After making the winning field goal on the last play of Sunday’s ArenaBowl, Colorado Crush kicker Clay Rush may be on his way to the NFL.
Rush, whose 20-yard kick defeated the Georgia Force 51-48 in Las Vegas, said Tuesday six or seven NFL teams have expressed interest through his agent, with the Tennessee Titans the leading candidate. Rush plans to relax for a few days before considering his future.
“At this stage of my career, it would have to be a legitimate chance to compete for a job,” Rush said. “I’ve already had four NFL tryouts, and I wouldn’t be interested in going to camp as an extra kicker for a tryout.”
Coach Mike Dailey’s roster already is changing, with lineman Chris Watton on his way to Tampa Bay to sign an NFL contract with the Buccaneers.
But offensive specialist Damian Harrell, one of seven free agents on the roster, said he isn’t planning on going anywhere.
“I’m definitely planning to be back here,” Harrell said. “Coach Dailey said he is trying to re-sign everybody. I accomplished one of my goals last Sunday. This is a great organization, and I have great teammates.”
The Crush has until June 30 to sign free agents before AFL rosters are frozen until mid- September. Director of football operations Mike Maciszewski has had preliminary conversations with the free agents.
Watton, a 6-foot-3, 305- pound rookie from Baylor, played in all but two of the 16 regular-season games and in all three postseason games. The Crush will retain the rights to Watton if he returns to the AFL.
“I think we’ll have some others who might sign with the NFL,” Dailey said. It’s great for those players and bittersweet for us.”
Backup quarterback Jose Davis has told the Crush he will test the free-agent market in search of a starting job.
Also, there will be an expansion draft for at least one new team – Salt Lake City – and possibly two more. Previously for expansion drafts, established teams could freeze 16 of their signed players.
Besides Harrell and Davis, the other free agents are defensive specialist Delvin Hughley, linemen Maurice Anderson, Bryant Shaw and Hugh Hunter and fullback-linebacker Chad Dukes.
Footnotes
The Crush will hold a championship celebration Thursday at The Park, located west of the Cherry Creek Mall, adjacent to Elway’s Steakhouse. The festivities begin at 5:45 p.m. and are open to the public. Crush management will have the Foster Trophy on display. …
The ArenaBowl was a television hit, especially with fans in the Denver area. Nielsen ratings showed Game 2 of the NBA Finals with a 6.6 rating in the Denver metropolitan area. The ArenaBowl came in at 5.2. The NASCAR Nextel Cup was 3.3 and the PGA Tour event came in at 1.8.
Ken Vialpando, an account executive at KUSA-9, said the average rating for the Arena- Bowl was 5.2 in the metro area, but the ratings shot up to 7.6 for the last half-hour of the game.
Irv Moss can be reached at 303-820-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com.
