The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, July 14, 1993, Page 9, Image 9
Ex-Gamec<
By JOHN MacMILLAN
Staff Writer
For ex-USC football standouts
Ryan Bethea and Danny Smith,
summer employment translates into
putting on pads, covering 50-yard
distances, and bouncing off walls.
Bethea and Smith, teammates on
Carolina's 1987 Gator Bowl team,
are members of Charlotte's twoyear-old
Arena Football League
franchise, the Rage. And according
to Bethea, it is not nicknamed "rock
'n' roll" football for nothing.
"The field is obviously smaller,
so the game is much faster paced
and high-scoring." Bethea said.
"The wall will make you a man. It
will either make you or brake you."
The "wall" is the padded wall
surrounding the sidelines, with only
a few inches of space between them
and the wall. In addition, the field is
only half the width of an NFL or
college field and players are unable
to avoid would-be tacklers by just
stepping out-of-bounds. Also, each
team has eight players, who tend to
be smaller and quicker than their
NFL counterparts, on opposite sides
of the ball.
"Most of the players in the
league are too small to play in the
NFL," said Gary Mullen, a veteran
arena league player.
Arena football players are about
25 pounds lighter than NFL players.
The rules of arena football are
basically the same as any other
football game, but with a few
twists. One of the major changes
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involves the rebound net in the back
of the end zone.
1 he rebound net is used as a carrier
to keep the ball out of the
stands because of the shortness of
the field. This causes some interesting
plays on kick-offs as the ball
bounces off the net, and the receiving
team must play it accordingly.
The net is divided into two sections,
with the split in the center
used as the field goal posts. The
goal posts are only 9 feet wide compared
with 15 feet in the NFL. This
complicates matters when considering
the fact that in arena football
there are no punters.
The Rage are 5-4, 3-3 in Arena
League play, after a July 9 upset of
the Tampa Bay Storm, who hammered
them 52-19 earlier this year.
The win secured Charlotte a berth
in the playoffs in only their second
season of play.
Although the AFL has been in
existence for seven years, it is only
a summer sport, and players like
Bethea and Smith have to move on.
Bethea has recently been released
from the Saskatchewan Roughriders
of the Canadian Football League,
after making the teams preliminary
cut He said he wishes to silence the
critics who question his dedication
to football.
"I love the game and plan on
playing as long as I can," he said.
Bethea was the second leading
receiver in the AFL last year, with
75 catches and 11 touchdowns. He
had two touchdowns in the victory
over the Storm.
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PERSONALIZED GRADU/
PACKAGE C
ADDITIONAL ANNOUN
10 DAY TURNAROUND WHEN
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Photos courtesy ot Sassan Sadi
Ryan Bethea, receiver
for the Charlottle Rage
i?* *^e ^rena football
after the game. Above,
Bethea walks off the
field after a play. Left,
Bethea reacts to an official's
call.
^ I
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