By: Stephen Evans
July 14, 2004

TAMPA, FL -- Five members of the 2004 Tampa Bay Storm squad will be
back on the football field sooner than expected when they begin
shooting the remake of the classic movie The Longest Yard in Santa
Fe, New Mexico, on Friday.

Storm linemen Nyle Wiren, Louis Williams, and Evan Pilgrim, along
with wide receiver/defensive back Clif Dell will join quarterback Pat
O'Hara in Santa Fe.

O'Hara and Wiren are no strangers to the big screen, as both had
roles in Any Given Sunday. O'Hara also had a part in Adam Sandler's
The Waterboy. Dell, Williams, and Pilgrim will be making their
acting debuts.

The movie, which was originally released in 1974, is a story of a
former professional quarterback and a former collegiate head coach
who are both in prison. The two put together a team of inmates to
play a football game against a team made of the prison guards. The
remake is being produced by Happy Madison Productions, owned by Adam
Sandler.

The inmates' quarterback, Paul Crewe, was played by Burt Reynolds in
the original. In the remake, Sandler will play the role of Crewe,
while Reynolds will be cast as the inmates' coach. Others starring
in the movie include Chris Rock, professional wrestler Stone Cold
Steve Austin, rapper Nelly, and former NFL stars Michael Irvin, Bill
Romanowski, and Brian Bosworth.

In all, approximately 45 current and former football players have
been cast for roles in the movie. About 27 of those players came
from the Arena Football League, including four from the Storm (Wiren,
Williams, Dell, and Pilgrim). O'Hara, the fifth Storm member, has an
off-camera role.

Though off-camera, O'Hara's role is an integral one. He is serving
as Assistant Football Coordinator for Reel Sports Solutions, a
company hired by the production company to hire and train all of the
football players. In addition, Reel Sports Solutions was charged
with designing all of the plays for the movie based on the script.
The plays are later put into animation and handed to the director,
who utilizes the animation to help determine camera placement.

O'Hara left Tampa for Los Angeles shortly after the Storm were
eliminated from the 2004 AFL playoffs. While in Los Angeles, he has
also helped to recruit players to participate in the movie.
Approximately 1,500 candidates showed up for an open casting call.
After the group was cut to about 325 athletes, they were put through
a three-day combine, similar to the NFL combine. From there the list
was pared to approximately 60 potential new actors. That number was
cut down even further to the current number of about 45.

As if that was not enough, O'Hara, a former quarterback at USC, has
also teamed up with Sean Salisbury, another former USC signal caller,
to help train Sandler for his role. The two are also working with
William Fichtner, who will play the quarterback for the Guards team.

Wiren is slated to serve as Stone Cold Steve Austin's body double in
the movie. Austin will be the fullback on the Guards team. Williams
is also slated to be a body double for actor Conrad Goode. He will
play the center on the Guards team. Dell and Pilgrim will both play
position players on the Guards team. Pilgrim will be a defensive
tackle, while Dell will be a cornerback.

Shooting in Santa Fe is scheduled to last five weeks. The scenes
will be shot at a penitentiary south of the city. The scenes shot
there will make up approximately 35% of the movie. From there the
cast will move on to Los Angeles, where they will shoot the remainder
of the film through the end of October. Much of that will be the
actual game scenes. The shooting in Los Angeles will take place at
El Camino College.

Aside from the Storm players, other notable AFL athletes who are
scheduled to be in the movie include Los Angeles Avengers offensive
specialist Chris Jackson, Austin Wranglers lineman Lucas Yarnell,
Indiana Firebirds wide receiver/linebacker Brett Bech, Firebirds wide
receiver/defensive back Evan Hlavacek, Las Vegas Gladiators wide
receiver/defensive back Maurice Bryant, and New York Dragons lineman
Marcus Owen, just to name a few.