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PACKERS ACQUIRE WR/KR ARNOLD IN TRADE; WITHDRAW OFFER TO PRESTON
posted 04/06/99
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| Jahine Arnold | Roell Preston |
The Green Bay Packers have acquired wide receiver/kick returner Jahine Arnold, a fourth-year professional, from the Pittsburgh Steelers for past considerations, Executive Vice President/General Manager Ron Wolf announced today.
Wolf also announced that the team has withdrawn its qualifying offer to wide receiver/kick returner Roell Preston, a move which makes Preston a free agent.
Arnold, a fourth-round draft selection in 1996, was the Steelers' kickoff return leader as a rookie, averaging 22.4 yards for 19 runbacks. The possessor of outstanding speed, he also posted 6 receptions for 76 yards, a 12.7-yard average, during the regular season.
Subsequently productive in the postseason, the 6-foot, 180-pound Californian caught two passes for 16 yards, returned 10 punts 111 yards, an 11.1-yard average, and two kickoffs 38 yards, a 19.0-yard average, in the '96 AFC playoffs.
The 26-year-old Fresno State alumnus, whose first name is pronounced "JAH-heen," was poised to fill a wide receiver vacancy on the Pittsburgh roster in the spring of 1997 when he suffered a knee injury April 29 that ended his season.
Arnold returned to action in 1998 but missed the first four games of the season with a collar bone injury suffered during the preseason. He later appeared in three games before being placed on injured reserve November 19 with a finger injury that required surgery. He closed out the season with four punt returns for 19 yards, a 4.8-yard average, and three kickoff returns for 78 yards, a 26.0-yard average.
The 131st player chosen in the 1996 NFL draft, Arnold had attracted scouts' attention by amassing 1,644 all-purpose yards in his senior season at Fresno State (54 receptions for 987 yards, an 18.3-yard average, and 4 touchdowns, and 31 kickoff returns for 657 yards, a 21.2-yard average).
He has been assigned jersey number 88.
Preston, a fourth-year professional, set club single-season records for kickoff returns (57), kickoff return yardage (1,497) and most combined return yardage (1,895) in 1998 while earning selection to the Pro Bowl.
In the process, the former Ole Miss athlete established a team single-game mark for kickoff return yardage with a 256-yard effort against the Minnesota Vikings on October 5.
Wolf also announced that William Henderson, the Packers' starting fullback since 1996, has formally signed a three-year contract which will take him through the season of 2001. The fifth-year pro was the Packers' third-ranking receiver in 1998, snaring 37 passes for 241 yards, a 6.5-yard average, and one touchdown. He also rushed 23 times for 70 yards, a 3.5-yard average, and two touchdowns. Henderson added three receptions for 55 yards, including a career-long of 33 yards, in Green Bay's wild card, postseason game against the 49ers at San Francisco January 3.
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