Kicker Cipra rejoins Freeze
Former Erie player had been released by champ Canton
BY MIKE COPPER
mike.copper@timesnews.com Published: April 03. 2007 6:00AM
The Erie Freeze lost several players to the rival Canton Legends last season.
On Monday, one was welcomed back.
Garry "J.R." Cipra, who kicked during Erie's inaugural 2005 season, has returned to the team. Cipra was signed by the Freeze after his recent release by the Legends, the defending American Indoor Football Association champions.
Cipra's signing meant former Gannon kicker Brendan McNicholas was released. McNicholas converted only one of his 13 field-goal attempts in his first AIFA season.
Neither Cipra nor Erie head coach Dave Arnold could be reached for comment. Cipra will be at Tullio Arena when Erie (1-6) hosts the Huntington Heroes (3-4) on Saturday at 7 p.m.
The Freeze must win their last seven games to have a realistic shot at a third straight playoff berth.
"That's a great help for us," said Darmel Whitfield, who played with Cipra in 2005. "J.R. was a great kicker for us and he never missed extra points."
Those weren't Cipra's problem with Canton this season, but field goals were. He's fourth on the Legends' scoring list with 31 points, mainly because of his 25-of-30 PATs.
But Cipra missed four field goals in Canton's first four games, including two inside 30 yards. Two of his misses came in the Legends' 43-26 home victory over Erie on Feb. 9.
The Freeze released Cipra in May after he missed five kicks and booted kickoffs to the wrong area. He also was involved in an April 29 locker-room confrontation with former Erie quarterback David Dinkins.
Whitfield didn't think there would be any resentment against Cipra among current Erie players who were on the team at the time.
"There was a lot going on in the league back then," he said. "The (Dinkins) incident was nothing really that big, but we knew he had to go."
MIKE COPPER can be reached at 870-1614 or by e-mail.
