made one tackle.
Harrison is a receiver by trade and hasn't played defensive back since high school.
"The more you do it, the better you become at it," he said. "It's still an adjustment when you haven't played it for so long. Learning the coverages and stuff isn't hard, but it's mostly the backpedaling that's hard. All I can do is play my hardest and leave it up to (the coaches)."
Valvo said the linemen played more than usual, and that's a result of the off-season labor dispute that nearly canceled the 2000 season. Because of the new collective bargaining agreement between owners and players, teams are no longer allowed to exceed the 30-player limit in training camp.
So the Firebirds dressed 28 players against Carolina.
"I played more than a normal preseason (game)," he said. "In years past, you could bring in a lot of guys if you wanted to. "You could brings guys in for free. But everybody's got to get paid now."
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