The Chicago Rush don't have a game during Week 11 of the Arena Football League season, but that doesn't mean they're just sitting on their laurels. In the wake of a stinging road loss to the Arizona Rattlers, the Rush have already made a number of roster moves this week.
On May 15, the Rush (6-3) traded OL Conan Amituanai to the Milwaukee Mustangs for future considerations. Amituanai, 6-foot-3 and 325 pounds out of Arizona, signed with the Minnesota Vikings in 2011 as an undrafted free agent before being assigned to the Rush in April. He made his season debut last week against the Rattlers.
The Rush also placed QB Dennis Gile on reassignment on Tuesday. He was assigned to the team on May 10 as insurance for Luke Drone, since Russ Michna did not make the trip to Phoenix for the Rattlers game.
Then on May 16, Chicago traded DL Ervin Baldwin to the Pittsburgh Power for claim order position No. 5. The 6-foot-2, 255-pound defender out of Michigan State started five games for the Rush this season and appeared in a sixth, tallying 9 total tackles, including 2.5 for a loss. Additionally, he has a sack and a forced fumble to his name after nailing Stephen Wasil behind the line of scrimmage during the third quarter of the season opener against the Tampa Bay Storm.
The team also placed DL Montavious Stanley on recallable reassignment and activated OL/DL Gabe Long from team suspension on Wednesday. Stanley, who is 6-foot-2 and 300 pounds out of Louisville, has appeared in two games for Chicago this season, recording a tackle for a loss.
Placing players on recallable reassignment seems to be a widespread practice throughout the Arena Football League as an administrative way to shuffle players to and from teams while staying under the cap of 24 players on the roster. Last week, both Luke Drone and C.J. Cobb were placed on recallable reassignment while the Rush roster was shuffled, only to be reactivated the next day. Rush fans, then, may not have seen the last of Stanley.
This week's roster moves are likely, in part, to be in preparation for the arrival of DB Brandon Brinkley, who was acquired last week in a trade from the San Jose SaberCats, and DL Darrell Campbell, who was acquired from the Philadelphia Soul. Both players have been on the Refuse to Report list--a common administrative practice utilized while players travel from their former teams to their new teams, not necessarily an indication of a player's actual refusal to report to a team--since May 11 and are about due to arrive at Rush headquarters.
The Rush have a week to rest and regroup before heading out to California for a May 26 tilt against the SaberCats (7-2).
The author is a Featured Contributor in Sports for the Yahoo! Contributor Network and holds media credentials with the Chicago Rush and the Arena Football League. You can follow him on Twitter at @RedZoneWriting and on Facebook.
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