Antonio Narcisse is starting to feel more at home these days.

Of course, a big reason why is that he is at home.

Narcisse, a 6-foot-1, 316-pound center for the VooDoo who prepped at Sarah T. Reed, is spending his first season in the AFL learning a new game in the city where he grew up. He also is learning while starting, as he has been in the lineup for all but one game this season.

VooDoo Coach Mike Neu often has said the past few weeks that the offensive line, while generally young and inexperienced, is the area that has been the most improved since the start of training camp in February. That being the case, Narcisse is one of the team’s most improved players.

Six years removed from playing for Reed Coach Percy Duhe and the Olympians, Narcisse has found that blocking in the AFL isn’t quite as easy as in the outdoor game. Still, after playing two years at San Mateo (Calif.) Junior College and then two years at Portland State, he’s just glad to be back in the Crescent City.

“It’s a dream come true to play in front of my home city and my family,” he said. “They come to the game every week, and I get them in the front row to make sure they can enjoy it.

“This is a new ballgame for me. Trying to pass block every down, that’s a tough task for me. I’m not used to doing that every play. Here, you have guys sitting in front of your face on every single snap, and there’s one-on-one blocking — mano-a-mano. As soon as they snap, the guy is right there, and you don’t have any time for nothing. You’ve got to have good technique, because if you don’t, he’s going to be right on the quarterback.”

Line coach Junior Ili has seen many linemen come from the outdoor game to the arena league, and he said Narcisse shows the potential to have a long career here.

“He’s a kid who’s willing to work, and it shows with his work ethic,” Ili said. “His improvement has been steady, and he knows he has a ways to go, but he’s come to be one of the more solid centers that we’ve had. . . . He’s starting to understand where the rush comes from, and that makes it slightly different on your first steps. He’s starting to understand the little nuances of the game. In the middle, there are a lot of things you have to think about.”

It also has helped Narcisse that he is playing with one of the most experienced quarterbacks ever to play arena football in Andy Kelly, who won’t think twice to let his center know when something isn’t just right.

“Obviously, the quarterback and center have a different relationship,” Kelly said. “Every play starts with the center-quarterback exchange, and if you don’t have that down pat, no matter what you do, you can’t even run a play. . . . Sometimes you’ve just got to let him know, ‘Get the ball up.’ Or sometimes he’ll come up to me and let me know something. We communicate with each other pretty good.”

He’s come a long way since Duhe gave him the moniker, “Bad Bear,” as part of a group of “Four Bears” that “eat well” and had “more than one lunch period.” At Reed, Narcisse was part of an offensive line what was bigger than even Tulane’s line at the time.

In junior college, he received honorable mention for the all-conference team, and he improved on that at Portland State. In his senior year with the Vikings, Narcisse was a unanimous choice on the All-Big Sky team in 2005.

After his college career was over, he wasn’t quite sure if he’d get another chance. The phone wasn’t ringing, and he was close to giving up his dream.

“I didn’t have my opportunity to play on the big field,” he said. “I didn’t think I had an opportunity to play Arena. People told me I wasn’t ready and that I looked like an outside center, and that it’s going to be hard for me to adapt.

“It was real, real tough. I was nervous trying to get my shot to get out here and perform and show people that I really can play. It was a long road, and they stuck with me, and I am blessed that they stuck with me and had some faith in me and kept me around to show what I can do.”

Jim Derry can be reached at jderry@timespicayune.com or (504) 232-9944