Surprise Call Was a Screenplay

Brian Mann and Sean McNamara spent the off-season in prison, though it hardly seems to concern Avenger management.

Their trip to the Big House was actually a big opportunity for Mann and McNamara, who will appear in the remake of the 1974 movie, “The Longest Yard.”

McNamara, a center for the Avengers, had a fairly meaty role, cast as the center for Adam Sandler, who plays the lead, the role played by Burt Reynolds in the original comedy about a group of prisoners playing a football game against the guards.

Mann, the Avengers’ backup quarterback, will be less recognizable. He was Sandler’s stunt double during football scenes.

“I had to do three things I thought I’d never do,” Mann said. “Dye my hair, shave my legs and get a fake tan.”

Mann and McNamara were working out at West L.A. College, where the Avengers train, when they were recruited for the film.

“It was an opportunity I could not pass up,” said Mann, who has a degree in history from Dartmouth. “They needed someone who could throw the football and I just happened to be around that day.”

Still, as much fun as the movie was, there were moments for Mann that prompted serious reflection. A large part of the movie was filmed in a New Mexico state penitentiary south of Santa Fe. The prison had been closed since a 1980 riot, where 33 inmates died.

“They told us the place was left the same as it was when the riot happened,” Mann said. “When you walked around the place it seemed ‘out there.’ You know you weren’t really in prison, but it still made you feel uneasy.”

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The Avengers are severely lacking names at the top of the Arena Football League’s statistical categories, with kicker Remy Hamilton carrying the team load in that area.

Yet they have scored 218 points, fourth most in the AFL, and have a three-game winning streak and the Western Conference’s best record (3-1). Last season, quarterback Tony Graziani and receiver Chris Jackson rolled up big numbers; this season the Avengers have rolled up victories.

“When you have guys like [Tony and Chris], sometimes you sit back and wait for them to make the plays,” receiver Greg Hopkins said. “Now, everyone has to try to make something happen. That comes from our training camp. Everyone had to earn a job this year. I think we have had more talent in the past, but we may be a better team this season.”

Coach Ed Hodgkiss said, “We have guys filling roles and knowing what their role is. We don’t have superstars, but we have guys who can step in and do what is asked.”