MEMPHIS, Tenn. (February 12, 2001) – Brian Roche, the San Francisco Demons’ starting tight end for its first two XFL contests, has been lost for the season with a torn right Achilles tendon suffered Saturday night in the 26-14 loss at Orlando. Roche was placed on the injured reserve list and surgery is scheduled to be performed in Houston later this week.
Concurrently, the Demons have claimed a third quarterback and former Florida A&M standout Oteman Sampson will begin practice with San Francisco here Tuesday morning.
The Demons had made the decision to attempt to gain the services of Sampson, a two-year CFL player, before Roche’s injury so the roster remains at 45 players, 38 active and seven on the practice squad. San Francisco is likely to activate tight end Joe Kavanaugh from the practice squad to replace Roche.
Rich O’Donnell, a native of Oroville and a former player at Weber State, is anticipated to join the Demons’ starting lineup for Saturday’s 5:00 p.m. PST contest at the Liberty Bowl against the Maniax. The San Francisco-Memphis is the NBC2 telecast, meaning only taped highlights, selected cut-aways from the Los Angeles-Las Vegas contest and possibly the game’s finish will be seen.
Sampson played at Calgary (1999) and Toronto (2000) in the CFL after his outstanding career at Florida A&M. He guided the Rattlers to a two-year 18-6 record and set a Division I-AA playoff record with 539 yards total offense in a 1997 loss to Georgia Southern. He passed for more than 6,800 yards and 52 touchdowns in his Florida A&M career.
The Demons’ radio broadcast begins at 4:00 p.m. on 92 KSJO with the pre-game show and the game itself will be carried by KABL-FM (960), beginning at 5:00 o’clock. Jim Kozimor and Merton Hanks are the announcers for the broadcast.
Tickets are still available for San Francisco’s final four games and the Demons are selling a four-game ticket package. Tickets can be reserved at 1-866-4-XFL-TIX or at www.sfdemons.com. San Francisco returns home Sunday, Feb. 25, at 1:00 p.m. PST to meet Las Vegas at Pacific Bell Park.
