Outlaws receiver Poots back to Las Vegas roots

Forget about trying to fit in with new teammates and help build an Arena Football League franchise in his hometown.

Las Vegas Outlaws wide receiver Tysson Poots had other things to worry about as training camp opened in Summerlin a couple of weeks ago.

“We got the battle between him and (owner) Vince (Neil) who has the best hair,” coach Aaron Garcia said.

Poots keeps his hair tied up, so he loses the battle of the locks to rock-band legend Neil from Motley Crue. But Neil had one stipulation upon meeting the 27-year-old Poots for the first time.

“He told me when I came to visit, before signing, ‘If you play with Las Vegas, then you have to keep your hair,’ ” Poots said.

It’s doubtful whether that was the clincher for the Coronado High School product to sign, but as the new AFL franchise prepares for its debut, Poots quickly has grown into a prominent role that has nothing to do with hair jokes.

“There are a lot of things he could bring to the table as far as we’re concerned,” Garcia said, “and there are a lot of things we feel like we could provide for him, in a sense that he is definitely gonna be the leader here.

“He is gonna be the focal point of our offense. And I don’t know if he’s necessarily had that opportunity at this level. I think he’s just a real good fit, and I can’t wait to see him play, and I think he’s gonna have a huge year.”

The 6-foot-2-inch, 225-pound Poots, a fourth-year pro who won two Arena Bowl titles with the Arizona Rattlers, has caught 238 passes for 2,728 yards and 74 touchdowns. He started his career with the Utah Blaze before heading to Phoenix. His rookie season remains his best, as he hauled in 108 passes for 1,167 yards and 30 touchdowns for the Blaze.

“As a coach, he was definitely the biggest addition with this new team,” Garcia said. “To be from Las Vegas, to want to be here, he reached out to us. He is a world champion two times in a row … but he wanted to be with us. He was excited, knowing he would have fans here.”

It’s one of the intangibles that enticed Poots to play for the fledgling Outlaws, who play their first game at 7:30 p.m. Monday against the San Jose SaberCats at the Thomas & Mack Center.

“It’s exciting, because so many people I know want to come to the game and have been hitting me up for tickets,” Poots said. “Arena league is so fan friendly with all the entertainment and sitting right there close to the action. That’s one thing I’m excited about, seeing what kind of fan base Las Vegas is going to offer.”

Poots said the biggest difference between past training camps and the Outlaws’ is the familiarity of his surroundings, which has made things easier for him to emerge as a team leader.

“I get to be home now,” he said. “It feels good to go home to my bed after practicing and be here with my family, my friends, my closest friends I grew up with. And just being in Vegas is exciting to me.”

At Southern Utah, Poots was a Football Championship Subdivision All-American, shattering school records for receptions (282), receiving yards (3,970) and touchdowns (43). He went undrafted in 2011 but landed in training camp with the Dallas Cowboys as a free agent and survived until the final cuts.

“Getting a shot in the NFL, there’s nothing like it, it’s everybody’s dream,” Poots said. “It definitely humbled me. When you get there, you’ve been one of the best on your high school team, one of the best on your college team, and you feel like you’re the guy because you made it to the NFL. But when you get there, everybody was the best player on their college and high school team, so you’re just really another guy out there. It was a great experience.”