Storm Notebook

Posted May 2, 2007 by Eddie Daniels

Updated May 11, 2007 at 12:55 PM

By EDDIE DANIELS
The Tampa Tribune

TAMPA - Seems someone forget to mention to the football Gods that game of musical chairs at quarterback over there at 401 Channelside Drive should stop.

John Kaleo got the first four starts to open the season. After the squad remained winless in that stretch, it was Stoney Case’s shot.

He got three chances, beating New Orleans in the process. But his final start – April 14 against Orlando – he suffered a severe separated throwing (right) shoulder.

Sunday, Kaleo made his return to the starting lineup against his former team, Columbus. Tampa Bay (2-6) won 34-32 and what could have been a cute story turned ugly when Kaleo went down with a wrist injury with 3:45 left in the second quarter. He didn’t return.

In walks the Storm’s third QB of the season – rookie Brett Dietz, signed five days prior.

“The Brett Dietz Era has been ushered in,” Storm coach Tim Marcum said.

Looking down the Storm bench, Marcum couldn’t help but see his two former starters – Kaleo and Case - wearing baseball caps, T-shirts and jeans. Not a good feeling.

“All you can do is do your job,” Marcum said about Sunday and how he remained focused. “You got those eight guys out there looking for a call. Someone’s got to make the call, offense or defense. Call the play.

“To me, their pieces. They’re pieces in front of you. You make the move and see what the opponent’s going to do and just call the game.”

Luckily Dietz wasn’t injured in the game. Had he went down, T.T. Toliver would have had to reach back to his high school days in which he was a quarterback at Daytona Mainland High.

“We would have been quarterbacking with God,” Marcum joked.

B.J. Symons, a rookie out of Texas Tech, who has been on injured reserve the entire season, will back Dietz up in Austin.

COPYCAT: When Tom Kaleita injured his wrist against New York, he had to have the wrist mechanically manipulated back to its normal condition and was placed in a hard cast.

Well, Kaleo’s left wrist injury required the same non-surgical treatment by team doctor David Thompson.

“Get this. Exactly the same injury as Tom Kaleita,” Marcum quipped. “I’ve been coaching [Arena Football] for 19 years. Never heard of that and now I got two of them.”

Kaleo likely is done for the season. If that is the case, it the final game of his career as well. Kaleo has said this will be his last season. In 14 season’s Kaleo has completed 2,939 of 4,878 passes for 35,241 yards, 581 TDs and 150 INTs.

Once the swelling goes down in his wrist, the injury will be re-evaluated and the decision for surgery will be determined then. As of now, it is expected he will be placed on IR, where he has to spend at least four weeks. But the injury will take at least six weeks to heal if it progresses as Kalieta’s injury did.

SURPRISE, SURPRISE: According to Dietz, his parents made the two hour drive from Cincinnati to Columbus to watch last week’s game at a Buffalo Wild Wings. His mother was content with seeing her son play his role as the holder on extra points and field goals.

Little did his parents know – or anyone for that matter – he would play a much larger role in the game then just getting down the snap and turning the laces toward the goal post.

“She’s like, ‘At least we’ll get to watch you run in and out of the screen a few times,’” Dietz said of his talk with his mother prior to the game.

PART OF THE SOLUTION: The Storm’s unit of defensive backs likely played their best game against Columbus. When the squad needed it, Khalid Naziruddin snatched a fourth quarter interception. On the 2-point conversion attempt by Columbus with 27 seconds remaining in the game, Traco Rachal batted the ball away, preserving the win.

“The only thing we wanted to do was communicate,” said Storm DB Jeroid Johnson. “We go back and look at the previous game and understood what went wrong when we gave up big plays. It was because we weren’t communicating.

“The last two weeks, we said one thing we want to do is communicate as a unit. Coach calls the play, we communicate, we execute.”

FOOOUUUR!!!!: With 8:27 to go in the second quarter, Lawrence Samuels’ 11-yard grab moved him into fourth place all-time in the AFL in receptions. He then went on to catch five more passes to give him a career total of 838.

Corey Fleming is third (846), Eddie Brown is second (950) and Barry Wagner leads all AFL receivers with 991 receptions.

YELLOW RAIN: Tampa Bay was hit with 11 penalties for 49 yards, while Columbus collected 12 for 84 yards. The 133 yards of penalties is nearly three lengths of the football field.

Ironically, Columbus entered as the least penalized team in the league with 38 penalties for 203 yards.

“It was sloppy,” Marcum said. “It’s third-and-6 and we’re jumping offside or third-and-1. Just dumb. … [Columbus] throws three incompletion and move the ball 20 yards on two penalties.”

BALL CONTROL: The Storm looked more like an 11-man, outdoor football team on its final drive in the second quarter. Tampa Bay completed a 13-play, 38-yard drive in 10:01. Although the Storm got just three points out of that drive, it kept Columbus from scoring to end the half.

Columbus was up 13-10 at that point and had they scored a touchdown or a field goal, they would have had either a nine-point or a six point advantage coming out of halftime with the possession to begin the third quarter, which they scored a touchdown on.

The long possession kept the Destroyers 20-10 third quarter advantage more manageable instead of 23-10 or 27-10.

TAKING CARE OF THE ROCK: For the first time this season, Tampa Bay played a game without turning over the ball. In the seven previous contests, the Storm have turned the ball over at least once in each game. For the season, Tampa has lost 11 fumbles and thrown eight interceptions.

MARSHALL RETURN: Torrance Marshall returned to practice Tuesday and is expected to start Sunday at Austin.

Just before players returned to practice April 24 from the bye week, Marshall, who was in Pittsburgh, learned of his father’s death and flew to Miami for the funeral, which took place April 27.

In Marshall’s absence, the Storm run game experienced a sputter against Columbus. The team collected three rushing yards. FB Clenton Crossley, who was activated from the practice squad had 3 yards, while Dietz had one and Kaleo had minus-1 yard.

Crossley was released Wednesday.

MOVES: The Storm added offensive lineman Jeremy Darveau to the practice squad. The 6-foot-7, 320-pound rookie from Louisville spent the 2006 training camp with NFL Europe’s Amsterdam Admirals.