http://files.triblive.com/podcasts/sportstalk/919POWER13.mp3
New Pittsburgh Power DB Virgil Gray joined Daniel Dudley to talk about playing in Pittsburgh.
A four-year AFL veteran, Gray (5’10”/185/Rhode Island) earned First Team All-Arena honors this season after setting an Arizona Rattlers single season record with 15 interceptions, giving him 35 for his AFL career. He was also named Defensive Player of the Game in ArenaBowl XXVI as Arizona claimed their second straight League Championship over Philadelphia. A three-year member of the Rattlers, Gray was named Second Team-All Arena in 2011 as both a defensive back and kick returner. He started his AFL career with Milwaukee in 2010. Gray will anchor a Power defensive squad that totaled only 16 picks in 2013.
In other player moves, the Power have bolstered their running game by acquiring 6’3” 295-pound fullback Tommy Taggert in a trade with the San Jose SaberCats. Taggert, who played collegiately at Oklahoma, missed the majority of the 2013 season due to injury, but scored 21 rushing touchdowns in 2011 and 2012 as a member of the New Orleans VooDoo and San Jose.
Pittsburgh has also been assigned defensive lineman Jake Killeen (6’4/240/Charleston Southern) and wide receiver Shaun Kauleinamoku (5’9/185/Western Oregon). Killen signed a reserve/future contract with the NFL”s Indianapolis Colts in January, 2013 and spent his AFL rookie season with the Spokane Shock. Kauleinamoku, a three-year AFL veteran, won an ArenaBowl Championship with Spokane in 2010, and has also played for the San Antonio Talons and Utah Blaze.
The Power kick off their fourth Arena Football League season in March, 2014 at CONSOL Energy Center.