RIP Arena Football League

Please post your favorite Hunkie Cooper and other Arizona Rattlers memories here.

 

Anytime you see "strategic" in a press release, run for cover.

Among other notable alums, besides Warner - Lincoln Kennedy and Mike Vanderjagt (who won an Arena Bowl, a Grey Cup and played in a Pro Bowl in addition to doubling Tony Danza in a Disney flick and being the "idiot kicker" in question).

 

And it brought us the father of Antonio Brown, the Albany Firebirds’ Touchdown Eddie Brown, who I knew to be so much more sane than his spawn.

 

A New York cop I met once told me Arena League was the ultimate worst crowd assignment any officer could draw, and that he personally would rather handle a dozen WWE crowds than an Arena League game.

 

Also, six-time AFL champion Jay Gruden.

 

Their operating plan was find some city leader who they can convince the AFL is "big time," create new and unique logo and name, use local businesses who are excited to work with the AFL - never pay the bills. Move to another city and back to step one.

Who knows maybe the league will come back from the dead? (Still my favorite in my collection of hats from extinct football leagues).

 

I was in the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh for Arena Bowl I in 1987. They opened the roof, which took a really long time, before the game. I think the toughest thing about the games in Pittsburgh that year is they couldn't seem to get through one without somebody tearing an ACL because the playing surface was atrocious.

 

Now THERE is a sports memory you can dine out on!

 

My afl memory was watching the first game on Tv, and the camera doing a crowd shot and focusing on a guy giving double fisted middle fingers for a good 20 seconds before it went back to the action. One of the most exciting things 10-year-old me had seen on tv at the time.

Second memory: all the little caesers ads that seem to run on every break. My little pennsyltucky got a little caesars that fall and it was as if joe Montana had decided to buy a house next door.

 

The first clip of this compilation always comes to mind to me when the Arena League is mentioned:

Couldn't believe the home-team players were running over and high-fiving that fan in the front row. I would have loved to see that kick returner turn around and coldcock the guy.

As for the league, wasn't this Arena Football entity the one that rose out of the ashes from the original one that lasted for over 20 years. I just remember thinking although some teams were coming and going the league was doing alright as a whole, then suddenly I found out it was shutting down. Then, not too long after, this league got started with a few less teams.

 

Was always partial to the Iowa Barnstormers helmet myself.