Toliver should play for Predators Friday

The plot officially thickened today as freshly released wide receiver T.T. Toliver signed with Orlando, sending the Storm's former No. 1 target 85 miles up I-4 to play for its arch-rival. The sixth-year player practiced with the Predators today and expects to play against Georgia Friday.

Orlando coach Jay Gruden said he will use Toliver at wide receiver, defensive back, and kick returner.

Gruden said he was first made aware of the Toliver situation by Predators quarterback Shane Stafford, who played with the wide receiver with the Storm from 2003-05.

"I really didn’t think I was going to get him," Gruden said. "Shane had called me, and asked if we’d be interested and I said, '(Shoot), yeah. Why not?'"

Gruden coached Toliver when Toliver was a member of the Buccaneers practice squad in 2003. Gruden is an offensive assistant with the team, coached by his brother, Jon.

Toliver, meanwhile, said he expects to win the grievance he has filed against the Storm, saying that he never used the words "I quit" when he met with Storm coach Tim Marcum two weeks ago. Marcum says Toliver left the team. Toliver says he simply asked for his release.

Toliver has been unhappy with the Storm since it traded for him in the offseason. The wide receiver said he and Marcum had a meeting at the beginning of the season to clear up some differences that remained from his first stint with the team (Toliver played for the Storm from 2003-05 before he was released), but that he soon realized that he was unhappy.

Toliver said he wasn't happy with the organization.

"They don’t treat you like you're pros," Toliver said. "We’re the only team that works for four or five hours. We work on concrete every day. There is so much stuff besides football that you have to worry about. When you are flying out (on a plane), you are worried about your flight being late. Stuff as a player you don’t have to worry about. I just got tired of it."

Toliver hasn't played for the Storm since being placed on the "Left Squad" list two weeks ago.

He has 98 catches for 1,206 yards and 17 touchdowns this season.

A long-time rival of the Storm, the Predators are 8-6 and one spot ahead of Tampa Bay in the National Conference Playoff race. Though it is unlikely that the two teams would meet before the National Conference championship, it isn't out of the question.

Storm coach Tim Marcum said Tuesday that he isn't concerned with the possibility of facing the Predators in the playoffs.

"I worry about a lot of things: world peace, our soliders in Iraq; I worry about my taxes on my house," Marcum said. "I worry about a lot of things. T.T. Toliver is not one of them."

Toliver was making $65,000 a year for the Storm, but says he took a pay-cut to play for the Predators.