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Way back on August 13th of 2007, the Kansas City Chiefs signed Arena League all-star Bobby Sippio. Little did we know he would become the 2007 version of Boomer Grigsby - no-name, hard worker that quickly becomes a fan favorite. The blogosphere was abuzz with Sippio-time and everyone (Yes, everyone) was hoping the Chiefs would keep him on for the season.
By September 3rd, Sippio was officially placed on the practice squad. By September 11th, he was brought up to the active roster. Chris summed up Sippio's 2007 season nicely:
The blogosphere's Boomer Grigsby, Sippio didn't register a catch in 2007 after playing in nine games. The vast majority of that playing time was on special teams. Sippio is an unknown at this point. Hard Knocks footage and a few YouTube clips unfortunately don't tell us much beyond what we've seen. The KC coaches, apparently, haven't been confident enough in Sippio to give him many chances. The fact that he sat on the practice squad for eight weeks, where anyone had the ability to sign him, doesn't bode well for his future as a starting wide receiver in the NFL.
Hard Knocks star. Dedicated worker. 100% effort. Fan favorite.
Cut nearly one year after being signed. Direckshun helped sum up the "folk hero" status of Bobby Sippio.
Okay, I reminisced long enough. On to the actual "news" part of this post. Bobby Sippio took part in tryouts for the United Football League this weekend. Along with former Chiefs quarterback Quinn Gray, Sippio worked out for Dennis Green, one of the UFL's new coaches.
(I'll never look at Quinn Gray the same since I read that article in the Kansas City Star about how many guns he owned. It was strange to publicly release that information. I'd give you a link but can't seem to find it right now.)
Players will be placed on teams geographically the first year, then next season should have a draft according to UFL spokeswoman Rachel Gray (via Pro Football Talk). Sippio is from Orlando, Florida and Gray is from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The workout was conducted in Orlando, Florida as well.