Injuries grounding air attack

The Storm has found a quarterback, but has not been able to keep a healthy corps of receivers together.

By JOHN C. COTEY

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 18, 2000

TAMPA -- Tim Marcum thinks the Storm has one of the best receiving corps in Arena football.

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Honestly.

You just have to look through the gauze, ice bags and shoulder slings to see that.

Eventually, Marcum hopes you'll be able to look on the field and see it.

"This is a great group," he said. "When we get everyone healthy, there's going to be some tough decisions to make."

Right now, those tough decisions are: Can Charles Wilson play this week? Is Harvey Middleton progressing from his broken collarbone? How is Wayne Walker's hamstring?

Anyone else hurt?

Marcum and his receiving corps have had problems from the start. All-Arena second-teamer Melvin Cunningham strained his arch in the preseason, an injury that eventually required surgery and has cost him this year.

Wilson hurt his back and Walker his hamstring in the opener. The next week Middleton was signed and starred in his debut, only to be lost in Week 3. Wilson returned for that game and caught four touchdowns. But he strained his hamstring the next week.

"It's been very frustrating," said Wilson, last season's Rookie of the Year. "You want to help the team so much, and you get ready to come back and then get injured again. I haven't ever seen anything like this, personally."

Neither has Marcum, who's been coaching 13 years in the league. "We had a lot of bad luck so far," Marcum said. "More than I've ever been involved with."

Lawrence Samuels and Wilson are tied for the team lead with 249 yards, and Samuels leads with 22 receptions. Five different receivers have 12 or more receptions. But unless Wilson, who has six touchdowns in about eight full quarters, is healthy, there is no go-to receiver.

The injuries have created bumps on the already pock-marked road -- Samuels missed early season practices as he worked toward his masters degree at West Alabama and the Storm had to break in a new quarterback, then turn to another quarterback.

"When you lose a receiver in this league it's like losing two players," Marcum said. "Then you have a new quarterback, and that quarterback-receiver relationship is often taken for granted. You can call an out route and one guy runs it one way and another guy runs it another way. We run 1,000 of those a day in practice and no two routes are the same."

With John Kaleo replacing Thad Busby at quarterback, Marcum thinks those relationships with receivers will soon flourish. One of Kaleo's targets last year at New England, James Bowden, has been signed and looked promising in his debut.

Samuels has had his best two games the last two weeks. Jason Dulick is slowly emerging into a threat. Middleton could be back in two weeks. Walker's hamstring appears to be healed. And Wilson's is on the way. Soon, says Walker, fans will see what one of the league's best group of receivers can do healthy.

Provided, of course, the injuries subside. They have to sometime, right?

"I hope so," Walker said. "When we get everyone back, I think were going to be wreaking havoc. Just give us time. I think we're going to be all right."

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