Thousands show up for Florida Tuskers tryout camp; UFL News and Notes

August 22, 6:28 PMTampa Bay Sports ExaminerTed Fleming

Previous Next

76 comments Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Tampa Bay Sports Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

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.

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.

*************

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.

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.

*************

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.