RED DOGS ACQUIRE AFL GREAT BARRY WAGNER IN TRADE WITH ORLANDO NEW JERSEY TRADES WR/DB ALVIN ASHLEY FOR THE AFL’S MOST PROLIFIC PLAYER
			EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ (Sept 23, 1999) - New Jersey Red Dogs Head Coach/GM Frank Mattiace announced today that the team has traded WR/DB Alvin Ashley and a player to be named later to the Orlando Predators for WR/DB Barry Wagner. Wagner, who is considered the greatest player in Arena Football history, could be the piece the team has been looking for to bring home their first ArenaBowl championship. Wagner holds virtually every record in the Arena Football League and a piece of his resume includes: six consecutive Arena Football League "Ironman of the Year" Awards (1992-97) and he was the first player to ever receive the "Ironman of the Year" and League MVP, now called the Offensive Player of the Year, in the same season (1995). He followed that up with the same honors in 1997, making him the only player to win both awards in the same season twice. Wagner is the Leagues All-Time leading scorer with 1,766 points and Receiving yards with 9,493. Wagner is also second in Receptions with 651, Receiving Touchdowns with 210 and All-Purpose Yards with 14,981. "This is the biggest thing to happen here in New Jersey and it is quite possibly the biggest trade in League history," said Head Coach Frank Mattiace. "Barry will be able to bring a lot of different things to the table for us in every facet of his game. Perhaps Barry’s biggest asset is that he knows what it takes to win a championship and his presence will certainly make New Jersey contenders this upcoming season. We will miss Alvin’s leadership and his charismatic attitude but this was something that we could not pass up. We appreciate everything he did for the Red Dogs and we wish him well in his future endeavors." Wagner set or tied 67 different single game, regular season, career and playoff records while with the Predators. In his eight seasons with Orlando he tallied 651 receptions, 9,493 yards and 210 touchdowns. He also rushed 220 times for 596 yards and 66 touchdowns. He added kick returns to his duties in recent years and totaled 4,033 yards in returns and seven touchdowns. Barry is often referred to by fans as the "Michael Jordan of Arena Football" and for good reason. He has received "Ironman of the Game" honors 55 times out of 97 games played, first player to ever receive "Ironman of the Game" and Game MVP honors for the same game, he did this four times in his AFL career, and he has been named the AFL "Player of the Week" 26 times thus far in his career.