Antonio Summer started in his first career game tonight with the Portland Pythons of the DSFL in their playoff match-up against the heavily talented Kansas City Coyotes for the SFC Championship. Summer posted twenty all purpose yards for the Pythons and had an exceptional performance all around with three rushing attempts and two catches. Summer plans to continue his small sliver of success he had in his freshman game in the league championship against the Tijuana Luchadores on Wednesday night and hopes to succeed as both a rushing threat and a receiving option. Summer's impact in the game against the Coyotes may have been rather small in the grand scheme of things, but reports from inside the locker room have Summer pinned as a locker room leader. With the countdown having started leading up to the DSFL Entry Draft this off-season, general managers around the league should be placing Summer on their big boards. While it's already quite obvious that his off-field impacts will be a game changer for him as a prospect, it has been noted that there has been a lack of communication between the young prospect and the management groups around the league. In order to act upon this, Summer's agents released a statement last night dictating that Summer will not be signing with any team that drafts him if they have not at least started a conversation with him prior to draft night. The official statement was as follows;
My client has requested that I make it very clear that he has no interest in partaking in any regular season game play if the team who selects him has not had prior contact with him about their intentions of selecting him leading up to draft night. He feels that management should always be progressive and focus on building a communication and team first mentality, and that a lack of fore-planning of any regard gives an immediate air of a lack of interest.
Summer has invited all general managers from across the league to contact him either directly or through his agent, and has also spoken about the possibility of returning to Portland.
I have been asked extensively about the idea of coming back to Portland in the off-season through the draft route, and it is definitely something that I have interest in although I don't feel that Portland is necessarily a place I need to be playing in order for me to succeed as a player. There is something great here being built with the Pythons, but I'm not going to turn down other teams in the league just for the chance to play with my teammates here again.
Summer has ranked the Kansas City Coyotes as a top destination, but after seeing recent reports of veteran quarterback Gus T.T Showbiz leaving to join the Orange County Otters of the NSFL in the off season surface, his interest has exploded. He feels that working with a young quarterback will mean a lot of room for a powerful backfield. This same feeling goes for the San Antonio Marshals of the northern conference where there is an apparent lack of a running game behind running back of the year candidate Marquise Brown. In regard to the Tijuana Luchadores, Summer currently feels that his interest level would be ranked at low due to the team having one of the most crowded back fields in the league.
Nothing is set in stone, and anything can change in even the last moments before a pick is announced, but in all regards Summer is looking forward to entering the DSFL as an official player in just a few short weeks.
My client has requested that I make it very clear that he has no interest in partaking in any regular season game play if the team who selects him has not had prior contact with him about their intentions of selecting him leading up to draft night. He feels that management should always be progressive and focus on building a communication and team first mentality, and that a lack of fore-planning of any regard gives an immediate air of a lack of interest.
Summer has invited all general managers from across the league to contact him either directly or through his agent, and has also spoken about the possibility of returning to Portland.
I have been asked extensively about the idea of coming back to Portland in the off-season through the draft route, and it is definitely something that I have interest in although I don't feel that Portland is necessarily a place I need to be playing in order for me to succeed as a player. There is something great here being built with the Pythons, but I'm not going to turn down other teams in the league just for the chance to play with my teammates here again.
Summer has ranked the Kansas City Coyotes as a top destination, but after seeing recent reports of veteran quarterback Gus T.T Showbiz leaving to join the Orange County Otters of the NSFL in the off season surface, his interest has exploded. He feels that working with a young quarterback will mean a lot of room for a powerful backfield. This same feeling goes for the San Antonio Marshals of the northern conference where there is an apparent lack of a running game behind running back of the year candidate Marquise Brown. In regard to the Tijuana Luchadores, Summer currently feels that his interest level would be ranked at low due to the team having one of the most crowded back fields in the league.
Nothing is set in stone, and anything can change in even the last moments before a pick is announced, but in all regards Summer is looking forward to entering the DSFL as an official player in just a few short weeks.