Ready to begin practice, Nighthawks instead sent home

The last place Stuart Schweigert expected to be Tuesday night was driving across middle America on a 750-mile trip back home to Michigan.

But that's where the Omaha Nighthawks' safety found himself after the United Football League put the start of its third season on hold, delaying the opening of training camp for 30 days and pushing back the start of the regular season into September.

"It's a tough pill to swallow," Schweigert said.

Schweigert and his Omaha teammates learned at a Tuesday morning meeting that league officials had decided to delay the start of the 2011 season. The Nighthawk players had reported to training camp last Wednesday and had expected to start practicing that Friday.

That had to be delayed until Tuesday, in part because of the UFL's inability to acquire workers' compensation insurance. Then, instead of running plays on the new artificial turf at the Kroc Center on Tuesday morning, the Omaha players sat in an auditorium, listening to first-year coach Joe Moglia break the news about the latest delay to the start of camp.

Schweigert, beginning his second season in Omaha, said he was blind-sided by the announcement. But teammate Matt Overton, now in his third UFL season, showed up Tuesday expecting to hear some bad news.

"I had a chance to talk with Joe, and I had a sense that what was happening was more serious than what people had been hearing," said Overton, a long snapper. "I thought maybe they were going to tell us that we wouldn't be able to hit the field until later this week.

"Then we got the news of the 30-day delay. I know there are people that see this as the start to the league folding, but I'm trying to stay positive."

So is running back Shaud Williams, thanks to what he heard from Moglia.

"Coach Moglia made me believe that it's going to work out and things are going to get done," Williams said. "I still believe we're going to have a season."

Moglia said he tried to mix optimism with reality in delivering the news to his players.

"I told them there's not 100 percent certainty that we will play," Moglia said, "but I do believe we are going to play. I explained why I thought we were going to play.

"I tried to answer every question that they had, and I didn't try to shade the truth or spin anything any specific way. Everybody was disappointed that we're not playing now but at the end of the day, they want to play football."

They'll find out in 30 days if they're going to get that chance in the UFL. The league is paying expenses to get the players back home, but Schweigert said many of his teammates told him that they intended to stay in Omaha to continue preparing for the season.

"I'd say 75 percent of the guys are going to stay out there," Schweigert said. "Most of the coaching staff is going to stick around. The guys will have the full use of the weight room. They'll be able to watch film.

"For some of us with families, that wasn't an option. But we're going to stick together as a team. As a whole, I'd say guys are very optimistic."

Overton is one of the players who intends to stay in Omaha.

"Everybody's situation is different," he said. "The guys with families need to go back home. Me, I have no obligations, so I decided to stick around. A lot of guys are going to do the same.

"We'll be able to take advantage of being together. We'll be able to work out. We had built some good chemistry during minicamp, and this will allow us to continue the process. We'll try to keep each other afloat during a tough situation."

Overton said he did sense discontent among some of his teammates.

"I'd say there was a mixed bag of reactions," he said. "Again, everyone's situation is different. There were some guys saying they might have to look for other opportunities. Some said they left other opportunities to come here.

"Some guys are hoping to land on NFL teams now that it looks like the lockout is over. But I think guys were just trying to stay positive about the whole thing."

Persuading players to come to Omaha requires Moglia and team officials to do a great deal of recruiting. Some have to be convinced about the stability of the league. Others have to buy into the potential value that playing in the UFL can have on their careers.

One of the draws to a mid-August start of play was that players would have an opportunity for additional time to catch on with NFL teams. About 60 players were signed by NFL clubs after the 2010 UFL season.

Moglia said some players might feel the UFL has changed the rules of the game in midstream.

"We're going to have their best interest at heart," Moglia said. "Guys now could get opportunities to go to the NFL or Canada. If they have an opportunity and want to take it, I told them we would release them from their contracts.

"We're going to try to treat our Omaha guys fairly."

Schweigert said perhaps the most disappointing thing about Tuesday's developments is that it could take away from momentum that he felt the Nighthawks were building.

Many of the players participated in the club's minicamp last month. They knew they were going to get a chance to play in new TD Ameritrade Park this season. They showed up last week and saw that the bumpy grass practice field at the Kroc Center had been replaced by a new artificial surface.

"We were ready to go last Friday," Schweigert said. "Guys were really excited. Then we got the call and they told us we had to delay things until Tuesday. Then we get the news today that they were sending us back home.

"We were ready to get this season rolling, and now we're going to have to wait 30 days. Mentally, that's tough to overcome."

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