By Ryan Ernst
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Cincinnati Swarm's B.J. Paulus and Tony Locke battle for a ball during an early morning practice Tuesday. (Mike Simons photo) | ZOOM |

Nick Rice had to leave the Cincinnati Swarm training camp 15 minutes early Thursday morning. While his teammates were learning the system of arenafootball2's newest expansion team, the former Newport and Thomas More linebacker was on his way to his job as a substitute teacher.

When the session ended at 8:15, many other players followed suit.

Georgetown College standout B.J. Paulus, a defensive back, is a personal trainer. Several others work construction. Loveland grad John Adleta, a lineman, is a manager at a moving and storage company. Fellow lineman Derrick Shepard, all 6 feet 2 and 300 pounds of him, not coincidentally, is the manager of a big-and-tall-clothing store.

Once the season starts March 29, players will make $250 a game - and keep their day jobs.

"That's just how it is at this level," coach Chris MacKeown said.

Despite their work off the field, the players' main vocation is football.

Eight on the roster have drawn NFL paychecks. Most have played in other professional leagues, including the Arena Football League, Canadian Football League and NFL Europe. Two players, Satoru Abe and Mutsumi Takahashi, landed in the United States via Japan's X League.

For most players, however, signing with the Swarm meant learning how to play in the small-field, fast-paced af2.

"Everything is a little quicker and everything is so much smaller," Paulus said. "There's that change in speed, and you have less room for error."

In the af2, not only do players have to adjust to the speed but also to new positions, as the rules require most players to go both ways. Defensive linemen must work on blocking techniques for the first time since high school. Their offensive counterparts must remember how to pass-rush. And for some, such as DL/fullback Andy Aracri, the league offers a chance to step into the limelight.

"It's nice getting to play in the backfield and maybe catch a pass every once in a while," the Miami University product said.

Because of the different roles players must assume, MacKeown stressed versatility when recruiting for the Swarm. In many cases, he didn't have to go very far.

"You don't leave any stone unturned if you really want to do this job well," he said. "...But most of our guys are local, within 100 miles of the city."

MacKeown said 90 percent of the players he recruited signed with the team, a sign that the Swarm have the talent to compete in af2 with two-time champ Quad City and defending champ Peoria.

"We have a list of guys that are going to be stars in this league, guys like Tony Locke from Ohio State; Ryan Russell; Chazz Moore; Bobby Sippio; Miguel Merritt from Alabama; and Chris Archie," he said. "We've already had two guys sign with NFL teams (Mark Inkrott, Giants, and Ray Jackson, Bengals) and honestly, we've got four or five more guys out there that could play in the NFL."

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