|
|
 |
|
|
The Coach Washington Impact
Sometimes you have to leave home to find your way in the world.
For Jarvis Dunn, that meant breaking away from the familiarity of his hometown of New Orleans and plodding a path out West in pursuit of his dream to play professional football. Jarvis Played Semi Pro under Coach Washington in Louisiana (Founder of the LAFL).
Stops along the way have included the Tangipahoa Head Hunters, Tri-Cities, Vancouver, B.C., Arizona and San Jose, Calif.
And now Tacoma.
Dunn is a member of the Tacoma Cobras, an upstart, minor-league football team that begins its inaugural season in the newly formed Professional Developmental Football League this weekend.
The Cobras will play their first game tonight in Portland, and host their first home game July 11 at 6 p.m. at Franklin Pierce Stadium.
Dunn, who played in the Arena Football League and has had a tryout with the B.C. Lions of the Canadian Football League, sees his time with the Cobras as an opportunity for other leagues, such as the newly formed United Football League, to see him play.
“Right now it’s pretty much film,” Dunn said. “I’ve got a lot of indoor film, so I’m trying to get some outdoor film so I can send it to the CFL. And the UFL doesn’t start until August, so hopefully I still have enough time to send stuff there”
The 5-foot-8, 185-pound scatback also has a family name to uphold. Dunn’s cousin is another New Orleans native, longtime NFL running back Warrick Dunn. Jarvis Dunn, 27, says he communicates regularly through e-mails and texts with Warrick, and learned the value of work ethic from his older relative.
“He works hard, man,” Jarvis Dunn said about his cousin. “It shows on the field, but you don’t really know unless you see him work out, and I’ve worked out with him. He got that NFL workout before he even went to the NFL.”
The four-team PDFL includes teams in Portland, Bellingham, Everett and Tacoma. Theo Hall, general manager of the Cobras, said teams will not pay players for now, but do provide medical insurance and are hopeful the league flourishes after going through the expected growing pains in the first season. Hall says the league also plans to have some league games televised on Comcast.
“The purpose of this is to give guys under the radar a chance to compete with the people who are always on the radar, the people who play on Saturdays (college players),” Hall said. “It doesn’t mean that they’re not as good as the guys who play on Saturday. They’re the same people, but they just didn’t get the same chance because of grades, or because of family or other issues in their life. But this is a chance for them to get out there and do their thing.”
Hall already has had some success in helping players move on. Running back Joe Rubin, a Tacoma native and former All-American at Portland State, recently was drafted by the United Football League. Rubin had planned to play for the Cobras but now will be headed to the UFL’s New York franchise in August. Receiver Robert Long also was picked up by the B.C. Lions for training camp.
Other players looking for another opportunity include A.J. Middleton, a recent graduate who played defensive end at the University of Puget Sound, and Eric Patterson, a defensive back who played at Dixie State College in Utah and later walked on at the University of Georgia. Patterson also has some Arena League experience, playing for the Billings Outlaws in Montana.
For Patterson, playing for the Cobras is a chance to compete in his hometown with other players he grew up with.
“This is a great opportunity,” Patterson said. “I kind of like what they’re trying to do here. Me living in Georgia for a while and seeing what football is like down there, seeing how they have developmental leagues, there’s nothing like this in this area.”
For Middleton, the Cobras offer an opportunity to learn a new position – linebacker – and show teams that might be interested that he can play in space. However, once his playing career is over, Middleton says he will pursue his planned career path of becoming an officer in the Air Force.
And even for older guys like defensive lineman Paul Whatley, a Spanaway Lake graduate who finished his playing career at Central Washington and now coaches football at his former school, the Cobras offer a chance to get back on the field again.
“I just love the competition,” Whatley said. “I missed the camaraderie and being out here with the guys and things like that, and competing. Those are the things the brought me back out here.”
Dave McEachern, offensive coordinator for Lakes High, is the head coach of the Cobras. He said the head coaching opportunity has allowed him a chance to pass along what he has learned while coaching under Lakes head coach Dave Miller.
McEachern said the goal of the league is to become a feeder program for other professional leagues, including the NFL, plus instilling accountability, discipline and an understanding of what players will be expected to do at the next level.
“It’s fun, and it’s a new experience for me,” McEachern said. “You have to have standards. You have expectations and you don’t budge. Now they have to understand that the expectations for them are high standards to be accountable and responsible and all of those things.”
|
ISFB proudly supports the LAFL....
The Indoor Football Scouting Bureau (IFSB) is an innovative National Player Personnel & Scouting Organization. The companies’ main objective is to provide premier players & coaches to select professional indoor football organizations at an economical rate, and to assist the overall quality of the product on the field.IFSB specializes in providing pro indoor teams with players who were either early NFL camp cuts, CFL/AFL camp cuts or NFL Draft board rated prospects who went unsigned.IFSB offers customized packages providing the best players and coaches to fit each organizations specific need, whether the organization's main focus is on players and coaches from the local, regional, or national level.
The company also offers services to help individual entry level players not rated on draft boards or previously in an NFL, CFL or AFL camp market their abilities to find suitable pro indoor teams where they can achieve the best opportunity to further their development.
These players may be offered to contracted teams in addition to but separate from the team personnel packages offered. IFSB also provides free updated player summations on select prospects for NFL, CFL & AFL teams. The companies' services also include free highlight-film mini evals for players as well as updated , 3-game personalized player evaluations to help prospects improve their game and their draft grade or free agent signing status.Prices for 3-game evals are determined by the individual scout, player and his agent representative.
|
Who's Next?
June 16, 2009 - 10:15 AM --
HAMMOND,LA - "With the signing of the Broncos the river started to overflow," Washington said from his home in Independence,LA. After signing the Plaquemine Broncos the calls began to poor in. The LAFL has spoke with about 12 teams that could possibly join for the summer of 2010, out of those 12 came a confirmation from 2 teams while others are asking for more time. The new teams are the newly formed Louisiana Heat(Hammond,La) that will be ran by Ronald McCaleb a Hammond,La native( former owner of the Louisiana Bayou Vipers) and The New Tangipahoa Head Hunter (Hammond,LA) that will be ran by Coach Otis and his family. The new question for now is, Who's Next?
|
LAFL Update
June 15, 2009 - 06:30 PM --
Independence, LA /24-7PressRelease/ LAFL Sports, the world's first and fastest-growing Louisiana amateur sports franchise, announced today that it acquired its own Plaquemine Parish Broncos, allowing the company to offer more local families the unique amateur Sports experience and continuously advance the operating systems that give amatuer Sports franchisees a competitive edge in the minor league football industry. Jermaine Washington (LAFL Commissioner) stated, " It's A great day for the league and the Plaquemine community." Washington went on to say that, he hope this signing will initiate a domino effect where all the teams will follow. Washington Said that he spoke with Mr. Toney Henry via phone and after extensive nogotiations the LAFL and the Broncos came to an agreement to make the broncos the first LAFL franchise.
|
|
|
