Locos trim 18, hit roster limit

In Jim Fassel's perfect world, no players would get cut, everyone would play and make money and he wouldn't feel like a bad guy.

But in pro football, someone has to be the bad guy, and on Wednesday that guy was Fassel, the Locomotives' general manager and head coach. He had to tell 18 players to look for work elsewhere because they weren't quite good enough to make the UFL team's roster.

The Locos, who won the championship in the United Football League's first season, cut down to 52 players in advance of the season opener against Florida on Sept. 18 at Sam Boyd Stadium.

"The bottom line is it's a hard thing for them and it's a hard thing for me," Fassel said. "It's not fun. These guys came in and gave great effort. Unfortunately, we can't keep everyone and we had some tough decisions to make."

Among the decisions was who would back up starting quarterback Tim Rattay. Fassel had four QBs in camp and kept three. Free agents Chase Clement and Drew Willy were retained over Russ Michna, last season's third-stringer.

"I liked Russ," Fassel said. "He was with us last year, and it was particularly hard to tell him."

The Locos, who are deep at wide receiver and in the secondary, released several players at those positions. Receivers Jason Armstead, Will Franklin, Jared Perry and Jovonte Taylor were cut, as were defensive backs Marcus Hamilton and Siddeeq Shabbaz.

The Locos let running back Allen Ervin go, along with fullback Russ Weil.

For the players who survived, Fassel had an important message, which he delivered after Wednesday's practice.

"I told them nothing is etched in concrete," Fassel said. "They still have to keep proving themselves. There's a lot of good football players looking for work, and if we can improve our team, we will."

Also cut were offensive tackles Gabe Long and Marion Dukes, guard Ryan Considine, center Shaun Byrnes, tight end Wes Mangan, defensive ends Brian Coulter and Dominic Payne, linebacker Chase Vaughn and punter Phillip Zavala.

Contact reporter Steve Carp at carp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913.