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Jim Haslett was pleased with the turnout.
(Photo: Ted Fleming/TBSN Sports Media)
ORLANDO – As far as tryouts go, what happened across the street from the Citrus Bowl Saturday morning was absolutely stunning but those connected with the Florida Tuskers of the new United Football League were not complaining.
Hundreds were expected but the line kept growing ….. and growing ….. so much so that the 7-9 am registration process was suspended at nine to give volunteers a break before part two began. An hour later there was still a line three-quarters of the way up the street.
There was very little promotion, a blurb in the Orlando Sentinel and some chatter on message boards, however, you would have thought the approximate 2,000 hopefuls who came out on a beautiful late August day had received personal invitations.
“I’ve never seen anything like this in all my time in football,” said UFL vice-president and general manager Rick Mueller. “It’s outstanding. We’ve made some adjustments to get everyone seen. This workout is Florida oriented but there are only a certain number of spots. Coach (John) Haslett and I talked last night that if some kids that work out and do a great job, we’ll pass them along to other teams around the league.”
One player who hopes to be with the Tuskers, or any other UFL team for that matter, is Shane Ingram out of Methodist University in Fayetteville, NC. The Gainesville native is not one of those young turks who may have gone unnoticed in the NFL draft. He’s been away for about a decade.
“In my senior year (at Chiefland High School) we won the state championship,” he said. “I still have the Florida state record for the most touchdowns and points in a championship game. I went to college after I graduated but things didn’t work out for me. I heard about this tryout and decided to come down and try.” He shares the record with Ponte Vedra Beach Nease quarterback Tim Tebow who went on to fame with the Florida Gators.
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Shane Ingram relaxes after his 40-time was recorded. (Photo: Ted Fleming/TBSN Sports Media)
Ingram still has the burning desire to play the game although his time away from it may hurt him – at least this time around.
“My 40-time was a four-six and I probably need a lot of work there but I’m pretty strong in other areas. I actually stated training a couple of months ago before I heard about this. My agent told me about this last minute. At least I will find out what I’m weak at and work on it.”
Ingram, like thousands of others, had to register outside the field before moving on to another area separated by position. From there it was on to 40-times and individual drills. It was fast paced but enough time was allotted for the individual to have a reasonable chance of getting another look.
Tuskers’ head coach Jim Haslett was on hand bouncing from the larger field caddy-corner to the Cirtus Bowl to the smaller one on the stadium grounds but still took the time to chat with a player who had gone through the tryout process. He was also amazed by the turnout.
“We were just going to have a workout to create a little buzz in the area,” he said. “We were hoping to find one or two guys that could play. We did this in New Orleans (with the Saints) and found Michael Lewis, the all-time punt and kick returner. I didn’t think it would be this many but that just shows you the talent down here in Florida.”
Haslett said the player he spoke to was from Seattle, knew another ten were coming in from California and there would be more from other parts of the country so he made it clear to his coaches the workouts were not going to be a rag-tag deal and wanted to give the long-distance arrivals a chance to showcase what they have.
The afternoon session was invitation only and who knows, another Michael Lewis or a Kurt Warner could wind up with a professional contract.
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GM Rick Mueller said there is a code of conduct resolution in place but has not been released to the public. All players under contract have been made aware of its contents.
Mueller also confirmed the UFL had been targeting a 40-man roster by around September 1 but they are above that.
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League GM Rick Mueller (Photo: Ted Fleming/TBSN Sports Media)
“We’re ahead of where we wanted to be,” he said. “I think we’ll be around 45 by then. It is more opportunities and jobs for everyone. Even the people I’ve talked to in the NFL are excited about it. Off the top of my head I think we have five former #1 draft picks, about 25 or 30 taken in the first three rounds under contract right now.
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Even though the UFL has not scheduled any preseason games, fans will still sneak peek before the opener. Both the New York Sentinels and Florida Tuskers share training facilities and they will scrimmage on October 24 at the Citrus Bowl.
Comments
The work out was terrible.. There were soo many people that there were no way they could evaluate the players. There were doing 1 on 1 vs the wr/dbs and some people did not even get a chance to showcase because of the numbers. I seen 1 guy get 1 rep on 1vs1's and that was it. How is that a fair opportunity if they flew from CA, WA or somewhere on the west coast. The Florida team collected, who knows, 80K from all the players and i refuse to believe that they noticed everyone. This workout was a JOKE! readers dont believe that this as a successful event. well maybe for the florida team which probably got their jerseys paid for. If this was truly a opportunity they would have weeded out the players who had no business on the field to give the real players an opportunity to compete.
You write is was a joke 60 dollars times thousands of people equal alot of money. P.S thanks for the t-shirts but it wasnt enough.
I agree, in other words this was a "money maker." Here you have all this talent and there were no way for the coaches to evaluate any single player. There were no cameras, you only got to run the 40 once on wet grass, and basically they just wanted to make the players feel good by getting them to sweat. The player who signed up for this just paid a couple players salaries. And the so called invite only practice, i didnt see near as much talent on the defensive side of the ball compared to some of the linebackers and dbs within the tryout.
Completely agreed. I was at the "tryout" as well an was not impressed with how this "professional organization" handled the situation. We spent tons of money traveling here hoping to get a fair shake at making the team. That was not the case at all. We basically paid 60 dollars to run around an do drills like we were at a summer football camp for kids. The coaches did not care about any of the players an were basically there to run us through an get rid of us as fast as possible so they could go home. We did not get a fair chance to compete an showcase any type of football ability except for a half ass 40 yd dash with which we got to only run one. I hope they did better research on the players they signed because if it was anything like today, they wont have many FOOTBALL players.
This was a fundraiser, not a workout. Kids spent all that money to show Coaches what they can do, and there was no way that you could even show your stuff..
Yea i don't know about that workout but i know Remond Willis 256 lbs MLB ran a 4.6 with a slip
i was there on the outside watching. i saw the rbs workout and there were 3 or 4 guys i seen in bowl games do damage. they didnt even get to do 1 on 1 there were to many hoodlums, it was unorganized. runingback from missouri, i think his last name was temple, who played against darren mcfadden was there, he didnt get any work. a usf runingback, ben williams i beleive. i saw corey austin, antonio and jeremy bishop they played in the arena championship, no look. how is that fair. glad i dont play i would've been highly upset.
i didnt see anyone taking notes on any players other than the guy taking 40 times. this was a get cash quick. nfl runingbacks dont run that fast, and they say 4.55 isnt good. please, go check and see the times they ran. 60 x 2050 = 123,000 WOW!
Yes the Florida Tuskers collected over $80k...there were no video taping of any players and I Know of 6 NFL players released 2 weeks ago that didn't even get talked to. The only thing they were told by an inside source was to not talk to coaches. There is an investigation ongoing into unfair business practices. Those players that travelled from Miami, Texas, Colorado, many played DI-A football and ran only one forty yard dash. There were 2 DI players that were there are the brother and cousins of 2 super star NFL players (vetrans for 10 years). The Arena league would have been the best bet for those players. As an NFL Coach I feel bad for those players and the 3 players that I know personally are taking things into there own hands if this UFL doesn't respond to his complaint and he's a lawyer....bad news the UFL did the wrong person wrong!
My sports agency R2S Sports (www.R2Ssportsagency.com) was at the tryout and could not believe how many people turned out. I have to say that I was thoroughly impressed with the amount of talent!!!
This tryout was a waste of time, there were to many participants, many of which could not have ever played football at a college level. That was the best 60$ t-shirt many players have purchased to date. The coaches at the tryout stressed that they were not interested in 40 times yet that is the only thing they took into consideration for the defesnive backs. The website stated that players would get to run 40's along with a short shuttle which never took place. Many of the defensive backs at the NFL combine, in Indianapolis, did not run under 4.4 yet they are great FOOTBALL players, many in which actually made NFL teams. The Ufl seems to be looking for players with track star speed and decent football ablility. This will be a dissapointment for many fans looking forward to see good football players compete for NFL spots. The United Gridiron League had the right idea making the players strap it up and showcase there football talent on the football field!
Don't be surprised, this bs happens at every tryout I have attended with various players for the CFL, AFL1/AFL2. Yeah, I do agree that most of these tryouts are a quick way to pay for coaches salaries, equipment, etc. Too many times I have seen players just totaly dominate at these workouts, specifically in the WR, even running a 4.31, and catching every ball on the 1v1, but yet all the coaches/gm's could say that were "really interested in signing you BS and that we will be giving you a call in a few weeks". In fact, there was a former Oakland Raiders(WR) that was telling the coaches if they don't sign that guy Terrence Hall, there lost. The coaches tried to hush the Raider player, and all he told those coaches was that "I already made it man. What have you done with your CFL BullShissshh" flashing his huge medalion. Yeah, I hope a lawsuit does occur for bad business pratices. There's so much unsigned talent its sad to believe that all the best talent is in the NFL, cuz it's not.
My brother was there... Was it really that bad? If it was I feel bad for my bro cause he came all the way from nebraska to tryout. And he is a former NFL player..... That sucks if it was that bad... Good luck to all those that did tryout though.
Either way you have to take it as a blessing to be put in front of a professional coach wether it was fair or not it was still a gift from god and a statement telling you to keep striving for excellence. That's just being real! Blessings to all the players who play will play and all those who tried out and will!! Keep your head to the sky and them feet steadily poundin on the pavement.
Ben Williams, USF running back was in the first session and had to wait around until the second session in order to get a rep at the one on one drills. They should have eliminated some of the "has beens" there and guys with no shot to let the real talent showcase it. It was worth the wait for him since he'll probably be signing with them.
im gald now after seeing turn out that i never had the money to make it because it would have set me back mentaly money changers shouldnt play with people dreams
Sounds very bad. I sent two D1 three year starters I represent who played in BCS bowl games down from Texas. Have not heard from them yet. That tells me they are not happy. Hopefully they got a shirt that fit. You never know.
I agree there should have been an elimination process, for those that actually have a shot and those that are just waisting their time. Although, I believe the CFL/AFL does these open workouts for monetary gain as well, at least they do eliminate players that have no chance. I do hope they really allow those players that can play a "real chance" to showcase what they can do despite what school they played for, what there last name is, who they're related too, etc. Just let these players play. Let the play do the talking, and nothing else. I also agree with "surprised" that there is nfl talent out there, but for whatever reason, no one has given these players a real shot. UFL wake up, let these players really showcase what they have, besides some of the players you have signed are NFL rejects, so let new blood compete against them for the spot. Don't use they have NFL experience line, the NFL doesn't even do that. They draft strickly from college with out no NFL experience. Wake up!
I hear other Las Vegas and the North Cali team are planning on doing this too. I just hope they do it right and not just scam players for money. At least for those that attend Las Vegas, think twice before spending your money, because you might have a better chance and hitting the jackpot with that 60 bucks,then trying out for these coaches.
real talk man i came all the way from texas for this weak *** workout man and the s*** that took place was just sad man!!! they really had to just be looking for extra money for there weak ass cutters gloves they bought for the program? i feel in this situation if they really dont sign any of the guys that were actually good(me) and others that theyll get it bak in return and this b**** well flop harder than a 20lb fish, and theese idiots should of deleted the "has beens" to get better looks at the nows man !!! over all bull**** man bull shttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!x2
Congradulations to Michael Pittamn, Koren Robinson, Odell Thurman, Tatum Bell for making the Florida Tuskers Team. Where have then been the last couple of years? P.S. and they didnt even pay 60 days but they are NFL rejects TROUBLE MAKERS LOL.
Dear anonymus you mean the NFL rejects did not pay 60 dollars for the camp but they made the Team.
When you are expecting a few hundred it is not for monetary gain. The fact that well over 1,000 showed is more a sign of the times than anything else. The economy is in the tank and I would suspect a number of those who showed up thought a $60.00 investment could lead to a greater things. In any tryout it is Risk vs. Reward.
Granted, as the numbers increased any chance to get noticed decreased but in reality that is not the fault of the Tuskers/UFL, in my opinion.
watch out for the other team new york-las vegas-california they want 60 dollars for camp
I have read the comments above, and I am really in disbelief that a new professional organization such as the Florida Tuskers would have a open tryout, and have it disorganized as they did. My son attended, and we had to pay for airline, rental car, hotel, and registration for this tryout. In this economic time, this money could have been spent somewhere else; however, this was an oppportunity for him to play at the pro level. He played very exceptional in college, and should have been drafted, but unfortunately, many NFL teams only look at the large big name schools just because. Tney are missing out on great talent in the HBCU's and some smaller colleges. The name of the college should not matter, but the talent of the player. My son has said that some of the players drafted "could not hold his jock"! I think there are racial undertones as well in the NFL draft selections and free agency. Don't forget the nepotism (relatives already in the league!!) Tusker's do the right thing!
Ben Williams, USF running back was in the first session and had to wait around until the second session in order to get a rep at the one on one drills. They should have eliminated some of the "has beens" there and guys with no shot to let the real talent showcase it. It was worth the wait for him since he'll probably be signing with them.
I totally disagree with you Ted F. Most of these tryouts are for monetary gain. When u look at the fact that maybe 1-2 players, get picked up at these tryouts at a rate of $99.00 for these CFL/AFL workouts that usually attract at least 100 guys, that about 10k. U do the math. It's like a mini scam going from state to state, city to city, at making about 10k a pop or so. There business costs for the team is probably about 5-7k for the time spent traveling/hotel/food/car rental/etc. but they probably make about 70-100k. Don't kid yourself man, you might be a report/writer, but let the truth be told. There's players right now that could beat out NFL guys for a spot. Unfortunatley, these unfair practices continue to go on. Hopefully something will be done about this. If your gonna report, then speak the truth, don't select what you want to produce to recieve self accolades.
Sorry to hear about the negative experiences for all these players. If you guys are considering legal action, you might want to contact Auturo J. Gonzalez, from San Francisco, this guys is the real deal when taking on the biggest companies/corporations in the world. Maybe a nice civil lawsuit by a huge number of players who attended will help alleviate these type of practices. Good luck to all the player trying to make it.
Tryout, with all respect, I take exception to the "If your gonna report, then speak the truth, don't select what you want to produce to recieve self accolades" comment simply because I try to look at what the team has to lay out to put these tryouts together. It may seem like a scam to some but do you think the salaried coaches and other people do this for free? How much did the Citrus Bowl charge for used of their property? And on it goes.
Sure there are volunteers that defray costs but let's be real here. Had only a couple of hundred showed that would have been $12K - minus expenditures. That amounts to a drop in the bucket for the team/league. Don't fault the team/league because more than a thousand showed up.
I'm not trying to defend or criticize what happened in Orlando because I was personally flabbergasted at the sheer numbers. I don't know what else could have been done to accommodate everyone in the time allotted.
I can bet you one thing though. There will be
i was at the tryout and it was crazy. ive been to about 10 tryouts in my career and i aint never seen anything like that. VSA isnt playing, so many RB's that only half of us got a rep. something like 150 RBs alone in the first session! there were some positions that didnt have any numbers like te and lb didnt hardly have anybody. like maybe 40 to 60 each! my agent was with me and said i prolly had a better shot at one of those positions. cuz im 6'0 215 and could have least got a look cuz the lbs had like 5 guys and 2 were white boys that even impressed and te had maybe 3 dudes. and there was like 400 wr and db. man it was a waste of time and if they do another one near you dont even bother wit it. they aint take down any kind of info. and you know they aint gonna remember everything!!! bring back the AFL!!
Of course they don’t do it for free, their tryout costs are already factored into their budgets. Besides, these coaches/staff for the most part have already made if you will(worked in the NFL), so from my stand point I don’t feel sorry for coaches and staff making 7-6 figures. I do feel bad for those players that got the short end of the stick trying to reach a dream that these coaches/staff have already obtained. As for the stadium goes, come on Ted, I’m sure they worked a deal. If not, they probably got to use the Citrus Bowl for free. That’s the beauty of business reciprocity. They both benefited from the tryout, whether you want to acknowledge that or not. I still would like to see the UFL succeed and be a feeder for the NFL, or the UNGL for that matter, but when something is totally wrong it should be addressed. Maybe they should have broken the workout into 2-3 days, AFL/CFL teams do that for specific workouts. see part 2
...Plus, if they actually took notes and film, they could have evaluated who has the skills to play at that level. Come on, who does an interview, if you will, of a prospective employee for a job and takes no notes/comments on how they do? I haven’t heard of a company yet.
Durell Mapp was at the try outs he looked real good at Lb You can find more info on him at durellmapp.com
ted fleming not only the citrus bowl were free for the team but the player stay at sheraton safari did the team got a cut.auturo j.gonzalez from san francisco can help.ok player step up
Yeah, I was there. I don't think charging the money is what is a scam... because if they didn't charge, everybody and there mother would show up..but I do agree they didn't bat an eye at you unless A) you ran a 4.4 or faster,which was like 3 guys, or B) invited or showed up, you already knew somebody, had an agent, or was a guy like Drew Weatherford, who is a notible player. They didn't give us a fair shot. I don't think it was all on purpose, because of the mass numbers, but after the 40, they should have went by numbers on our shirts, but instead told us to line up, which equaled mass chaos, and the bigger players, cutting us and getting 3 or 4 reps, before our 1, because we tried to play fair ,and not be agressive a&& holes. All and all, I understand it, but doesnt mean its fair.
PS, to robert above... I got a XXL shirt, and that didn't fit cuz im a WR, so to answer ur question they probably didn't get shirts that fit.
Since the Tuskers try out has placed such a negative impact on an up-start league and has become a marketing nightmare, why not own up to it and change the tempo? Make a list of players and positions who ran their 40's in decent times and offer then a try out to a "team near you!" Have that team contact them for a date to try out. It's good publicity, good for the teams and will not leave such a nasty taste in the mouth of those players who had been offered a chance to showcase their abilities and were not allowed to do so..
"Maybe they should have broken the workout into 2-3 days, AFL/CFL teams do that for specific workouts."
I would agree if they had expected that many people but they didn't. The GM clearly admitted he had never seen anything like it. I also stated the economy might have had something to do with the numbers and I don't care if this was run by the NFL, you schedule one day a few months in advance and that is all they have to work with.
I absolutely understand the players' frustrations. It's hard to have a dream and have just seconds instead of minutes to make it come true.
Hopefully the UFL learned from this experience and will prepare better for other workouts.
They also said they would post our 40's, since I didn't get to see mine... I haven't seen them yet.... I don't see them posting them, but I guess well see.. Atleast Jim Haslett was really nice, and seemed very down to earth... I went to New Orleans couple years ago for a game against the vikes, and saw him coach, Im def more of a fan now...
I agree with "wilson" 110 Percent!
The sad thing is, there are only 4 teams this year. Not much room for all of the talent that showed up for tryouts.
The Tusker's should have organized this tryout much better. They must make good of the players that participated and ran good 40 times. The question is, HOW IN THE WORLD ARE THEY GOING TO REMEMBER ANYONE IF THEY DIDN'T TAKE NOTES!!!!!! THAT WAS PURELY UNPROFESSIONAL AND UNBELIEVABLE. As someone said prior, if you are interviewing for a job, the person doing the interview is taking some kind of notes. How else will they remember the important details. By them not writing anything down is a definite sign that they were not serious about this, and they wasted alot of peoples time. Most people do not have money to come to some tryout that was just for publicity. I think there will be lawsuits if it there is an investigation that determines that this was fradulently organized for personal gain for the UFL and Tuskers.This defintely will put a blemish on the image of the UFL. They did not determine how many people showed, but common sense would have you think that alot would show.
How do you have try outs without a video camera or someone taking notes. It was a big fundraiser for the UFL and if it wasn't give a refund. That's if you at least have records of who attended. There were alot of good football players who attended the workout. It was a shame that they had to be humilleated the was they were.
I was out there, and there was alot of talent.. alot of talent that will have no place to play this year.... I'm pretty sure Drew Weatherford was there, Mike Macmahon, former pro QB,I saw some good local guys out there like doug Gabriel,and I think I saw Justin lawrence out there,ran College track in Wa, and was standout in the SSFL,who got a few looks from the Storm and I think was on Seahawks practice squad maybe.
i didn't see gabriel,lawrence does has a fast 40 for how tall and lanky he is.. I think it was 4.6, but he needs 20 pounds to handle anything above minors or arena. I saw weatherford too wearing his carpe diem shirt... he is pretty short for trying to be a pro Qb ,but he has a cannon, he just looked bigger on Tv for the seminoles....
I never even heard of doug gabriel or lawrence... So idk who the tuskers are trying to get, but apparently there isn't gonna be much talent in the UFL anyways. prob best player I have heard of is the punter Todd saurbrun or maybe michael pittman I heard might play in UFL.
um..."D-monay", they are local players, and they didn't even sign with the tuskers. in fact, weatherford didn't even get signed by the Tuskers. Gabriel played @ UCf, than played for the raiders, and lawrence was Wr, but did mainly KR, but played under Coach Earnest givens in the SSFL,than idk where he went after that . But the taskers actually have alot of talent, liek koren robinson, michael pittman, craig nall, and brooks bollinger. This league shouldn't be like XFL, its more like a triple a baseball leauge... where a few college and arena players might get a shot at the pros, but mainly something for pros who got hurt or got in trouble (koren robinson), and want another shot to redeem themselves, or build up there confidence by beating up on some college and minor league players. Also prob a good league for pro guys to play, right after injuries.... I think maybe vick or favre should have considered one season in UFL. well favre, maybe not cuz he maybe only has one year left...
This guy was an awesome awesome d-end at the tryouts!!! check out his highlight reel on youtube! /watch?v=jGvQvKI-Tog
i wonder how many guys would have showed up if the Tuskers would have collected $150-200 at the gate for the tryout?? gotten rid of some of the guys fooling themselves i guarantee it.
cuzisaidso, can you imagine the outcry had they gone to the figure you propose? Accusations would be flying from Orlando to New York to San Francisco to Las Vegas. Sure they would have had fewer people show up but what about those with a legitimate dream not having the money in these economic times? On the other hand, those who could afford it would have still showed up just for the privilege of saying they had a "tryout."
Hello everyone. True it was a lot of ppl there and also it was a lot of talent there. I actually went there with my son but it was this on kid that caught and I got his name and info. His name is Marcus Jefferson and he plays cornerback. He was 1 of the 4 dbs to run the 40 yard dash in a 4.3 He ran a 4.36. They actually made him run again which he clocked a 4.38 the second time.The kid looked physically fit and well defined and he has a highlight on youtube at Marcus Jefferson and I think you all should check him out bc he is SPECIAL. I promise!!! He will be somewhere soon so please remember the name. Marcus Jefferson...
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