When people ask me: “What is the most fun you’ve ever had?” I often talk about being a kid and riding my bike to wherever, or playing basketball, or even playing video games.
But as an adult, I think the most pure fun I’ve ever had was back in 2012.
I was chatting with WDAM sports director Taylor Curet after the news recently and we got to talking about the time I tried out for an Arena Football League team back in 2012. Yup! Back in January of 2012, I thought it would be a good idea to test my skills against some of the Texas Panhandle’s top Arena League prospects.
It was a fun day, albeit unsuccessful.
My problem as a receiver is I was always quick, but not the fastest. I could catch almost anything, unless it was thrown right to me. And I didn’t have much of a vertical. That meant I was good at quick routes where the QB threw to a spot, not to a person. On ‘go’ routes or anything where it was a foot race, I wasn’t winning. Jump balls? Tough, but manageable.
Plus I’d been lit up on a quick slant in pee-wee and hated running across the middle.
That meant my living was made outside the numbers.
Corner route where the ball is thrown a yard out of bounds? I got you.
15-yard post? Nah.
So, Arena Football where the field is condensed and there is no out-of-bounds toe-tapping catches is probably not the place for me.
How did I get here
The Amarillo Venom Football team often came onto the morning newscast, Today in Amarillo, to talk about upcoming games during the season. Or to promote season tickets before and after the season was over. They were always great guys.
One morning, before the season, the coach, Julian Reese, stopped in to talk about the upcoming tryouts. Because, in Arena League there isn’t a draft. A lot of these semi-pro teams use local dudes who already have a 9-to-5. NFL Fans may remember Kurt Warner as the Arena League QB that was also working at a grocery store.
Coach Reese was hoping to find some good talent and encouraged guys to come out and help build a championship team.
At one point during the interview I asked about how a mid-to-late-20-something meteorologist might do against the guys that show up. Coach laughed, and said, come on out and see!
I laughed. He laughed. My co-anchor laughed. Our producer laughed. So did the rest of the Panhandle, I’m sure. And not in a ‘laughing with me’ kind of way. But more of a ‘is this dude nuts?’ kind of way.
There is a bit of truth to every joke, though. After working hard for six months to try and walk-on in college only to break my hand right before tryouts, I’d always wondered how I would stack up — even at “my age” at the time. Plus, I’ve always been a guy who doesn’t back down from a challenge… So at 7:30am I was there and ready to go.
Plus, I love running routes. And I love football. So I couldn’t pass up the opportunity.
How did I do?
Well as a guy who was firmly in his mid/late 20s going up against guys who were 19-23 I was about a step slower to begin with. On top of that, I hadn’t run through a route tree in about three years. And it had been about four years since I had put myself through a complete workout.
So I was at an immediate disadvantage.
Overall, though, it went as good as it could. You can see me in the opening first WRs in the video above. I had a few drops (I hate dropping passes), a handful of nice grabs. And I ran a 4.6 40-yard dash.
Not bad for an out of shape – and out of practice – “old guy” trying to hang with a bunch of youngsters.
Two things happened during the tryout that – to this day – make me glad I didn’t get a call….
– About halfway through the tryout a DB gave me a bit of a cheap shot on a route that almost cost me one of my knees. I had to remind the guy, “I’m just the weather dude, don’t worry, I’m not after your job.”
– My bosses at the time said there was no way they were going to let me play football and do the weather in the mornings. I would have to pick one or the other. And I was already under contract. A contract that stated the TV station had the right to tell me I couldn’t take another job. So I’m glad the Venom never called, because the still-17-year-old-wide-receiver in my head would’ve turned me into “Uncle Rico” for the rest of my life.
All of that said: It was a blast. And if I could go back in time, I would’ve tried out again the next year. Just for fun.
That said, now well into my 30s, the next time an Arena League team is having tryouts… I’ll probably stay home.
