TONIGHT’S STORM GAME
WHO: New Orleans VooDoo (3-2, 1-0 Southern Division) at Tampa Bay Storm (0-5, 0-2)
WHEN: 7:30
TV/RADIO: Catch 47 (Bright House Networks)/WFLA, 970 AM; WQBN, 1300 AM
NEED TO KNOW: Tampa Bay and New Orleans haven’t faced each other since 2005. The Storm won that meeting 47-36. That offseason, Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans and floodwaters forced the team to cease play for the 2006 season. The series is tied 2-2. … Seventeen receptions will move Lawrence Samuels into fourth place on the AFL’s list for career receptions. He leads the league in third-down conversions (eight) and is tied for 12th in receptions (38). … T.T. Toliver is fourth in all-purpose yards (866) and ninth in receptions (39). … QB Stoney Case makes his second career start and first home start. … Former Raiders offensive tackle Lincoln Kennedy will play in his first AFL game. … Tonight will be Building Industry Night and the Storm will donate 25 percent of its proceeds to the New Orleans and Tampa Bay chapters of Habitat for Humanity. … The teams will honor the memory of former Grambling football coach Eddie Robinson, who died Tuesday night due to complications from Alzheimer’s disease. He was 88.
Eddie Daniels

By EDDIE DANIELS
The Tampa Tribune

TAMPA - On the streets of southeast San Diego, it wasn’t about gorgeous sandy beaches and beautiful ocean vistas.

On that side of town, the focus was on survival.

Lincoln Kennedy saw the drug deals and watched the gangs roam about claiming their territory. And as that nonsense went on, he turned to sports, shunning the negativity.

Life in that environment, merged with the everyday hindrances faced my many minorities, shaped a person in Kennedy with a high level of determination.

“Being black, sometimes you come across people who will tell you you can’t do things, or you won’t be able to do that and I was faced with a lot of adversity when I was young,” said Kennedy, who was acquired by the Tampa Bay Storm on March 30. “By no means were things easy for me. I had to overcome a lot.
“It came to a point in time that I didn’t know how I was going to get to college and if it wasn’t for sports, I’d still be in San Diego reeling, trying to figure out if I was going to go to college.”

When he entered Morse High School, he promised himself he would play three sports. He went on to compete in football, basketball and track and field. As a freshman, he even wrestled.

That was the infancy of an attitude he carries with him today – the refusal to quit.

Before leaving San Diego to play football at the University of Washington, he promised his mother he wouldn’t leave school until he earned his degree. And he did just that.

It’s also the same will that drove him back into football after he retired following the 2003 just one season removed from the Raiders’ Super Bowl XXXVII appearance in his hometown.

“Taking that challenge in everything you do, trying to be the best you can be, overcoming all the adversity that you can, basically puts you in the mindset where you don’t quit and when you do quit, like it did for three years when I was out of the game, I had this nasty taste in my mouth,” said Kennedy, who will play in his first Arena Football League game tonight when the Storm host the New Orleans VooDoo.

Kennedy’s comeback attempts included workouts with the Bucs, Redskins, Cardinals and Cowboys. A failed physical with the Cowboys prompted him to turn his focus to the AFL after signing with the Dallas Desperados in January.

“My wife was like, ‘Stop talking about it and go do something about it.’ Fortunate enough for me is that I didn’t have a ton of injuries in my career,” said Kennedy, dubbed The Oval Office due to the presidential ties in his name. “I didn’t have a lot of surgeries and stuff like that and so once I was able to get myself back into pretty good shape, I was able to turn it around and come out and do it. A lot of guys and people I know in the NFL and coaches told me that I retired too soon.
“And I retired at 33, so coming back at 36 is not impossible for my position.”

Coming back and having the field size and number of players on the field at once dramatically reduced has taken some getting used to.

“There’s not too many places to hide, that’s for sure,” Kennedy said. “The truth is that you take a wide-open field game and you’ve condensed it down to the size of a broom closet, everything happens right now. It’s hot and heavy. Eight-man football, you don’t have the space like I’m used to at that level out there, it’s tough. But it’s also a lot of fun.”

It seems in the movies that when the little guy is being beat up, there’s always that larger than life character that comes to the rescue. Could Kennedy, all 6-foot-7, 350-pounds of him, be the answer Tampa Bay (0-5) needs to snap out of the worst start in franchise history?

“This guy made a lot of money. He made a ton of money and he’s still got it and he just wants to play,” Storm coach Tim Marcum said. “He’s a just a kid at heart. He just wants to play, stay competitive. Same thing with Karl Williams. Karl doesn’t need this money, what we’re playing. They just want to play.”
“… You know good and well he’s going to have a smile on his face and he’s not going to have a scowl. He’s going to be happy and he’s going to contribute.”

If he bring just half of the accolades he earned throughout college and NFL careers – three consecutive Pro Bowls (2000-02), Morris Trophy winner as the best Pac-10 lineman, finalist for the Outland Trophy and Lombardi Award, first-team All-American, All-Pac 10 first team selection and a 1991 National Championship – he’ll do just fine.

“You bring the experience of how to play the game and you bring the experience of how to play the game against a number of versatile athletes,” said Kennedy in response to what he believes he can pull from his NFL experience into the AFL. “That helps at any position you play.
“Once you gain that experience… No matter if they lose that athleticism as they go along, having that experience pays dividends in the end because they know how to defeat their opponent. That’s one thing I know how to do. I know how to block people.”

Reporter Eddie Daniels can be reached at (813) 948-4214 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).