General Manager and Head Coach Bernie Nowotarski of The Reading Express are proud to announce that he has signed Defensive Line Stand-Out Bobby Payne.

Bobby Payne hails from Little Rock, Arkansas. He played his High School football at Morrilton High, where he was a Super Prep All-American, an All-State, All Conference and All-Arkansas Honored player. Bobby was also a member of his High School Basketball team and was a member of Morrilton’s two time State Championship Track Team, where he earned All-American Status in the Shot Put event. BP played his college football at Middle Tennessee State. His outstanding college career brought out the scouts and landed him in the NFL with The San Francisco 49’ers in 2006 and then the Kansas City Brigade of the AFL in 2008.

“Bobby Payne is a fantastic pick-up for us. At 6’4”, 305lbs, he moves to the ball with great athletic ability combined with Speed, Agility and Power. A real nice combination, especially in our Defensive philosophy, which is based on speed and aggressiveness” commented Nowotarski.

Harrisburg, Pa. - The Harrisburg Stampede has signed Defensive Tackle Cory Groover for the 2010 season.  Groover has spent the past three seasons playing for the Florence Phantoms of the AIFA.  In 2008, just his second year with the team, he won his first championship, when the Phantoms were victorious in Championship Bowl II.

Groover joined his middle school football team in 8th grade and made such a large impact that when he began his freshman year of high school, he signed a letter of intent to play for Clemson University. One of his most memorable games was against the University of South Carolina, when he grabbed an interception while playing in the defensive tackle position.

When asked about what he thinks he can bring to the table, he said, “I want to bring a positive and confident mentality, energy, leadership and enthusiasm to the team.”

BALTIMORE, Maryland (December 1, 2009) – The American Indoor Football Association will host a major press conference on Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009 at 3:00PM PST for the purpose of introducing a new professional sports franchise. The conference will be held at the offices of OCZ Technology Group, 6373 San Ignacio Avenue, San Jose.

AIFA co-founder Michael Mink and franchise management will be on hand to participate in the announcement. Afterwards, they will answer questions from the media.

“This press conference will be the culmination of a great deal of work to bring a new professional sports franchise to San Jose,” Mink said. “When we began allocating major market teams for expansion, we knew some outstanding talent would be available (with the demise of the Arena Football League). That's why we will be able to bring a higher quality of play to major markets on the west coast.”

The American Indoor Football Association's Internet radio program, This Week in the AIFA, will provide coverage of the announcement in its next edition. The program can be downloaded through the AIFA's home site (www.aifaprofootball.com) or OurSports Central (www.oursportscentral.com).

Maryland Prep Standout, Delaware State Star Signs with Baltimore

BALTIMORE, MD (November 28, 2009) – The Baltimore Mariners added some size to their defensive line with the addition of Akiel Russell, a 6’5”, 250 pound lineman who lettered in four seasons for the Delaware State Hornets. Russell will be making his professional debut with the American Indoor Football Association (AIFA) club.

“Akiel brings added depth to our defensive line. He has great explosion off the line of scrimmage. I look for him to bring a lot of his competitive spirit to training camp,” said Mariners Head Coach Chris Simpson.

A defensive force at Springbook High School of Silver Spring, Maryland, Russell was named All-Montgomery County following his senior year, in which he record 15 sacks. A three-year letterman for the Blue Devils, Akiel tallied 20 sacks, seven blocked punts, four fumble recoveries, one interception, and one defensive score for Springbrook.

Reading Express GM/Head Coach Bernie Nowotarski announced today that he has signed former St.John’s College High School star and Four Year Starter/Grad from Howard University, Marques Ogden.

After finishing as a four year starter at Howard University, Marques was drafted by the NFL and played for 5 seasons with The Baltimore Ravens, The Buffalo Bills and Tennessee Titans.

Outside of football, Marques owns his own Construction Company, has a Clothing Line and does a Radio show every Sunday night after Raven’s games in Baltimore. Marques has also done some Coaching. He coached with NFL Europe and then was a part of our Division Rival, Baltimore Mariners coaching staff. Last season the football bug got a hold of Marques and he returned to the field of play for The Mariners. In the past few weeks, Marques was in touch with a couple of my coaches. I was out of town at our AIFA League Meetings. When I returned, I was able to talk with Marques. We discussed playing Football here in Reading and what we expect from our players as well as what Marques could expect from us as an organization. We hit it off very well and a contract was issued and signed, said GM and Head Coach Nowotarski.

Reading Express GM/Head Coach Bernie Nowotarski announced today that he has re-signed Sam Bryant, former Reading High Red Knight and University of Pitt star.

“Sam will again be roaming The Express secondary this season. He had a few little nagging injuries last season that kept him out of a game or two, but his presence on the field is such a boost to our secondary and the entire defense. He understands both offensive and defensive schemes and is a very physical player with great agility and skill. In this past Championship Season, Sam grabbed 6 Interceptions and 17 pass break-ups. He had 38 solo tackles and 4 assists. Sam also had a 24.7 yard average on Kick-Off returns for us last season. He is a versatile athlete and is a major player in the league.” commented Nowotarski     

“As I said last year about Sam, he is an awesome player. He is fast, smart, a hitter and he can cover one on one. At 6’ and 205lbs, he understands the game and I am thrilled to have him back in my secondary,” explained Nowotarski.

Check out the up-coming launch of our NEW Express website. Also our next Open Try-Out is Saturday November 28. Look for all Express event information at www.expressindoorfootball.com and you can now follow Coach Bernie on Twitter at http://twitter.com/CoachBDB

HARRISBURG, Pa. - The Harrisburg Stampede is proud to announce the signing of former North Carolina State University cornerback Jeremy Gray.  Considered a “boundary corner”, Gray has always had a nose for the ball.  During his junior and senior seasons, he was a leader in the Wolfpack’s secondary and racked up 78 tackles and tallied six interceptions.

Jeremy Gray was born in Opelika, Alabama, which is located about five minutes away from the campus of Auburn University. Considering that his father (Jimmie) played football there, it only seemed fitting that he would do the same, but Jeremy wanted something different.

He started playing organized football in the sixth grade and as he continued through his high school years, he transformed into a three-sport athlete playing football, basketball and running track for Opelika High School. During Gray’s senior season, he started looking closely at his father’s alma mater, Auburn University, and they were looking just as closely at him. Gray said, “Every year one or two players from my high school went on to play at Auburn, but I realized that wasn’t for me.”

BALTIMORE, MD (November 19, 2009) – Former Maryland prep and Illinois University star Rodney Pittman, who also participated in the Washington Redskins 2009 Mini Camp, has signed a contract for the 2010 season with the Baltimore Mariners and hopes to start his professional career with the American Indoor Football Association (AIFA) club.

“Rodney is a tremendous local talent who has played in some big time college games while at Illinois. Rodney is a very intelligent and physical player. I am looking forward to seeing him compete in training camp,” said Mariners Head Coach Chris Simpson.

A standout at Fort Washington, Maryland’s Friendly High School, Pittman racked up impressive numbers as a senior in an award filled season. As a fierce linebacker and defensive lineman he totaled 132 tackles, eight sacks, and two interceptions in the Patriots 2004 season. He also saw time at tight end. For his defensive efforts he earned All-County honors and was named to The Washington Post All-Metro squad, earning honorable mention recognition. For his career he totaled 270 tackles, 22 sacks, and 36 quarterback hurries. Heavily recruited he chose Illinois over Boston College, Marshall and Syracuse.

Reading Express GM/Head Coach Bernie Nowotarski announced today that he has signed two more players from 2009 AIFA Championship Team.

Two Defensive players from last years Championship squad have re-signed with The Express for the up-coming 2010 season. Defensive Linemen and Former Delaware Valley Grad, Travis Albanesius. Also signing back with The Express is Defensive Back and sometimes WR, David Smith who is a North Carolina State Grad. 

“At 6’4” and 285lbs Travis caused opposing offenses all kinds of problems. He has one speed “FULL”. Travis comes at you all game long and doesn’t stop. In 10 games last season with the Express, Travis had 10 solo tackles, 7 more tackles for loss of yards, 4.5 Sacks, 2 pass Break-Ups and a huge Blocked Kick in our Championship Game in Wyoming that was recovered for a safety. He is a team player and his hard work and relentlessness is contagious and gets our defense fired up. David is coming off a season which saw him grab 6 Interceptions, 1 for a Game Winning TD over a 6-0 Florence squad. He also had 5 pass break-ups and 38 solo tackles and 9 assisted tackles. He also did some kick returning for The Express and averaged 19.1 yards per return. At 6’2” and 215lbs, David is the proto-type defensive back I like to have in the secondary or anywhere on the field. He is fast, mobile and has size. David did some Iron-Man work for us this year as well. He played DB, but could go to Jack, play WR and worked hard on all our Special Teams” commented Nowotarski.

Keep an eye out for our NEW Express website and information for our November 28th Open Try-Out…Get all your event information at www.expressindoorfootball.com.   Check out Coach Bernie on Twitter at http://twitter.com/CoachBDB