Jason Ball Earns Afl Award

[GreenBat]

Players of the Month: April 2007

Courtesy: Arena Football League

Release: 05/02/2007

Courtesy: Arena Football League

NEW YORK – Chicago Rush WR BOBBY SIPPIO, Colorado Crush DB RASHAD FLOYD, Grand Rapids Rampage WR/DB TIMON MARSHALL, Nashville Kats QB JEFF SMOKER, and Colorado Crush K JASON BALL have been named Offensive Player, ADT Defensive Player, Ironman, Rookie, and Kicker of the Month, respectively, for the month of April.

OFFENSIVE: Sippio (6-3, 220, Western Kentucky) averaged 12 receptions, 194 yards and five touchdowns per game over four games during the month of April to propel the Central Division leading Rush (7-1) to a perfect 4-0 record. Sippio, in his fourth AFL season, set a team-high 15 receptions and posted a League-best 252 receiving yards against Grand Rapids in Week 7. He opened the month with 224 receiving yards on 14 receptions and five touchdowns against Los Angeles, for which he was named Week 5 Offensive Player of the Week. The Rush, currently on a franchise-best seven game winning-streak, host division rival Colorado (6-3) on Russell Athletic ESPN Arena Football Monday, May 7, at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN2 and ESPN360.com.

ADT DEFENSIVE: Floyd (5-9, 180, Portland St.) led the AFL during the month of April with 53.5 tackles and ranked second with four interceptions as the Colorado Crush (6-3) posted a 4-1 overall record. Floyd, who leads the League in tackles (91.0), averaged 11 per game during the four-game stretch and was the only player to return two interceptions for touchdowns along with his four passes defensed and one fumble recovery. His best performance came in Week 8 as he intercepted Las Vegas QB BRIAN JONES twice and returned both for touchdowns that helped ignite a Crush comeback as they scored 30 unanswered points in a 63-53 victory over the Gladiators. Colorado travels to Allstate Arena in Chicago to face the division rival Rush (7-1) this Monday on Russell Athletic ESPN Arena Football Monday, May 7, at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN2 and ESPN360.com.

IRONMAN: Marshall (5-10, 188, Ottawa KS) amassed 1,094 all-purpose yards, 13 touchdowns, 4.5 tackles, and one fumble recovery over four games for the Grand Rapids Rampage. Marshall led all Rampage receivers with 31 receptions for 369 yards and nine touchdowns while also attempting six rushes for eight yards. His top performance came in Week 9 as he caught five touchdowns, notched one tackle, returned one kickoff for a touchdown, and recovered an offensive fumble in the end zone to account for seven touchdowns. On special teams, Marshall, in his third AFL season, registered 771 return yards, returning two kickoffs for touchdowns. His 1,094 all-purpose yards ranks as the top monthly performance since Sedrick Robinson recorded 1,226 all-purpose yards during the month of May in 2004. The Rampage (2-6) hosts the Nashville Kats (4-4) this Saturday, May 5, at 7 p.m. ET (CSS – Live, Comcast local).

ROOKIE: Smoker (6-3, 223, Michigan St.) completed 95-of-158 passes for 1,277 yards with 21 touchdowns and seven interceptions during his first full month as a starting quarterback in the AFL. Smoker led all rookies in passing yards, ranked second in touchdowns, and ranked third in passer rating (100.6) during the month that saw Nashville post a 2-3 record. His best performance of the month came in Week 7 as he completed 18-of-28 passes for 235 yards and six touchdowns in a 62-36 victory over the Arizona Rattlers. The Kats (4-5) face division rival Grand Rapids this Saturday, May 5, at 7 p.m. ET (CSS – LIVE, Comcast local).

KICKER: Ball (5-8, 192, North Texas) connected on 29-of-34 PATs and converted a League-best 7-of-12 field goal attempts for a League leading 50 total points during the month of April that saw his Colorado Crush (6-3) go 4-1. Ball, in his second AFL season, also kicked a 38-yard field goal during the Crush’s 49-48 victory over the New York Dragons on April 15, which stands as the second-longest kick of the month. Colorado will face division rival Chicago (7-1) this Monday on Russell Athletic ESPN Arena Football Monday, May 7, at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN2 and ESPN360.com.

Offensive Player of the Month candidates included: Georgia QB Chris Greisen, Utah QB Joe Germaine and WR/DB Siaha Burley, Dallas WR/DB Marcus Nash, San Jose QB Mark Grieb, and Nashville FB/LB Dan Alexander.

ADT Defensive Player of the Month candidates included: Colorado DB Chris Angel, Nashville DB Ahmad Hawkins, New Orleans DL Henry Taylor, New York DB Billy Parker, Chicago DB DeJuan Alfonzo, Columbus DL Kendrick Jones, Los Angeles DL Silas Demary and DB Damen Wheeler and San Jose FB/LB Phil Glover and DB Clevan Thomas.

Ironman of the Month candidates included: Dallas WR/DB Will Pettis, Colorado FB/LB Anthony Dunn, New York WR/DB Will Holder, Orlando FB/LB Marlon Moye-Moore, New Orleans FB/LB Tremaine Neal, and San Jose WR/DB Jason Geathers.

Rookie of the Month candidates included: Dallas DB Bobby Keyes, Las Vegas QB Brian Jones and DB Scott Cunningham, Arizona WR Trandon Harvey, Kansas City DB Isaiah Trufant, and Nashville WR Kenny Higgins.

Kicker of the Month candidates included: San Jose A.J. Haglund, Dallas Todd Sievers, Los Angeles Remy Hamilton, and Utah Steve Videtich.

About ADT

Celebrating its 132nd anniversary, ADT Security Services is the largest single provider of electronic security services to more than six million commercial, federal and residential customers throughout the United States. ADT's total security solutions include intrusion, fire protection, closed circuit television, access control, critical condition monitoring, electronic article surveillance and integrated systems. ADT's Web site address is http://www.adt.com/.

[JesseMartin]

Sweet. I had wondered what had happened to him.

[KRAM1]

My wife and I went to Denver to see jason kick. he did a great job and we had a great time seeing him kick for the Crush. He's a GREAT kid. We could not have a better ambassador for UNT than we have in Jason Ball. Quality kid, quality kicker. Glad to see him get some recognition. I wish some NFL team would at least give him a shot. He hit a 51 yard field goal against Kansas City this last week, but his line moved and he had to re-kick at 53 yards...missed. Too bad! Way to go lineman...3 poits off the board. But, he made a 39 yarder or so that was the winning margin in the game over KC.

Tune in this Monday night and watch the game...Jason is #10. He wanted to wear #7, but that was Elway's jersey number...and since Elway is a partial owner of the Crush, no one gets to wear #7.

GO Jason!

[FirefightnRick]

Not bad for a walk on, eh?(That's hard to believe).

Very happy for him. He just may find his way on an NFL team someday.

Rick

[JesseMartin]

Didn't he have like a 3.9 GPA, too?

[FirefightnRick]

Didn't he have like a 3.9 GPA, too?

I believe so. Great kid and wonderful family.

Rick

[jdennis82]

Didn't he have like a 3.9 GPA, too?

i know i didn't

[greenjoe]

I spoke to his Mom and Dad last night (Sat) and they said Jason and the 'Crush would be on ESPN 2 Monday night.

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