At least Blaze know opposing QB

Utah Blaze coach Danny White said it will be difficult to prepare for Saturday night's Arena Football League opponent, the New Orleans VooDoo, because they simply don't know much about them.

The VooDoo took last year off as their home city recovered from Hurricane Katrina. Most of their players from 2005 — like Utah lineman Hans Olsen, for instance — landed on different AFL teams. In that way, the VooDoo have almost had to start over and rebuild like an expansion franchise.

But there is one player White and the Blaze are very familiar with. In fact, he's a guy who saved Utah's first season — veteran quarterback Andy Kelly.

"We don't know a lot about them," said White, "but obviously we know all about what their quarterback can do."

To say Kelly is an AFL veteran is really an understatement. He's more like a legend that happens to still be playing — sort of the AFL's version of Brett Favre. Kelly holds the all-time AFL records for completions (3,621), attempts (5,828), passing yardage (39,948) and touchdown passes (767).

Last season, Blaze fans will remember, Utah was struggling at just 3-8 after losing four consecutive games following an injury to starting quarterback Joe Germaine. Kelly had just been released by the Kansas City Brigade, another struggling expansion franchise that decided to go with a younger starting quarterback.

So White quickly grabbed Kelly, who started for the Blaze just a few days after arriving in Salt Lake City. He led Utah to four wins in five games down the stretch, as the Blaze rallied to make the playoffs in their first season.

With Germaine healthy and ready to step back in as the Blaze starter, Kelly signed a free-agent deal with New Orleans, the team he quarterbacked in 2005. Coincidentally, he will open the season playing against the team he recently took to the playoffs.

While Kelly gives the VooDoo a battle-tested QB, the team has also landed some other AFL stars. Receiver Tyronne Jones was signed away from the Georgia Force. Jones, an eight-year AFL veteran, has 129 career touchdowns in eight seasons — including 12 on kickoff returns.

The VooDoo defense has one of the league's top pass rushers, too. Henry Taylor led the league with 8.5 sacks last season while playing for the Orlando Predators. He was named first-team all-Arena while leading Orlando to the ArenaBowl. During his four-year AFL career, Taylor has 19.5 sacks.