If the Baltimore Blackbirds are going to make some noise in their inaugural season, they could do it with lots of Maryland flavor.
While other American Indoor Football Association teams are two weeks into the season, the Blackbirds nailed down a roster for training camp this weekend, with local standouts like Howard High graduate DaLawn Parrish and former Maryland safety Milton Harris among the notables. Training camp began yesterday.
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“We went through a very extensive process to narrow the field down to the approximately 40 players we invited to training camp,” general manager John Wolfe said. “We looked at their experience, their performance at tryouts and mini-camps, and how they would fit in with the team environment of the Blackbirds and their ability to pick up the indoor game.”
Wolfe said the team might still bring back some of the players that were cut in mini-camp. The team plans on cutting to a mandated 20-man active roster and will also keep a 10-man practice squad by Feb. 21.
Parrish, a former honorable-mention All-Atlantic Coast Conference defensive back at Wake Forest, recently served as the head football coach at DuVal High in Prince George?s County and was an assistant at Wilde Lake in Howard County. Former Towson University offensive lineman Jason Gunning, an All-Patriot League selection, is also on the training camp roster, along with fellow Towson alum, kicker Ben Whitacre.
“Our goal was to bring in 40 to 45 players that would have an immediate impact on this team,” Blackbirds head coach Chris Simpson said. “We listed several variables that are specific to what we wanted in each position.”
The Blackbirds invited several other players with impressive résumés, including Joey Conrad, the all-time leading passer in NCAA Division II history from Glenville State (W.Va.). Former Baltimore Ravens long snapper Joe Maese signed with the team last month.
Comcast SportsNet reporter Brent Harris, who was trying out at quarterback, was not included on the Blackbirds? training camp roster.
The team was invited to join the AIFA in November, according to owner Alexander Austin, and has been building the organization since. The Blackbirds open their season in the sixth week of the AIFA?s schedule on March 10 against the Reading (Pa.) Express.
