'88 Chronology-Trade Winds

Event Date: April 19th, 1988

Event Description: Bandits Acquire Reaves

The Tampa Bay Bandits Wednesday traded backup quarterback Mike Kelley to the struggling Orlando Renegades in exchange for veteran pivot John Reaves.

Kelley, an eighth-year pro out of Georgia Tech University, has been the backup to starter Ben Bennett. Bandits officials said Kelley had asked to be traded.

“Mike felt boxed in behind Ben and Jimmy (Jordan) on the depth chart,” said director of football operations Tom Bland.

“He asked Steve (coach Steve Spurrier) if something could be done as soon as possible to place him somewhere else and we tried to accommodate him.”

Bland said the Renegades have no particularly strong quarterback candidates behind Reggie Collier and Tim Riordan and that's why they were interested in Kelley.

Over the weekend, the Birmingham Stallions downed Houston 44-23 behind a four touchdown pass effort from Cliff Stoudt. 

In other action, the Renegades notched their first victory of the year beating Tampa Bay 31-24, meanwhile New Jersey beat Baltimore 34-20, Jacksonville ousted Oakland 24-10 and Memphis oulasted Oklahoma 45-38.

more to come......