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Team trades patrols for pigskin

Houston Gunners football team has eyes on a championship

By Matt Cooper
The Daily Cougar

After a long day keeping the city of Houston safe, many Houston public safety officers are trading in their badges, fire hoses and guns for shoulder pads and football helmets.

The Houston Gunners is a charity football team composed entirely of Houston public safety officers, from police to fire fighters and corrections officers.

The Gunners belong to the New York-based National Public Safety Football league, composed of 13 other public safety teams from across the nation.

"It's been going for a number of years," Houston Police Department Sgt. Robert Bell, the Gunners' head coach, said. Bell has been an HPD officer for 21 years and the team's coach for four. "It's exciting."

Each team in the league plays for specific charities; the Gunners play for the Assist the Officer Foundation, which provides partial financial support to injured or disabled police officers, and Greater Houston Pop Warner, a nonprofit national Little League program.

The Gunners have played in the NPSF for 10 years. The team boasts a 65-11 record over 10 years of play, including wins in both its games this season: 33-11 against the Houston Wolverines and 20-0 versus the Texas Tigers.

Since the team's inception, the Gunners have played in four national NPSF championships. They captured the championship in 1999 and again in 2003, winning against the Orlando Guardians by forfeit.

This year's team boasts a strong defense but is missing some of its veteran players, Bell said. He remains optimistic about the Gunners' chances in league play and said practices are now a matter of fine-tuning.

"We learn something new with each game we play," Bell said. "We're going to try and get back to another championship this year."

Each member of the team must be a public safety officer for the city of Houston and must try out, Bell said.

The team is composed mostly of former high school, college and pro football players, Bell said. Among the Gunners' past players and member of the Gunners Hall of Honor is David Bearden, an HPD narcotics officer and former Cougar football player.

"We're playing for the love of the game and for the charities," Bell said.

The Gunners will play their first league game Saturday in New York City, taking on New York's Finest, the New York Police Department's contribution to the NPSF.

"We're going to New York to win," Bell said. "We're going to bring the win back to Texas."

The team will also participate in the Patriot Day Bowl on Sept. 11 in Hill City, Kan., facing the 2004 champions of the Colorado Football Conference.

The Gunners' next home game will be against the Houston Fire Walkers at 5 p.m. April 10 at Barnett Stadium, 6100 Fairway Drive off the South Loop and Telephone Road.

For more information and the team's full schedule, visit www.houstongunners.org.
 

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