Rookie Quarterback and Running Back Win Starting Jobs in Camp
By "Fran Erickson IV"

Pre-Season 2107 (Green Bay) - For what is believed to be the first time in franchise history, the Green Bay Packers will send rookies on to the field at Quarterback and Running Back when the team faces the heavily favored defending Sundby Cup Champion Carolina Panthers at home in the opener to the USAFL's 2107 season this coming weekend.

'We saw something very special in these guys when we brought them in for workouts prior to the draft. We tried to keep those workouts under the radar in case we decided to go in a different direction and stay out of the draft altogether, but once we had them in and saw them on the field in live action, we decided it would be critical to do what ever we could to bring them to Green Bay,' commented Packers' GM Todd Ricotta on his way to a benefit luncheon in Philadelphia to accept the Garritt Grandberg Spririt Award that he was honored with by league Commissioner Andew Lewis earlier in the offseason. 'With the position we are in personnel wise, the feeling of the coaching staff is that there is no point in waiting to get them in there...so they will both start this weekend, and hopefully be a dominant force in the league together for the next 10-12 seasons.'

The 'guys' Ricotta fondly refers to are 1st round selections Gary Proehl (5th overall) and Virgil Chun (9th overall).

Proehl, the standout running back who helped lead the University of Buffalo to a CFA record 6th consecutive National Championship, breaking the record previously held by the 2062-2066 Miami Hurricanes (also known by many USAFL followers and the Buffalo Bills' Farm Team in that era), was obtained from the Washington Redskins for future 1st, 3rd and 4th round picks.

Chun, the Heisman Trophy winner from the University of Hawaii who broke the CFA single season passing record for touchdowns (67), set incidentally by another Warrior way back in 2007 named Colt Brennan, was obtained in a pre-draft trade with the Chicago Bears in exchange for the Packers' 1st and 2nd round picks in the 2108 draft.

Both players showed flashes in camp and seem to have the support of the players in the locker room and the coaching staff. 'I'm not going to lie, I am disappointed that I won't be starting this weekend, but I am a professional and I'll do whatever I can to help Virgil and this team be successful,' said Thatch Haugen, a quarterback many figured would retain the starting job that he wrestled away last season from 2105 Rookie of the Year Ted Mugglewortz.

Things were certainly looking up for Haugen when Mugglewortz was released following the draft, but that was before camp broke. With his play in the preseason and a remarkable display of maturity for a rookie, Chun convinced the coaching staff that he is ready to lead this team into the future as it tries to find an identity for itself in the toughest division in the USAFL. The only question perhaps that remains, is....are you convinced as much as the coaching staff?