Firecats: 60 attend team's open try-outs

A chiseled receiver, muscular forearms covered with tattoos and his long braids tucked into a black skullcap, runs a deep post and waits for the quarterback -- a bald guy with a Homer Simpson physique -- to loft the ball in the air. He swats at the outstretched arms of the cornerback, a skinny kid with long sideburns and a slowly progressing growth of chin hair who looks like he skipped an SAT prep class to be here.

The receiver blows past the quasi-coverage and looks into an overcast sky, waiting for a ball that will either land 10 yards behind, 10 yards beyond, or nowhere in the general vicinity of the would-be wideout.

And with each repetition, depending on the outcome, the Florida Firecats coach smiles behind his dark sunglasses.

"Hey, rag arm, get out of the drill!"

"Holy Christ, if I had an arm like that I'd be making $12 million a year!"

"You want to hold the ball like, wait, this damn championship ring keeps getting in the way."

One prospective quarterback, dressed in black cleats, shorts, backwards cap, and a pair of black sweatbands around each forearm, uncorks what was supposed to be a 10-yard hook deep and out of bounds.

Bennett looks at the young guy standing 30 yards away, covered head to toe in black, and shaking his head at the pass he just threw. The auditioning quarterback's black T-shirt, with "Whiteboy" boldly splashed across the chest, is simply inviting the coach's sarcasm.

"Hey, Eminem, I'm glad you got that rap career!"

And so Bennett and his coaching staff would spend much of the next few hours evaluating the nearly 60 people who showed up for the arenafootball2 team's first open tryout for the upcoming season, held this past weekend at the Pop Warner football field in Estero.

"They've billed the Arena 2 league as a league of opportunity, for the ownership, the coaches and the players," said Bennett, who in his first season led the team to a franchise-record 10 victories and a wild-card playoff berth. "This past season proved that better than any season I can think of. We had five guys who signed AFL contracts. Now whether or not they stick is another question, but just the fact that they played well enough to get noticed is what these guys are in this league for."

Firecats owner Chris Valozzi said the typical tryout will draw anywhere from 50 to 75 hopefuls with varying levels of talent and playing experience. Each of them is hoping to become the next Jarvis Jolly, a defensive lineman signed at an open tryout prior to the 2002 season who went on to start all 16 games for Florida that year.

"Right now we're looking for all positions, and we can bring up to 37 guys to camp," said Valozzi, who has made recent headlines with his family's lawsuit against the AFL, contending they are owed money for the September sale of the Philadelphia Soul to an ownership group including rock star Jon Bon Jovi.

"I would say that every tryout we've signed one or two kids from them, and I think this year we've worked on it a lot more to make sure that we've got some good kids coming out. We've been to the (Tampa Bay) Storm tryout camp and we got some information from the Orlando Predators, so we have been in contact with the kids we think show the most promise. They've already had two tryout camps, so I think that we have benefited from their information."

Several players, in fact, voiced their frustration that the Firecats were familiar with many of those who showed up for the try-out in Estero.

Bennett's "Eminem," actually Clinton Larrabee of West Palm Beach, may have been upset that he drove nearly three hours across I-75 to get there, but said he couldn't argue with his performance once he finally got on the field.

"I sucked today," he said after completing the passing drills. "I got here late and didn't even get to warm-up, just jumped in there and started throwing balls."

He did admit that he was amused by some of the coach's colorful comments.

"He's cool," he said with a laugh. "I kind of expected it. I mean, I wore this shirt."

A player of which the Firecats certainly had no prior knowledge, and who managed to turn some heads Saturday, was "Lawyer Guy," as Bennett affectionately referred to 36-year-old Mike McQuagge of Fort Myers.

The two-year letterman and former backup quarterback at the University of Florida is now a personal injury attorney who said he had to work past some nerves heading into his first open tryout.

"You know, I've been working out real hard but you never know until you get out and start throwing routes and doing your dropbacks in front of the coach," said McQuagge, who has kept in shape by somehow squeezing the gym between the office and the courtroom.

"You know, there's just something about getting back and playing ball and trying to win football games. I can't really put it into words, but it's just something that I've wanted to do. Obviously, I was a big fan, and it seemed like a great opportunity with the Firecats. You know, the hometown team."

Bennett said he was surprised by the talent, and in particular the speed, at Saturday's tryout. Most likely, he said, the players who impressed the coaching staff will be invited to the team's next open tryout on Jan. 10.

Time will only tell if McQuagge- who was among a handful of quarterbacks asked to stay for some extra reps-- or any of the rest of Saturday's crop will ever suit up for the Florida Firecats. The head coach, however, praised them for simply showing up and refusing to give up on a dream.

"What I told them is that they've taken the first step, they've come out here and taken a shot," said Bennett. "Not all of them are going to make it from this tryout, not all of them are going to make it from another tryout. Some of them might never make it, but if you don't come out here, you don't know whether or not you've got a shot. I want guys to be excited about what their doing, but I also want them to understand that it's just football."

Contact Sports Editor Dana Oppedisano at 213-6045 or doppedisano@naplesnews.com