Hatchett catches on with Billings squad

Despite another bump in the road, Douglas High grad Gabe Hatchett is still plugging along.

Hatchett, who signed with the Miami Dolphins in early May after the NFL Draft, was waived 18 days later after going through what he believed to be a successful first training camp.

Although it was certainly an unexpected setback, Hatchett kept working out and was picked up by the Billings, Mont., Outlaws of United Indoor Football, a minor pro football league, last week.

Well, it wasn't quite that simple.

"It was a tough time to be waived," Hatchett said. "All the other teams that were interested before were all full by that point. I didn't want to sit around."

Hatchett was put in contact with the Billings Outlaws of United Indoor Football and drove 15 hours to Billings, Mont., to sign his contract.

"I went right over once they contacted me," Hatchett said. "I'm sitting there ready to sign the contract and my agent calls and tells me the Kansas City Chiefs wanted to sign me."

Hatchett's agent said he'd get a flight booked from Reno to Kansas City, so Hatchett found the quickest way back home he could.

"I hopped back in my car, drove 15 hours back to Reno and found out they were going to fly me out two days later than I thought."

While wait for his trip to Kansas City, the Chiefs signed another receiver the day prior to Hatchett's trip, again filling out their roster.

"The guy said if anyone went down for any reason, I'd be their next pick," Hatchett said. "I got right back in my car, drove another 15 hours to Billings and came straight off the road into practice.

"I got right in there and started getting some reps."

Which wasn't quite as easy as Hatchett had originally thought.

"I'd never heard of United Indoor Football before," he said. "I was just trying to get a feel for the indoor game, but everything is based on speed. I was trying to set up defenders and things, but the game is so much faster.

"There are a lot of guys on the team just like me. They've been in camp with NFL and Canadian Football teams. There are some really great players up here. The arena seats about 8,000 people and it gets pretty loud out there. There's a great fan base, and it's definitey a lot better than I thought it would be."

Hatchett played in the Outlaws' 53-38 win over the Colorado Ice Sunday, mostly on special teams. He recorded one tackle playing gunner on the kickoff squad.

"I'd never done that before," Hatchett said. "It was fun. I got in a bit as a receiver toward the end of the game and did some blocking.

"Hopefully this week I can pick up the game a bit more and show them I can play."

The Outlaws moved to UIF this season after competing for seven seasons in the National Indoor Football League as the Billings Thunderbolts.

UIF currently features 11 teams with Billings paired in a division with the Colorado Ice, the Sioux City Bandits, the defending champion Sioux Falls Storm and the Omaha Beef. The Bloomington Extreme, the Evansville BlueCats, the Lexington Horsemen, the Ohio Valley Greyhounds, the River City Rage and the Rock River Raptors complete the east division.

The Outlaws will take on River City Saturday in Billings.