Life In The Arena Football League...Yeah It Was Like That.
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- Опубліковано 29 вер 2024
- Ever Wonder What Life In An Alternate Football League Was Like? A Lot Like What you Expect And A Lot Different.. I'll Tell You How.
Whenever I tell people that I played in four leagues, seven teams over 11 years, and I tell him that I played in the Arena Football League they ask, did you play with Kurt Warner? Yes, I played against Kurt Warner and actually Kurt and I were both rookies coming into the league the same season. He played in Iowa at that time. I played in Miami and then ended up playing in Albany eventually. I played for three different teams in the league.
In 95 I got a call from a guy that I knew when I was playing in Tampa Bay named Bob Hewko. He had become the GM down in Miami with the Hooters. He asked me to come down and play Arena Football. I really didn't know anything about the league. Immediately after that, I got a call from the Orlando Predators. That started a bidding war back between the two and as a guy who had been in several camps, a couple different teams been cut a couple different times. It was kind of refreshing to actually be the commodity out there.
When I got down to Miami our first day of practice we were literally practicing on a sand lot next to a High School parking lot. There were no boundaries, no lines, no walls. We had nothing simulating the AFL field. As a quarterback trying to understand the Arena Football League, I had no marks to go by. I had no reference in terms of what the field was going to be like. On top of that, we didn't have film. This was the first time in my football career since high school, that they didn't have somebody there to film practices. Film study, in terms of what you're doing, is really important to correct mistakes and get on the same page. In Miami we didn't even have meetings.
It turns out that the Miami Hooters was the worst team in the history of organized football. A team's success has everything to do with management. No matter what level of football, you're playing. The team, the character of a team, everything is all about management. That team was horribly managed. The whole time I was there, they were actually trying to get a former player who had been three striked out of the NFL for substance abuse. He was homeless. They were trying to find him to bring him back to play for the team.
About game 10 we played Tampa up at their place. This is when Jay Gruden was the quarterback for Tampa. I literally got hit 32 times, but only threw 27 passes. After that game, they decided that it was my fault the team was so bad and they released me which was a blessing for me because it saved my body.
I got the chance to play for one of my favorite all time coaches, Mike Daily, in Albany New York. I was one of his very first calls to ask me to come back and be the starter in Albany. So I went back to the Arena Football League as a starter in 1997. I absolutely fell in love with the game. I fell in love with my teammates, guys like Mark Valvo, Kyle Moore-Brown, Greg Hopkins, Derek stingley that were just fantastic dudes. We started to form this bond this chemistry in that locker room with that team. I knew that coach Daly was a high character guy. As a result, the team that he was building was a high character team. I had a great year that year.
1999 comes and we put together a very high character team, very good football players. All the pieces were in place. Everybody was there to make it happen. And so that team in 1999 went out and worked their butts off, played hard, worked hard played together. That team really liked each other and built some amazing chemistry. I think we were 13 -3 that year and went on to win the Arena Bowl championship.
People ask me, when I look back over my career, with injuries and everything else. Would you do it all over again? And I said, Yeah, I'd probably try to skip the Miami Hooters.
When people ask me about my Arena Football League experience, yes, it was light Bull Durham and yes, it was like major league in a lot of ways. But it was also some of my favorite time playing football. I love that went on to play in the xfl after that,
I will always remember my time in Albany in the Arena Football League fondly, and especially playing for Coach D and playing with those guys. It made it pretty special.
I’d love to hear more Arena Football stories. I’m always watching old AFL games on here. I rarely get to hear stories from players that were in it.
Thanks Devin. make sure you subscribe as I'll be dropping them in from time to time.
Ontario warriors from riverside /los Angeles. I made team catching every pass one handed but i ended up in prison few months later for a faske rape case from los angekes sheriff department and i figuried out kellen winslow was all an entrapment. Hey paw, did you finish law school? Im now placed on fbi list and im on Honor society from my writing in Hollywood. !my story is deadly with multiple murders and this has been a life time things after finding out nasa jpl is always in the shadows
Lies again? Goal Arena Smart Bundesliga
Great watch, thanks Mike
Thanks Stuart!
Shreveport Pirates. I'm from Shreveport I definitely remember those brief CFL days. I loved AFL 2 when we had the Battlewings
Thanks. I enjoyed my brief time in Shreveport.
@@EliteAthletesTV I'm putting together a group to bring minor baseball back.
Thoughts on FCF?
Today was the first time I ever heard of it.
@@EliteAthletesTV it’s pretty cool! I’m one of the biggest fans of the league
If you have read Alex Hawkins, there is money writing books about pro sports like Bull Durham and Major League if it’s true.
Thanks Milton. All my stories are true!
I came in the latter part of that season and you
Are absolutely correct on everything except one thing. There was a lot of talent there but with no leadership, was an impossible task! I also played in Albany and you are spot on with the culture there! Coach Buff created that along with coach Hoensee and coach Daily! Three great coaches!
The no film thing is so weird to me. My dad was a videographer back in the 90s so he'd probably have done it if I was old enough to play back then
Derek Stingley’s son is one of the best corners in college football and is probably going to be the first corner taken in the draft after this season
He’s a baller just like his dad.
Loved the stories from the 90s Arena Football League! I know you probably try to forget the Miami Hooters months, but i would love to hear more stories about it. I think one of the main reasons why arena football failed it's because the too many bad organizations.
Like they had the Predators, Storm, Sabercats, Rattlers, Firebirds, etc. Some of them are still exist in other indoor leagues. But teams like the Hooters just ruined the reputation of the whole league.
Anyway, i really miss the AFL, i grew up watching it on Eurosport back in the mid 2000's!
I would agree whole heartedly. Bad ownership leads to bad teams which was bad for the league.
Start my arena career this year very excited and nervous 💯 DE and RB
Good luck!
Ifl???
Hopefully you can get to the IFL since Arena folded.
Mike!! i like it. i started playing about 15 years ago in Oregon USA. and fell in love with it and dedicated my body and time to football just got caught in the wrong place at the wrong time now I'm in Mexico and I've been playing here arena football too it was just like you new experience I didn't know what was going on I mean all I ever known was 11:11 and then I got the hang of it and I've been still going I like the channel I'm subscribed
Thanks Johnny. Good luck with your football.
Thanks for sharing I remember attending some of those games in Albany. The Firebirds and the AFL are back in Albany but struggling to survive.
Coach Dailey best coach, hands down. Not a close second.
Biggs and Kyle Moore, doesn't get much better.
Good times.
Great to see and hear you Mike, so many fond memories of the Firebirds. The year you came to Albany is actually the year I also started following the AFL. I have continued to follow the game and the Albany Empire of the NAL. Ironman last year and the nets are back this year. Check us out on UA-cam sometime. Take care #9, and thanks for the memories, FirebirdDW
As a person who lives 1 hour away from Albany i'm glad to find a UA-cam channel that is ran by a guy who knows alot about Arena Football but not only that but a guy who PLAYED in the league is a awesome thing! I know alot about the AFL hell the first video game I have ever played was the og Arena Football game on the original Xbox... Very underrated league in my opinion, It sucks that it folded again.
I think you had me as A QB on XBOX! Sweet. It was great with the right team.
You deserve more subscribers
Thanks. we're working on it.
This was great, thanks for the ‘background’ stuff. Long time Arena fan down here in Australia. 1998 was the first season games were regularly shown on cable down here and the Firebirds were featured quite a few times. Caught you playing in the XFL as well. Football exists down her3 but it is a very minor sport sadly
I was down there for the Sydney Cup a couple years ago. Loved it! Thanks for watching.
great.story and sesms like a good dude who loves the game .
Thank you, Mike. I was there in the the 1980s .
This is great. Thanks for this. Love the Arena stories. Would be a great movie.
Glad you enjoyed it. It would definitely be entertaining.
This is the most boring video of all time
I think Will Farrell should do a movie about the Arena league with Albany as his team. Many similarities to the Flint Tropics.
Haha.
I miss the AFL. The sport of arena football is kind of a mess with like 5 different leagues all competing against each other
It was a great league.
The Storm's zubaz uniforms were peak AFL.
If by peak you mean bad uniforms then I agree.
How much did major league arena football players made during that time period
Depended on the team and how good they were at negotiating. Between 8k to 150k.
Wow, talk about an interesting career, to think that half the teams you played for are now defunct is weird… great video 👍
It is interesting. Half the leagues I played in are defunct!
I've started a professional football league that caters to rural markets...the league will be an international league, though divided into regional super leagues with teams in the U.S. Mexico, Canada, and Polynesia. The unique selling points for the league are that we're targeting rural high school football loving areas, targeting championship caliber programs, taking their best past stars, and making all star teams from their best alumni This will effectively give us a built-in fan base! I see in the next 5 years we'll have just as much market share as the NFL driven by our regional models with some international and inter-league match ups in the regular season akin to top high school match ups on ESPN. Every team will be under the #DOAFootball umbrella with our 1st regional super league starting in my home region football crazy East Texas!! The name of the 1st regional super league will be called the bEast Texas Premiere League or BPL for short. In conclusion, I strongly feel the league will be a huge success due to these regional super league models that bring meaningful football to fans across the North American continent and Polynesia. We will crown an international champion in a playoff/tournament structure similar to Texas High School football and FCS football.
if you would have turn your story into a football movie I'd binge watch the heck out of it
It would get an interesting rating!
Love the game
The AFL was a blast on the right team.
Great video, As a kid i went to multiple Firebirds games that 99 season..thank you
Mike, you're #GOAT in the AFL
Thanks Kevron!
I’m actually glad I came across this!!! This is so cool to be able to watch and see what it was like always wanted to play in the AFL
The right team was great. Bad management made it tough in some places though. Thanks.
Mike
Elite Athletes TV yeahhh I definitely know how that can be
LOL! No doubt.
Elite Athletes TV will you do more videos about the AFL or just indoor football in general??
@@camjames1469 Only played in the AFL so most likely only AFL videos. Gotta scratch up some footage.
GREAT DAYS, MY FRIEND, AND GREAT VIDEO!!! YOU WERE ALWAYS A PRO, ON AND BOTH OFF THE FIELD!- BIGGS
Love you Biggs!
No doubt about the character of '99 team. Men with tremendous character, and a whole locker room full of " characters " too!! Such great times, so greatful for the experience and for Biggs taking me in under his wing. Hope you are both doing well Mike & Biggs, All the Very Best!! ....... "Chains"
Arenaball was so much fun to watch. I was a fan of the Grand Rapids Rampage and got to see a game in person. I hope the game can come back someday.
It was great to play too.
Ifl indoor football league
@@locust666avthe ifl is trash. They pay the players shit, the rules that made Arena fun are not in the ifl.
Coach Ho...one of my favorite coaches. Got that Arena Bowl XX with him. So deserving and hard working.
so happy I watched this. great stories
would love to see a vid about your time in the 01 xfl and maybe just maybe one day a video breaking down quarterback play in the xfl 2.0 revival in 2022(so...2.1 I suppose)
Great Idea! You started me thinking. I'm on it.
@@EliteAthletesTV also if you would like to talk Xfl 2020 guys that would also be great, love me some Luis Perez or Jordan Taamu or PJ Walker or josh Johnson. But I really think the pool for 2022 is gonna make it so that the bottom half of QB’s from last time around and other QB’s at that level aren’t seeing the field as starters in 2022. There were a whole lot of QB injuries in the 2019 nfl season that forced teams to pick up quarterbacks the Xfl wanted to have, with Paxton lynch being one of those guys. Not to mention the aaf scooping up Garrett Gilbert and John Wolford before the Xfl could ever get their hands on those two. I’ll drop my running list below of everyone I can think of who could end up as an option that currently is a FA. But also I’ll drop all the college guys who *might* be Xfl available if things don’t work out. You're probably breaking down a few of these guys anyway which is pretty cool.
@@EliteAthletesTV qbs who could end up in the xfl from the 21 nfl draft: Davis Mills(unlikely, he's got big stock), KJ Costello, Zac Thomas, Brady Davis, Brady White, Feleipe Franks(my favorite xfl candidate out of the realistic options, I'd want him starting out the gate like Ta'amu), Jamie Newman(unlikely, v good and might still retain enough stock to stick around despite falling lately), Sam Ehlinger, Shane Buechele, Ian Book, Peyton Ramsey, Zach Smith. Most of these guys I'm not sure if they'd start out the gate automatically but hey, if you're an FA still and December rolls around, why not join the XFL if you can to try to get some reps unless you have people calling you to get nfl off season spots already? Maybe you end up like Taylor Cornelius, winning the job mid season and turning your performance into a CFL contract after the season ends if you so desire a longer term salary(although you likely get paid *less*)
@@EliteAthletesTV Available free agents. This list is a little subjective on the grouping obviously but just based on my perception.
Returning Quality Starters Available: Luis Perez, B.J Daniels(Luis is much better but B.J could probably be okay as the worst starting quarterback in the league while still being ahead of where a lot of the league was last time around)
Returning Potential Quality Starter Available Who Didn't Play: Eric Dungey(never played for renegades due to absences related to his father's struggles with cancer and his eventual death), Connor Cook
Quality Starter Free Agents Available: Chad Kelly(my favorite guy available, I want him in the xfl so bad), J.T. Barrett, Paxton Lynch, Luke Falk, Cody Kessler, Bryan Scott(The Spring League MVP), Shea Patterson, Kevin Hogan, Manny Wilkins(apparently he started a music career, still think he'd be interested though), McLeod Bethel-Thompson, J'Mar Smith, Brad Kaaya(note: VERY unlikely he's willing to come, he's moved on to studying at USC Cinematic Arts and is likely done with football, hasn't been on a team since 2018)
Non Quality Starter Candidates, May End Up As Backups/fringe starters:
Returning Former Started/Played Options(poor play/age): Landry Jones(old, play), Chad Kanoff(play), Brandon Silvers(play), Cardale Jones(play), Matt McGloin(play, old), Marquise Williams(play), Aaron Murray(play, old), Jalan McClendon(play)
Other names potentially in the pool: Case Cookus, Chase Litton(cut from Vipers mid season, never played), Brian Lewerke, Kevin Davidson, Tyler Bray(old), Josh Love, Riley Neal, Drew Anderson, Tanner Lee, David Fales, Tom Savage, Nick Fitzgerald(depth piece for Battlehawks, was used for a couple QB runs)
Team 9 QB's: Garrett Fugate, Marcus McDade, Joe Callahan, CJ Collins, Brogan Roback, Justin Holman, Devante Kincade, Vad Lee
Great video! Big fan of arena football! Being in Iowa, I get to watch a lot of barnstormer games. Now that they are in the IFL...we finally got a ring , I’m hoping they last. Ifl seems to be growing. Hope they aren’t moving too quickly. Covid definitely doesn’t help the business side of things.
Loved playing the Barnstormers. Had several games vs. Kurt when he was there. Fun town. I don’t know much about the IFL. I wish them success.
@@EliteAthletesTV That’s so awesome! Very cool you got to do that. And it’s pretty much just like the afl use to be. Up to 17 teams now.
@@kalebdg1996 Maybe not quite like the afl because of player pay and Ironman rules but a good league
@@coachwillwesttexas 17 teams next year. And probably more coming. Pretty dang good sized league.
My first ever AFL game I went to was Arena Bowl IV. Detroit Drive beat the Dallas Texans. Joe Louis was standing room only with over 19,000. We only had the Drive for 6 years, but in the Arena Bowl all 6. 4-2 with both losses to Tampa Bay. The AFL tried Detroit again with the Fury, but putting it way the hell out in Auburn Hills wasn't smart. Went to one Fury game and it wasn't even close to a Drive game.
Before my time. Thaks for watching.
I'm imagining it more like Slapshot.
That’s the easy picture to imagine. It wasn’t as fun or as much beer!
Oglethorpe is a gune!
The Hooters😆
Yea
Good job Mike!
Thanks
I miss the AFL.
I do too!
You think it’s gonna come back Or any type of arena football?
Hard to tell. Management structure is always a little hit and miss.
The ifl is pretty good to watch if you're looking for an arena football league
@@kamo7923 and NAL national arena league too
@@kamo7923 ....IFL has a few old AFL teams that bring some legitimacy as well (AZ Rattlers, Barnstormers, Spokane Shock)...I am an old Rattlers fan and now rooting for the sugarskulls since I know live in Tucson and they have a team down here. Good family fun football.
Thank You
Welcome!
Wow, Mike. I grew up in Albany watching you play. I am still a huge fan of the Birds and even still play the PS2 games as them. Happy to see you doing well. Great show. We loved our Firebirds in Albany. Albany will never have another team in any sport that beloved. Thanks for the memories.
Loved my time in Albany. Mad a lot of life long friends. Thanks!
a shame that an articulate and intelligent person wasted his life on this crap
If by that you mean the Miami Hooters it was a great learning experience. I chalk it up to education.