old usfl85 stuffBarry Sanders leads league in rushing. .
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| In 3 weeks with Gunslingers Sanders is on top!!! |
In what looked to be a lost season playing for the Houston Gamblers and eventually being replaced as starting HB by Todd Fowler Barry Sanders in just 3 games with the Gunslingers is back on top as the leagues leading rusher.
Week 5 started his new found success against the defending (struggling) league champion Philadelphia Stars, with less then a weeks practice with his new team Barry Sanders finished with 100 yards and a receiving td, In his second start for the Slingers Sanders racked up 134 yards and his 1st rushing td of the season against a tough Pittsburgh Maulers rushing defense. And by far his best performance of the season for his new team that included a 21 yard td run and a huge 46 yard run against the much improved Memphis Showboats Sanders finished the game with nearly 200 yards settling for 190 yards on just 22 carries and his second rushing td of the season.
So far since arriving in San Antonio Sanders has gained 424 yards on 75 carries for a 5.6 yard per carry average and 2 rushing tds, he has also helped out the passing game hauling in 3 catches for 44 yards and a touchdown, and let us not forget he blocked 3 Philly punts as speed rusher on special teams.
"When I called Barry after the trade was announced I told him that Kenny and I would do what we could to get him back on track and honestly we didn't have to do much all we did was reassure his place on the squad and give him the damn ball, and he has responded as only Barry could respond, we are really looking forward to seeing how these last three games of the seaon finish up as we continue our quest for a shot at the league championship" Bill Wenberg was quoted as saying after it was learned Sanders was in deed the leading rusher in the league.
Banged up Slayden will be relieved by newly signed free agent QB Reggie Collier.
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| Newly aquirred 10 year vet Reggie Collier looks down field against Memphis. |
Just 2 weeks ago the San Antonio Gunslingers made perhapes the biggest trade in league history when they landed superstar rb Barry Sanders the Gunslingers aslo wanted to add a solid veteran QB and they did just that when they signed former Washington Federals qb (now defunct) Reggie Collier.
Collier with less than 2 weeks of practice and a wristband containing about 20 offensive plays was forced into action Monday night when league leading QB Steve Slayden left the game for ex-rays on what appears to be a severly sprained ankle when the Showboats Sam Pollara sacked him.
Reggie picked up right where Slayden left off Monday night completing 11 of 21 passes for a solid 52.4 % completion percentage 153 yards no tds and most importantly no picks. Slayden played well before going out early in the 3rd quarter completed 53.3 % of his passe going 8 for 15 with 11 yards, no tds and no picks.
"I would just like to reassure the fans and most impotrantly Steve that this is no way a quarterback contrversey, as of today Steve is listed as questionable with a good possiblity of being listed as probable before the week is up, right now we are just looking out for what is best for our team and Steve the most important thing is for Steve to get healty for the home stretch"said Ken Anderson at a press conference announcing the move.
"Slayden is our guy and although this is an important divsion game against Philly we know how important it is for Steve to get healty if we are to make it to the big dance and we feel that Collier did a nice job and will continue to get better with more reps during the week, in RC we feel he is a carbon copy of Steve with the exception that he is a bit more mobile especially with Steve having a sprained ankle" added Owner/GM Bill Wenberg.
Sanders trade rumor becomes reality.
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| All eyes were on newly aquirred RB Barry Sanders at practice Tuesday. |
Approximetly 10:30 p.m. Monday night the week long rumor of a trade for Barry Sanders came true for Gunslingers brass as they obtained struggling 1993 league MVP Barry Sanders from the Houston Gamblers in exchange for league leading rusher Emmitt Smith, 1993 1st round draft pick QB Drew Bledsoe and the Gunslingers 1st pick in the 94 draft.
"Its no secret that Barry has been struggling this year in Houston, We were very pleased to find out that Scott Banker (Gamblers owner) was shopping the former league MVP, and we made an offer after a week of talking about it, the deal finally happened. Barry is a special player who has dominated this league for his 1st 3 years in and now we hope he can pick up where he left off last year for New Jersey, After playing against him in week 1 we saw some things that showed he really didn't fit the system in Houston and we plan to fully exploit his talents this year and with a little luck he can lead us to a league championship like he did for New Jersey in 1990" Bill wenberg was quoted during a morning press conference announcing the trade
New star emerges in San Antonio.
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| LB Tony Bennett trying to make fans forget about Biscuit trade. |
San Antonio Gunslingers LB Tony Bennett is slowly gaining the fans respect and helping the front office get over the offseason trade of linebacker Cornelious Bennett to Houston,"We have definitley had a bigger negative response about trading Biscuit than I would have ever imagined" said Billy Wenberg In week 1 against Houston Tony Bennet had 5 tackles and 1 sack in week two against Orlando he had 5 tackles and 1 sack and in week 3 against Arizona Tony had 3 tackles. So far on the year Bennett has played solid with 14 tackles and 2 sacks. "If Tony keeps playing like this he'll be having the fans say... Biscuit Who ? I know I already have." said owner/gm Billy Wenberg
Emmitt Smith named player of the week .
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| Smith rushed for 122 yards and 2 tds vs Houston earning him player of the week honor. |
After helping the San Antonio Gunslingers defeat the Houston Gamblers 40 to 9 Emmitt Smith was named USFL86 player of the week. Emmitt had 122 yards on 20 carries and 2 tds. "Its an honor to be named player of the week but the most important thing is that we beat a solid team and got off on the right foot I have to give alot of credit to the guys up front they opened up some nice holes and I just made the best of it" Quoted Emmitt Smith. " Emmitt played a hell of a game really carried the load for us if he hadn't spent some time on the bench he may have gotten more yards lets not forget he did this during rainy conditions" added Gunslingers head coach Ken Anderson.
Bandits move west land in San Antonio .
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| Alamo Stadium, San Antonio ,Tx. |
After a 5 and 5 record in Tampa Bay 1st year owner Billy Wenberg decided to move the team out west relocating the team to San Antonio and resurrecting the Gunslingers, Along with the move west Bill was busy during the offseason signing 9 unrestricted free agents and making changes to the 3rd ranked Bounty Hunter Defense trading stud LB Cornelious Bennett, LB Brian Jones and DE Carson McMann to the Houston Gamblers for 5th year pro LB Sven O'Neal, 1st year LB Robert Jones and 2nd year DE Nolan Harrison. "Trading Biscuit and McMann was the hardest thing I have done since purchasing the Bandits in 92, with that being said I am very excited about the new look Defense and can't wait to see the new players in action, I feel we won't miss a beat with O'neal taking over for Bennett and are very excited about acquiring such young talents in Jones and Harrison" quoted Billy Wenberg. On the offensive side of the ball San Antonio released last years 5th pick overall in the 1st round David Klinger and have made a full commitment making Steve Slayden the starting QB and the future looks bright for QB with the drafting of Washington State's Drew Bledsoe, along with drafting Bledsoe the Gunslingers drafted WRs Sean Dawkins, and Qadry Ismail and added some youth on the offensive line drafting Michigan C Steve Everritt , and adding Nebraska G Will Shields.
