"Yes, we pulled the trigger on the trade. We had Jamal in camp before the draft., when were were talking with New Deal. Honestly, when we took John [Calloway] in the draft, we were thinking of him as a young Jamal Smith. Now that we've signed Smith, it's nice to know we didn't settle for second best."

Second best?

"John is a rookie. He makes rookie mistakes, and he'll be in his prime in about three years. Jamal is in his prime right now. He follows blockers perfectly, which is important when you run behind Newt [fullback Newnan] and Jed [tight end Sinks]. He has decent hands and superb moves. He's not as fast as Kerry [backup halfback Terrell] but he makes up for it with his quickness, instincts, and hands."

"Some people might question us throwing Eric Mitchell into the deal. We liked Eric as our last pick in the draft, and we wish him the best in Owasso. But we're spending all our development time on Kerry, and we just couldn't see Eric getting any playing time. We wish him the best with the Rams."

Team president Jeb Whatley was asked about trading the rookie for a third-year man with nearly the same skills.

"Jamal has been on four teams in three years. He went from Haddonfield, where he put up some impressive numbers, to New Deal, where he was a backup. We tried to bring him over before the draft, but we couldn't find the right players to make the trade work. When he went to Owasso with John Ballard, we immediately offered to send John and Eric over. It took them a while to agree, but they did, and we're very happy."

"As far as development goes, we saw these numbers:

Chance of a rookie increase for Calloway: 100%
                 Strength increase: 33%
                  Agility increase: 33%
               Discipline increase: 33%
                          DOWNSIDE: 67% x 100% = 67%

The last two improvements were of no interest to us, we already liked John's hands and moves. That's a 67% downside. It's more likey that John won't improve his Strength, which is what he needs to do to be competitive.

Either player making the List of Ten: 30%
                     
John
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             Strength increase: 33%
              Agility increase: 33%
           Discipline increase: 33%
                        UPSIDE: 30% x 33% = 10%

Jamal
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             Strength increase: 50%
           Discipline increase: 50%
                        UPSIDE: 30% x 50% = 15%

You can see here that Jamal has a better chance of improving his Strength. Right now, Jamal has better moves and strength than John does. Jamal is also more likely to get stronger. Of course, anything can happen. We're just taking a small gamble to make this team better. It won't be the last time, either."

We asked Jamal Smith about joining his fourth team.

"I showed what I could do in Haddonfield. I was averaging a hundred yards a game. I was shocked when they sent me to New Deal. I was even more shocked to spend the rest of the season on the bench. I was looking forward to starting for the Rams. I knew I'd be able to help them."

"Now, with Arkham, I get the same chance, but I'm running behind a fantastic line, Newt, and Jed. I've already promised to buy everyone a steak dinner every time I go over 100 yards in a game. Everyone but Hair [quarterback Harold Carter], that is. He's doing the same thing if his rating goes over 100 for a game. Deon [center White] and Melvin [tackle Brooks] are hopefully going to eat well this year."