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Tracey Perkins Defensive Specialist
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| Photo by Chris Arnold |
Height: 5-10
Weight: 180
Date of Birth: 8/28/68
College: Lamar
Year-by-Year:
1991: Saw significant time on offense, setting career highs in catches (28), receiving yards (242), rushing yards (8) and touchdowns (4)...Also added 19 tackles and 6 passes defensed on the defensive side of the ball...Accounted for the winning points in the Storm's 57-53 win over Albany (6/29) when he caught a 27-yard touchdown pass from Chip Ferguson with 34 seconds left.1992: On offense, he caught sevens passes for 65 yards and one touchdown...Defensively, he added 2 tackles, eight passes defensed, two interceptions and a fumble recovery.
1993: Caught seven passes for 61 yards and a touchdown...Was second on the Storm with 36 tackles and five interceptions...Starred in the Storm's ArenaBowl VII win over Detroit (8/21), posting six tackles, an assist, and an interception.
1994: Did not intercept a pass, but had 29 tackles, 11 passes defended and caught five passes for 39 yards.
1995: Led the Storm in interceptions with five...Did not join the team until after the Storm's third game, when he left the training camp of the Memphis Mad Dogs to rejoin the Storm...In his first game back, had five tackles in the Storm's 54-7 romp over Miami (6/10)...Also had five-tackle games against Las Vegas (6/24) and Orlando (7/29)...Intercepted two Clemente Gordon passes vs. Connecticut (7/21)...Had one reception in that win over the Coyotes and was named the game's Ironman.
1996: Finished second on the team in interceptions with five...Led the Storm in solo tackles (48), overall tackles (55) and passes defended (12)...Had a season-high seven tackles at Anaheim (6/15)...Posted picks in three consecutive games, against Orlando (5/18), Minnesota (5/24) and San Jose (6/1)...Scored on a 14-yard interception return vs. Orlando (5/18); it was the first defensive touchdown of his career.
1997: It's not hyperbolic to say that Perkins turned in not only the greatest season of his career, but perhaps the best for any defensive back in Arena Football League history...Primarily a role player for the first six seasons of his career, he became a star as his propensity for picking off passes moved to new levels...His 12 interceptions are a league single-season record...His 20 passes defended were also a team record, and he led the Storm in tackles with 40..."Perk's" season started off steadily; he had two tackles in the first three games as a two-way player playing opposite DS Johnnie Harris...Had two late-game interceptions in the Storm's win at Nashville (5/23)...Had an interception one week later in the loss to Milwaukee (5/30)...Did not make a pickoff at Albany (6/7) but had a season-high six tackles...Next week, had three tackles and an interception against New Jersey (6/14); this started a string of eight games which saw him pick off nine passes...In that span, the only time he failed to make an interception was at Orlando (6/27)...Remarkably, recorded two interceptions three games in a row, starting at Texas (7/5) and continuing at home against Anaheim (7/12) and Iowa (7/19)...Got the record-breaking 12th interception off a Clemente Gordon pass against Florida (7/26)...Hampered by a hamstring injury suffered in the regular season ender at San Jose (8/2), he recorded no stats at Nashville (8/10)...Came back at Arizona (8/16) to make four tackles and break up a pass...Received All-Arena first-team honors after the season, and was named the league's defensive player of the year after his record breaking season...He became the first player in Storm history to receive this honor; Harris won the award one season later.
1998: Continued to stand out in the Storm's secondary, finishing second on the club in solo tackles (44), total tackles (56), passes defensed (18) and interceptions (three)...Also forced one fumble and recovered two...At San Jose (5/1), he notched four tackles, one assist, and led the Storm with four passes defensed...Got his first interception of the year off a third-quarter Andy Kelly pass and returned it 18 yards to set up a touchdown against Nashville (5/9)...Made two tackles and broke up two passes...Led the Storm defense with seven tackles against Houston (5/16)...Broke up a team high two passes, recorded an assist, and forced and recovered a second-quarter fumble that set up a Storm touchdown at Florida (5/23)...Finished second on the Storm with three unassisted tackles at New Jersey (5/30)...Against New York (6/6), he led the Storm with five unassisted tackles, six total tackles and two passes defensed...Tied for the team lead in unassisted tackles with four at Orlando (6/12)...Intercepted a Pat O'Hara pass at the Storm's one-yard-line in the second quarter, returning it 21 yards...One week later against Albany (6/20), he played a key role in muting the Firebirds' loudly explosive passing attack, breaking up a pass, notching two unassisted tackles and posting three assists...One week later (6/27), he led the Storm in passes defensed, recording two, and made one tackle and one assist, spearheading a defensive effort that held Orlando to just 185 total passing yards...Finished second on the Storm in tackles with five and broke up a pass at Houston (7/2)...Led the team in total tackles with five, including four of the unassisted variety, and broke up a pass against Florida (7/12)...At Nashville (7/17), he led the Storm with four total tackles, including three unassisted...Forced and recovered a fumble by the Kats' Tyronne Jones with 1:54 left in the first quarter...Broke up a pass...Against Iowa (7/25), he intercepted an Aaron Garcia pass in the third quarter at the Storm's one-yard-line, returning it 23 yards...Broke up two passes...Posted three unassisted tackles and one assist...Recorded one tackle at Grand Rapids (8/1) before leaving the game in the first half with a shoulder injury...Returned to action in the postseason; he shared the team lead in playoff solo tackles with 15 and led the Storm in passes defensed with ten...Broke up a team-high four passes in the ArenaBowl XII loss (8/23).
1999: Was given the daunting task of trying to stop Albany's superhuman offensive specialist, Eddie Brown, in Week One (4/24)...Led the Storm in total tackles (nine---all solos) and passes defensed (three)... Had a much quieter outing at Milwaukee (4/29), notching one solo stop, two assists and breaking up two passes...Led the Storm with three passes defensed against Florida (5/15) and spearheaded a defensive effort which held the explosive Bobcats to just 167 yards through the air and two scores...Also notched five total tackles.
Career Highlights: Is one of three players remaining from the 1991 championship season; the others are Stevie Thomas and Andre Bowden...Is the Storm's all-time leader in interceptions with 29, a total that ranks second in league annals behind former Orlando Predator Durwood Roquemore.
AFL Statistics
1999 GAME-BY-GAME DEFENSE Date Opponent TKL AST SKS YDS FF-FR INT YDS TD ------------------------------------------------------------- 4/24 Albany 9 1 0 0 0-0 0 0 0 4/29 Milwaukee 1 2 0 0 0-0 0 0 0 5/15 Florida 2 3 0 0 0-0 0 0 0 ------------------------------------------------------------- SEASON TOTALS 12 5 0 0 0-0 0 0 0 CAREER RECEIVING Year Team REC YDS AVG LG TD ---------------------------------------------- 1991 Tampa Bay 28 242 8.6 27 3 1992 Tampa Bay 7 65 9.3 17 1 1993 Tampa Bay 7 61 8.7 20 1 1994 Tampa Bay 5 39 7.8 16 1 1995 Tampa Bay 5 42 8.4 15 1 1996 Tampa Bay 1 15 15.0 15 0 1997 Tampa Bay 2 8 4.0 6 0 1998 Tampa Bay 0 0 0.0 0 0 1999 Tampa Bay 0 0 0.0 0 0 ---------------------------------------------- CAREER TOTALS 55 472 8.6 20 7 RUSHING Year Team RUSH YDS AVG LG TD ---------------------------------------------- 1991 Tampa Bay 3 8 2.7 - 1 1992 Tampa Bay 0 0 0.0 0 0 1993 Tampa Bay 0 0 0.0 0 0 1994 Tampa Bay 0 0 0.0 0 0 1995 Tampa Bay 0 0 0.0 0 0 1996 Tampa Bay 0 0 0.0 0 0 1997 Tampa Bay 0 0 0.0 0 0 1998 Tampa Bay 0 0 0.0 0 0 1999 Tampa Bay 0 0 0.0 0 0 ---------------------------------------------- CAREER TOTALS 3 8 2.7 - 1 DEFENSE Year Team TKL AST SKS YDS FF-FR INT YDS TD ------------------------------------------------------------- 1991 Tampa Bay 19 2 0 0 0-1 0 0 0 1992 Tampa Bay 22 1 0 0 0-1 2 0 0 1993 Tampa Bay 36 1 0 0 3-1 5 74 1 1994 Tampa Bay 29 6 0 0 0-0 0 0 0 1995 Tampa Bay 30 3 0 0 0-0 5 41 0 1996 Tampa Bay 48 7 0 0 0-0 5 39 1 1997 Tampa Bay 40 4 0 0 0-0 12 82 1 1998 Tampa Bay 44 12 0 0 1-2 3 62 0 1999 Tampa Bay 12 3 0 0 0-0 0 0 0 ------------------------------------------------------------- CAREER TOTALS 270 39 0 0 4-5 32 298 3