See this story at BrooklynDaily.com.
By Max Jaeger
Brooklyn Daily
Are you ready for some football?
The Brooklyn Bolts — one of four teams in the new Fall Experimental Football League — is just days away from kicking off its first game at MCU Park on Oct. 15, and the venerable New York-Penn League baseball stadium has already been transformed into a gridiron colosseum.
“You could walk in and start playing football,” said MCU Park manager Steve Cohen.
But the field won’t look quite like the initial plans, because the layout would have sidelined other sports that use the stadium.
“We realized we still have baseball going on between these games, and moving the mound each time would be a hassle,” Cohen said.
Schools including New York University use the field in the Cyclones’ offseason, he said.
After the rearrangement, the end zones now abut the right field bleachers and the left field seats — putting the play field in a seemingly wonky angle within the stadium’s horeshoe-shaped embrace. But one season ticket holder said the new layout is a hands-down improvement.
“It’s better,” said Bolts superfan Nick Orlando. “You can see more of the play’s development. You have more of a view.”
The new team has already taken to the field to practice on its home turf.
Jets and Buffalo Bills alum John Bock is helming the squad. Ten-season Jets lifer Marvin Jones will back up Coach Bock, 24, along with former National Football League players James Brown, Nate Poole, Deon Dyer, and Kelvin Kinney.
The roster mainly draws on college players looking to score big and get some attention from the National Football League, but a few League alumni are among their ranks.
Running back Dennis Johnson spent a year on the Houston Texans practice squad. The Denver Broncos signed running back Mario Fannin in 2011, but he missed two seasons after tearing his Anterior Cruciate Ligament — a common but serious knee injury — and his Achilles tendon in separate injuries.
The Bolts’ first game is at MCU Park on Oct. 15, and they will face the Boston Brawlers.