Colorado State University Athletics
Former Rams take football indoors
7/28/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
July 26, 2008
By Nick Sebesta
Athletic Media Relations
NEW ORLEANS, La. - Post-collegiate life for former Rams defensive end Bob Vomhof still includes football, but this time it's not being played on a bright Saturday afternoon in a college stadium.
Vomhof, who played for the Rams from 2003-07, has now moved his game indoors, signing to the practice squad of the Arena Football League's San Jose SaberCats. His timing couldn't have been better. The SaberCats meet another former Ram Bryan Save and the Philadelphia Soul in ArenaBowl XXII Sunday at New Orleans Arena (1 p.m. MDT, ABC).
"Basically my agent got me a tryout, I came down for a two-day tryout and I got signed right there," said Vomhof, from New Orleans.
Although he is strictly a practice squad player and will not be competing Sunday, he hopes to have a future with San Jose.
"It's a huge honor," he said. "It's the most dominant program in the AFL and for them to want me means a lot, and it's a great feeling. I'd like to stay with these guys."
The SaberCats, the defending Arena Bowl champions, will be going for the crown again.
While with CSU, Vomhof was a consistent producer from the Rams defensive line. In his senior year, 2007, he started twice and had 13 tackles (six solo).
And now, Vomhof is about to take his skills from CSU and apply them to a field with eight players playing at a time, rather than 11, and the field is scaled down to 50 yards. New defensive line coach Scott Brown and the new CSU staff, who worked with him this spring, helped him get to the AFL.
"The new coaching staff really prepared me for this," Vomhof said. "Coach Brown, took me out on the practice field and worked the pass rush."
Meanwhile, on the other sideline Sunday, will be Save (pronounced SAH-vay). The former CSU defensive tackle is a key figure on the defense of the other team trying to capture the ArenaBowl, the Philadelphia Soul. He was featured earlier this season on CSURams.com.
Save lettered at CSU from 2001-03 and played in 40 games, recording 103 tackles. An all-Mountain West performer in 2003, he led the Rams with seven sacks. Bouncing around several NFL teams, Save played in NFL Europe before returning to the states, with an offer to play for the Soul.
In 2008, Save saw action in 14 games and finished second on the team with 5½ sacks. A year ago, he played in all 16 regular-season games and two playoff contests, starting as a defensive lineman for the Soul.
Although there was a slight age difference between Vomhof and Save at CSU, there will be a definite Rams connection Sunday.
"It's kind of ironic," Vomhof said. "It's going to be cool to see him. I always got along with him, even though he was a few years older than me."
