Shock add two Huskies to roster

The Spokane Shock official team colors are navy blue, orange and a touch of yellow, but they took on a purple and gold tinge Monday.

Former University of Washington Huskies Charles Frederick and Jerome Stevens are the newest additions to the Shock, an arenafootball2 team that debuts in March.

The 6-foot, 185-pound Frederick was considered one of the top high school recruits in the nation after catching 29 touchdown passes as a high school senior in Florida. At Washington, the Parade High School All-American battled homesickness early on and an injury-plagued senior season while finishing his career with 121 receptions for 1,735 yards.

He also returned two punts for touchdowns and finished with 3,787 all-purpose yards, seventh best in school history.

Frederick, who also played on the UW basketball team for one season, will play receiver and defensive back with the Shock. He was released by three NFL teams in 2005 – Jacksonville, the New York Giants and Detroit, the latter during training camp in August.

“He’s something special,” Stevens said of Frederick.

The 6-3, 305-pound Stevens, who will play offensive/defensive line, is living in Spokane Valley while his fiancée completes graduate school.

Stevens, a defensive tackle at Washington, finished his career with 6.5 sacks and 89 tackles. He played in six games and started one with the Los Angeles Avengers of the Arena Football League in 2005.

“My agent had told me about (the Shock) and I was watching on the news that there was a new arena team coming to town so I gave them a call to see what they had to offer,” Stevens said. “The sky’s the limit here and you want to set the bar that much higher with a new team.”

Stevens and Frederick join ex-Husky Makal Akbar on Spokane’s roster, which now has 25 players.

“They’re both great guys and I’m looking forward to reuniting with my old teammates,” Stevens said.

Spokane last week signed former Eastern Washington Eagle Muhammad Shamsid-Deen and offensive specialist James Norris, an ex-Western Illinois return specialist/receiver.

Shamsid-Deen will probably play receiver/defensive back. He played safety at EWU, registering 36 tackles and forcing four fumbles in 2005. Norris, 5-foot-8 and 165 pounds, averaged 19.1 yards per punt return as a junior and caught 39 passes as a senior.