http://billingsgazette.com/sports/football/professional/arena/article_4686218a-bed4-11de-bc30-001cc4c03286.html
The Omaha Beef will have a decidedly different look for the 2010 Indoor Football League season following a 22-player trade with the suddenly defunct River City Rage, who played the Billings Outlaws in the inaugural league championship game in August.
The deal, which sent 15 players to Omaha and just seven back to River City, was confirmed to The Gazette by Jeff Sprowls, who was co-owner of both teams.
"It is just an outstanding business move" Sprowls said of the trade via telephone Wednesday morning. "There was nothing illegal about it. I talked to the 15 guys we traded for and asked if they wanted to play for Omaha. They all said yes, so we made the deal."
The league requires that the players involved in the trade sit out the first three games of the regular season.
"We do have a rule in the IFL that if you were on a team's 30-man roster at the end of the season and choose to play for another team, you have to sit out three games," said IFL commissioner Tommy Benizio. "We want there to be some continuity to our league."
The trade stems from River City's announcement last week that they will not return to action in 2010. Billings defeated the Rage 72-61 in the inaugural United Bowl on Aug. 15 at Rimrock Auto Arena at MetraPark.
Sprowls, who co-owned both teams along with his father and brother, said it was time to focus on running just one team.
"We had a lot of things happen in Omaha that shouldn't have happened," Sprowls said. "A lot of money was stolen and we just need to worry about running one team (Omaha)."
The trade immediately makes Omaha the early favorite to challenge Billings for the 2010 IFL title. The Outlaws went 15-2 last season to claim their second league championship in the past four seasons.
Omaha bolstered both sides of the ball in the trade, acquiring defensive backs Paul Simpson, Darnell Terrell, Cornieules "Pig" Brown, Byron Jones, Daryon Bruteley. The ball-hawking quintet combined for 18 interceptions last season.
The Beef also added first-team All-IFL linebacker Joe Bevis, who ranked sixth in the IFL in tackles last season with 721/2.
On the offensive side of the ball, Omaha added quarterback Ben Sankey - who will likely battle three-year Beef starter James McNear for the starting job. Sankey completed 62 of 97 passes for 699 yards and 21 touchdowns during the IFL playoffs, including a 225-yard, eight-touchdown performance in the championship game loss to Billings.
Wide receivers Luke McArdle, Tyrone Timmons and Shawn Piper will join Sankey in Omaha, along with running back Randy Bell. McCardle caught 22 touchdowns last season while gaining just under 1,000 yards (985).
Rounding out Omaha's pickups are linemen Anthony Harris, Richard Birch (DL), Joel Clinger and George Batiste (OL).
River City acquired Brent Hafford, Dorsey Golston, Harold Clewis, Zach Gradoville, Ricky Lebeda, Demitrius Wilbert, Johnnie Taylor in the deal. They were then released, along with the rest of the Rage roster on Oct. 15.
The IFL, which currently consists of 17 teams after River City and Saginaw announced they would not return, is finalizing expansion teams for the 2010 season. The league is expected to have 22 teams in 2010 and plans to announce the schedule next month.
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