ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, July 30, 1996 TAG: 9607300002
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: RUSH NOTES
SOURCE: KEITH POMPEY STAFF WRITER
Duke Strager's game plan is simple. The Roanoke Rush coach could care less about winning tonight's National Minor League Football preseason game with Hampton Roads.
"I just want to get a good look at some of our players," he said. "This game will help decide who will make our 45-man roster and who might be the 10 practice players.
"We have a lot of new faces and I just want to use this game and get a good look at people."
Strager, Roanoke's defensive coordinator in its inaugural 1995 season, might get enough looks to last him all season. Roanoke will have 20 new faces when it takes the field tonight at 7 at Christiansburg High School. And out of the 25 returning roster players, five are at new positions.
But who's worrying? Strager predicts this squad will do better than last year's 8-4 record.
"Last season was a feeling-out process," he said. "We just wanted to make people take notice. And we were playing people out of position because we didn't have depth.
"This year we have a lot of talent and a lot of depth. If someone gets hurt or if someone leaves the team, we have three or four guys ready to step in."
Quarterback Darren Graham is a prime example. He'll be the Rush's first pure quarterback since the middle of last season. The former standout at Christiansburg High School should give Roanoke some offensive power. Before ending his college career in 1994 at Newport News Apprentice, he threw for more than 5,000 yards and 32 touchdowns. During his first five games as a senior, he threw 12 touchdowns, more than any NCAA Division III passer. He still wasn't listed among the nation's leaders, however. Because Apprentice players have jobs, they aren't eligible for NCAA rankings.
LEFT OUT: Stewart Boyd's football career will be put on hold for at least one year. The offensive lineman was released on Wednesday.
"We don't have nothing against Stewart," Strager said. "He is a heck of a guy. But right now he weighs around 370 pounds and that's too much. We told him during the off-season that we wanted him to get down to 335. Nothing against him, he's just carrying around too much weight. If he gets in shape, he can come out next year."
Boyd hasn't worked for two weeks due to medical and personal reasons.
"The weight issue is just [expletive]," Boyd said. "I was on the team last year at the same weight and it wasn't a problem. And if they say that they cut me for not practicing, that's [expletive], too. I showed them a doctor's note. Plus, some other guys took a couple of weeks off and they let them come back. They are just catering to those guys that played at Virginia and Virginia Tech. That's just point blank."
Boyd, a former defensive lineman at Virginia State, started seven games in 1994.
MONEY ISSUE: During the off-season, several Rush players threatened not to return. They said they felt team owner Nick Rush cheated them out of money and alleged Rush promised money early in the season, but waited several weeks to deliver. And when they finally got paid, it was only incentives.
Going into tonight's game, all is well. Both sides agreed to contracts that say starters will receive $175 per game. Reserves get $75 and practice players earn $50. If a player misses practice, he will not get his full amount.
LENGTH: Medium: 65 linesby CNB