Saturday, May 19, 2007

ARENA FOOTBALL
Ex-Marine chases professional dream
Fire's nose tackle was in Afghanistan

By Michael Grant
mgrant@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal

When the Louisville Fire and Alabama Steeldogs kick off today's Military Night at Freedom Hall, at least one member of the local arenafootball2 team will know exactly what it means to be part of the armed forces.

Nose tackle Brent Maddox is a former Marine corporal who served in Afghanistan and is now trying to make a living as a professional football player.

Maddox, 27, has not taken the usual route. The rookie last played in 2005 for Iona College. But he's hoping to make the most of his opportunity here.

He's a "yes, sir, no, sir" type who calls Fire coach Tommy Johnson "Mr. Johnson." Maddox has made an impact, helping Louisville yield just 2.1 yards per rush, sixth-lowest in the 30-team league.

"It's been a dream since I was a little kid to play in the NFL, to play football on the professional level," said the 6-foot-2 300-pounder from Thorntown, Ind. "Mr. Johnson gave me the opportunity to come in and play. I'm just trying to work my way up."

Maddox was a lineman for Western Boone High School and helped the team reach the semistate in his senior year. He was slated to walk on at Miami of Ohio, but that fell through when he "bombed" the SAT.

Maddox served in the Marines from 1998 to 2002 and was a special operations force member. He spent three months in Afghanistan in 2002 and took part in the search for Osama bin Laden.

"There was a lot of patrolling," Maddox said. "We were trying to find bin Laden. There were really hot days and chilly nights. There was a lot of sand. That's all you see is sand. We had certain areas that we were asked to patrol. We all wanted to find him."

Maddox would pass the downtime by playing cards or writing letters. But there were also scary moments.

Maddox was in "a few" firefights, he said. He declined to elaborate but said, "I was scared a lot. It's just the fear of dying. You always have that fear."

Maddox stayed physically active in the military and was a Marine Corps boxing champion (20-0, 16 knockouts). After being honorably discharged, he played two seasons for NCAA Division I-AA Iona. He was a second-team All-Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference selection in his senior year.

Though Johnson had some concerns because Maddox had not played football regularly since 2005, the rookie is doing well, the coach said.

"He's done great for us," Johnson said. "He's really improved since training camp. In training camp, we thought he might be a hair slow. But he improved once he got into the rhythm of it. He's the main reason why we've gotten stronger on the run in the past few games. He's a force in the middle."

Maddox, who is married with a 3-year old daughter, has a bachelor's degree in history. He would like to become a teacher when he's done with football.

"I want to try and better myself and make it to a higher level," he said. "I hope to reach the NFL."

As part of the military promotion, any active-duty, reserve or retired member of the military will receive free admission with identification. Fans who bring care goods for the troops will receive $2 off admission. Items requested include beef jerky, Slim Jims, gum, baby wipes, granola bars, hard candy and AT&T phone cards.

Michael Grant can be reached at (502) 582-4069.

Ellie